Nurturing Your Marriageby Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger 11 May 2006 09:39 PM I am grateful that I am married to my husband. It may sound silly to say it, but I truly am. Marriage is a wonderful blessing in my life. It is a wonderful relationship in which we have the opportunity to work together and have a family. It is great having a friend that I can spend time with every day. It is good to talk to someone that places the same values on things that I do. My husband and I are not the same person, and so naturally we have interests that are different from each other. We also have different opinions on things. I am glad that we have differences because it allows us to keep our own identities inside of our relationship. One piece of advice that someone gave me right before I got married has always stuck with me. She told me that if there is ever a time when I feel that my husband is being exceptionally thoughtless and selfish that is the time that I need to begin doing extra little things for him. Often we are acting in the same way that we feel our spouse is acting towards us. If we can step out of the cycle, then we can change it and continue to have our relationships grow in a positive matter. My husband and I pray together as a couple every morning and every evening before we go to bed. This has really helped us because it is difficult to pray together when you are angry with each other, and so we usually end up resolving any differences that we may have had. Another thing that I have seen help couples is to have couple scripture time together. Reading and discussing the gospel will help bring you closer. Regular temple attendance can also help to strengthen your marriage. It is nice to go and do sealings on your anniversary to remind you of the vows that you took when you were married. It is also important to just spend time together just as a couple. That is why the church has established Friday as a designated date night. As you take time to nurture your relationship with your spouse, your happiness in married life will increase. Marriage can be a beautiful and positive relationship as you work, learn and grow together. What have you done to improve your marriage? Learn more about Miriam Caldwell  Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children. Relevantlds tags User Comments  Lisa P (24013) 13 May 2006 12:33 PM"... if there is ever a time when I feel that my husband is being exceptionally thoughtless and selfish that is the time that I need to begin doing extra little things for him." This is SO TRUE! It is the only way to break a terribly destructive cycle. If he neglects you and then you start neglecting him, it just feeds the cycle and makes things ever so much worse. What a great blog!  Miriam Caldwell (8030) 13 May 2006 01:07 PMAs I've gone through the few years I have been married, this advice has really hit home. Several times I've thought of it, stepped back from the situation and really found something that I could do to change the way that I was behaving. After that our relationship has always gotten better. Opa (129) 19 May 2006 02:27 PMWhat great advice. It is so easy to focus on what our spouse needs to change. Then everything is their problem. We can only change ourselves. Often we find others responding to the new way we are acting. It can change a destructive cycle into one of growth. Community Tags lds, marriage, relationships Discuss this article
|
LDS categories |
