I held undergraduate and graduate degrees in anthropology and had one year of graduate theological studies before I got married.  I was madly in love with Karolyn and could hardly wait to be as happy as I was sure I was going to be after marriage.

Our conflicts emerged early in our marriage.  We both were taken by surprise at the depth of our feelings of hurt and anger toward each other.  How could the feelings we had while dating have evaporated so quickly after the wedding?  We had many arguments with few resolutions, and in time I began to be plagued with the thought that I had married the wrong person.

All the while I was continuing my theological studies in preparation to be a minister.  But the chasm between my vocational objective and the nature of our marital relationship was ever widening.  I was having difficulty imagining how I could offer hope to others when I felt so hopeless in my own marriage.

As the day drew nearer when I would complete my graduate studies and be forced to leave the ivory tower of academia and enter the real world, I became more and more frustrated, with Karolyn and with God. 

In my frustration I lashed out at God and blamed him for getting me into an unworkable marriage. 

After all, hadn't I prayed and asked for his guidance before I got married?  All those prayers seemed to make no difference at all.  I was mad at God and didn't know how I could be one of his ministers.