AN INTERVIEW WITH MICKEY AND JULISSA RODRIGUEZ

Micky and Julissa, from Liquid Church's Morris County Campus, have been married for 23 years and have two adult sons. Today, we're grateful to learn from their experience and how they have managed to keep love alive through all the challenges they've faced and seasons of life together.

WHAT IS THE KEY TO OVERCOMING CHALLENGES IN YOUR MARRIAGE?

JULISSA: Communication. That’s the key to our relationship. We have looks we can give each other that say a thousand words - Ha!

MICKEY: When it comes to overcoming challenges, maintaining a respect for each other and for our different opinions really helps. This can be a game changer in those challenging moments. We might not always agree with each other, but we have learned to always listen to each other.

HOW DO YOU MAKE TIME FOR EACH OTHER?

MICKEY: Every morning we start our day with coffee together. This is a nice regular time to check in on each other.

JULISSA: That's right. And even when our boys were little, our family rule was to come together for dinner. We've maintained that time with each other even now that our kids are grown.

MICKEY: And from dinner on, we're together. Just hanging out and in the same room. We work from home full time together right now, and while we work in the same house, we have separate areas where we're working so we can focus. So, this evening time together is important.

JULISSA: This has actually been a main focus for us throughout all our years of marriage. We wanted to create that foundation because we knew one day our boys would grow and be leaving us. Our family did change when they left, and we had to be really intentional about spending that time creating what our life looks like now.

HOW DO YOU KEEP THE SPARK ALIVE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?

MICKEY: We still go on dates! We have maintained going out on dates for the last 20+ years now, actually. We also love to go on vacation together. I love planning our trips!

JULISSA: It looks different depending on the season, too. When the kids were little, we would still have date night, but it was date night in, rather than going out. Now, I love that our boys always saw us prioritizing date night and making each other a priority.

Recently, on one of my favorite dates, Mickey got us a date book full of creative date ideas. We sat outside by the fire pit and reminisced. We started making all these plans for how to be creative while dating each other during the pandemic, when date night options seem limited.

MICKEY: We also serve together a lot at church. When in lockdown last Spring, we did the food drive together at Liquid in Parsippany every week. It was really fun! Serving together has always been a part of our marriage. It's made our relationship and our faith stronger.

HOW HAS YOUR FAITH ROOTED YOUR MARRIAGE?

JULISSA: For the first seven years of our marriage, we were hit with some heavy health issues and losses. While we were believers then, these challenges really cemented each of our relationship with Christ.

MICKEY: Yes. We had to depend on our faith in God through a lot of these early days in our marriage. Being rooted in our faith is the one thing that carried us all these years.

JULISSA: We've had 23 years so far because of what God has brought us through. How He made a way for us. I feel so blessed. He really has given us so much.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Love hearing stories of relationship goals within our church? Continue reading for more interviews like this:

• ARTICLE: Marriage & Parenting: Gillian & Jason’s Story - Click here to read how God has worked in Gillian and Jason Schuler’s relationship and family over the years.
• ARTICLE: Couplehood: Danny & Casey’s Story - Read how then-engaged couple Danny McQuaide and Casey Sutherland met and what God did to make their long-distance relationship stronger.