My husband and I read this book as a short marriage devotional on Saturday mornings. Written by Bill Morelan, this Hallmark gift book contains advice from several couples who have been married over fifty years. We spend about three minutes reading one story, ten minutes talking about it and then we pray together. It is short and sweet. We love learning from the wisdom of those who have gone ahead of us.
So last week I mentioned the importance of dating your spouse and investing time and money in your marriage. Today's advice is: Prioritize your marriage!
We put God #1 in our lives and then our marriage relationship. Dating each other mid-week is so important and it meets my emotional needs. There were a couple of weeks when we moved our usual Thursday date night to Saturday because I didn't want some of the food in my fridge to go bad, so I cooked instead of going out. I noticed that there was a disconnect between my husband and I. We had not argued or had any issues come up. So why did it feel distant? It was more of a routine of having dinner, watching TV, he had office work he had brought home and then go to sleep. What was missing? So I prayed and asked God to help me recognize what was going on. Yes, God answered me by revealing that when we connect emotionally during the middle of the week, I feel happier, special and loved on those dates. I told my husband we needed to go out that evening to share this discovery and revelation from God with him. We had a great date and we were back to our normal happy selves. It might sound silly, but it's not. Marriage and couple time is important. Avoid at all cost to fall into a daily routine.
Invest time and money in your relationship and make it a priority. Don't wait to go to a marriage conference as a last option. Go when you're still happy and in-love to learn how to maintain your marriage that way! Dates, vacations, weekend getaways, marriage seminars and conferences will keep your marriage healthy and exciting.
If you have children, don't spend more money on them such as music lessons, sport activities or learning a new language than on your relationship. I've read that the best legacy we can leave our children is to have a solid and happy marriage. You can give your children all those skills I mentioned before, if you can afford it, but put more time and money in the two of you. Your kids will later thank you for it.
As a mom, when my kids were young, in order to avoid feeling guilty about going on a vacation with my husband and leaving them with my mom, we'd take our kids to Disneyland the week before our own cruise and during the Disney trip, we were there to mainly please them.
So, why do I sit in front of my computer screen writing this blog when my back and neck hurt at times? Because I want every marriage out there to be happy and succeed. May God bless your marriages and give you the wisdom, patience and understanding to last until death do you apart. Find romance and don't let it die.
You can visit http://www.familylife.com for great marriage articles and conferences. Eduardo and I have been married for 35 years. When we had our 25th wedding anniversary I asked him for an anniversary gift. I asked him to take me to a Christian marriage conference called, "A Weekend to Remember." He said, "Why? Our marriage is great, isn't it? I smiled and said, "Yes, it is. But if we want to last another 25 years we should get a refresher course!" So he took me and we had a wonderful weekend in beautiful North Lake Tahoe, CA in a fancy hotel by the lake.
Blessings to you and your spouse. May your love last an eternity! Enjoy this sweet song and video...
https://youtu.be/_ODSx0UfAcA
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