My husband Kevin and I recently returned from a speaking engagement at the ACME International Marriage Enrichment Conference (IMEC) in Orlando, Florida. It was a wonderful experience to have Kevin presenting with me this time in our workshop, “Sexy is a State of Mind–Cultivating Sexual Desire for Your Spouse.” (Check out our photos from the conference.)

One of the most compelling experiences of the conference occurred when we had the opportunity to watch a video segment and hear the founders of Habitat for Humanity, Millard and Linda Fuller, speak about their incredible heartrending marital journey.

Millard was an extremely successful businessman and became a millionaire by the age of 30. But his success had a price. Linda had been raising their two children alone rarely ever seeing her husband who simply worked all the time. She had been having an affair and decided to leave her husband. Millard followed her to New York City where they both experienced an epiphany.

In a taxicab back to the hotel they both decided to take all that they had and give it away. They knew they had to make some drastic changes to save their marriage. Not only did this lead to the founding of Habitat for Humanity, but it was also the beginning of their life together as a team rather than the two separate lives they had been leading.

Their experience reminded me of the biblical story of the rich young man who was asked to give up all that he had to follow Christ and become perfected. He could not do it.

Millard and Linda were able to give up all that they had because they felt God had a mission for them, and they could see that what they had decided was necessary for them to save their marriage. What good is wealth and success anyway if you lose your spouse and family in the process?

What do you yet lack in your marriage relationship? What do you need to change in order to become more what your spouse (and God) want you to be? If your spouse could choose one thing for you to change or give up, so that you could love them more fully, what would it be? Are you willing to do it? What are you willing to do to avoid the slow drain that is occurring in many marriages? Will you do it before it’s too late?

I encourage each of us to think long and hard about what our marriage and our children mean to us, and what we are willing to do to protect it from the devouring ravages that lie in wait to destroy.

This delightful picture that we took of Millard and Linda Fuller reminds us that even a marriage on the brink of ruin can be saved and turned around into a blossoming and wonderfully fulfilling marriage relationship. It was obvious to all that after all they’d been through having “fallen out of love” they are now and forever very much in love.