Not even the full blast of heat from the car's heater could
warm the bitter coldness in the hearts of Jacob and Marlee
Ebenezer. They had started their married life together on
Christmas Eve in blissful happiness and now, on their 20th
Anniversary, instead of celebrating, they were driving on a
lonely road in the middle of a snowstorm to rush to the
lawyer's office to sign their divorce papers.
Grappling with the question of how to tell their kids,
another set of headlights comes towards them. As Jacob
quickly veers away, he loses control of the car. Marlee,
recovering from the crash, starts looking through the snow
for husband, muttering that you never can find a husband
when you need one, and after growing cold and tired, sees
a light in a building and starts walking for help.
Taken in by a kindly older gent, Marlee ironically finds
herself in a warm and cozy marriage retreat center. With a
little help from the old man and time to think, Marlee has
a unique chance to look into her heart. She wonders where
all that once treasured love had gone. What could she tell
the children? What has happened to Jacob?
Developing an interesting variation on the Dickens' classic
tale, Chris Fabry and Gary Chapman have penned a lovely
message of love lost, hope, and forgiveness that is
especially pertinent for married couples. As the story
highlights the truth that we remember the anger and pain
resultant from hurtful and negative incidents with a far
stronger intensity of emotion that the joy and thankfulness
received from the love and kindnesses done by our family
members, we see, like Marlee, that it is all too easy to
lose faith and hope in our spouses, and to want to seek
ways to break the commitment once so happily made. A
wonderful reading gift for yourself or others!
Jake and Marlee, a typical couple, are about to call it
quits. Over time they have drifted apart; the sparks are
dead. Marlee is convinced she married the wrong man and
Jake feels tied down to the wrong woman. Jake is distant
and tired of being controlled while Marlee is tired of being
the only one trying to the save their marriage.
They go to bed Christmas Eve, in separate rooms, each
rationalizing...life is too short to be miserable...love
shouldn't hurt like this...their marriage must end for
happiness to return.
But their lives are about to take a turn. The ghosts of
Marriage Past, Marriage Present, and Marriage Future reveal
to Jake and Marlee how past choices, present realities, and
their potential future might look if they do not change
their "stories".
Jake and Marlee experience a Christmas gift that will
radically change their thinking and cause them to look at
marriage not for what they can get out of it but for what
God can do in and through their marriage.
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