Hangin' In There

Elisa and Evan Morgan's survival tactics for a successful dual-career marriage

Molly Cox

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Elisa morgan swings open her front door with one hand while holding a cordless phone in the other and, without missing a beat in her conversation, motions me inside. Appropriately enough, I am meeting Elisa and her husband, Evan, to profile a busy, two-career couple.

Waiting for her to finish the call, I gaze around the Morgans' homey living room. Comfortable couches curve around a fireplace. The view out the windows reveals a well-tended yard with the Rocky Mountains in the background.

"Sorry about that," Elisa says, referring to the phone call. "I'm about to start traveling, and there's so much to take care of before I go."

Just then, 10-year-old Ethan walks in. He shyly whispers in his mother's ear. "Why don't you pack some action figures?" she suggests.

"He's coming with me to Richmond, Virginia," Elisa explains, "and after my speaking engagements, we'll do some fun things together—just the two of us."

Elisa then steps through a French door and seconds later emerges with Evan, who has been working in the home office. Soon the three of us are sitting around the breakfast table, discussing the challenges of balancing a two-career, two-kid marriage.

Elisa is president of MOPS International, a Christian organization that serves mothers of preschool children. Her daily radio show, "Mom Sense," with her message that mothering matters, is aired on 450 stations across the country. She speaks at several conferences and churches every year and has written six books.

Evan is equally busy running his business, Sky Media. His high-technology enterprise creates and markets CD-ROMs and internet Bible education for lay people, colleges, seminaries and other organizations.

The Morgans are very much like any other couple juggling a family and two demanding careers, except that Elisa has the higher-profile job. "For some people," Evan says, "my business card reads 'Elisa Morgan's husband.'"

Sharing the Driver's Seat

"We miss the point when we focus on who's in charge," says Evan. "We want our focus to be on serving one another."

Elisa adds, "The Bible says we are all to be servants to one another."

And so, in the kitchen, in the office and in raising their kids, Eva, 13, and Ethan, the Morgans work diligently to serve each other. For them, the question isn't "Who's ahead, Evan or Elisa?" but rather "Am I helping my spouse reach his or her God-given potential?" In fact, their commitment to serve one another began in the early years of their relationship.

Feeling called into leadership, Elisa enrolled in the Denver Seminary Master's of Divinity program in 1977. The curriculum was demanding, and as one of only six women students at the seminary, the experience was lonely as well. Rushing into an Old Testament class one day, Elisa plopped down next to Evan, barely noticing him as she shuffled through her papers. Seeing a Greek test in her bundle of papers, Evan commented on the stress of the divinity program.

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Originally published in: Marriage Partnership, 1997, Fall

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