This One's For You...

Jennifer.

You know who you are.  But let me introduce her to the rest of you.  And tell you why I'm mentioning her and her work.

The "her" is Jennifer Baker, Ph.D. who wears many hats, all in the service of healthy family relationships, especially marriages.  Jennifer is responsible for Operation Us, a project begun at Forest Institute with a 2006 Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant received from the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance.

In partnership with Ozarks Marriage Matters, the Pregnancy Care Center and ADsmith Communications, Forest Institute began offering relationship education in a 29-county area of SW Missouri. The federal funds allowed Operation Us to offer relationship education workshops to teens, single adults and adult couples at prices that were remarkably affordable. Forest Institute partnered with over 70 organizations during the 5 years of this grant and, in conjunction with these partners, was able to provide relationship education to more than 14,000 individuals.

So, what does this have to do with me?

• Jennifer, I'm proud to say, is one of my closest friends and I follow her work with great interest.
• As a happily married person of 35 years and the mother of a married person, I take a great interest in building and maintaining a healthy, committed relationships.
• While in Germany (yes, I've worked in another Germany post), we witnessed a most interesting wedding ceremony.  And how does this relate to the work of Operation Us?

I believe that all good marriages live and thrive only in community:  our extended family, our church, our neighborhood, our social network.  I'm not a psychologist or social scientist but I do know that statement to be true.  And watching this wedding, I saw the power of a community in action.

The groom is a firefighter.  As he and his bride exited the church, they processed through a fire hose tunnel, held aloft by his friends and colleagues.  They were there to greet the couple and to join in their fun and their joy. 

The bride had her friends and colleagues their too (but we we not sure of her profession).  As soon as the couple made it through the fire hose tunnel and greeted the local captain of the firefighters and got his blessing, the bride had to cut her way through an interwoven gauze barrier.  One friend handed her a pair of scissors, while the others jiggled and juggled the woven barrier, all in great fun.

Getting through the barrier wasn't easy, but it was fun, for the couple and for their friends. 

Pretty much like marriage.