By Kevin (Shooting the Breeze)
Now that Grover has given his take on marriage, I will now share mine.:) I must say up front that I am by no means an expert on marriage. I have been married for almost 17 years now though and I have learned a few things along the way. In this post, I would like to share some of those things with you.
Here are two things that I believe make up a healthy marriage:
1. Commitment: First and foremost it takes commitment. A healthy marriage does not just happen automatically. It requires commitment and effort. Couples must want to have a healthy marriage, decide to have a healthy marriage and make an effort to have a healthy marriage.
2. Doing practical things: There are many practical things that couples can do to help build a healthy marriage like:
Having a daily focused connecting time. Make this a priority. It can be when you get home from work, after the kids go to bed (if you have kids) or right before you go to bed. The point is: Do it!
A weekly date night. Find a night that works and schedule it. Commit to making that night just about the two of you. Watch a movie, play a game, go out for dinner or just chat. It’s important to know that you don’t always have to leave the house to have a date night.
Yearly getaways. This takes planning and work but is very important. Go away for the weekend. Go away for a week if you can. These times will be incredibly valuable for your relationship.
Apply emotionally healthy practices. This is the toughest one as it is the hardest. Learn to listen to one another, to speak directly, clearly, honestly and respectfully with each other and to check out assumptions.
My wife is truly a gift from God to me and I am committed to making our relationship strong and healthy. How about you? How is the quality of your marriage? Would your spouse agree with your assessment? What are you doing to make your marriage relationship a priority?
Kevin Martineau has been married 16 years and has three beautiful daughters (10, 7 and 4). He has the honour of serving God through his role as Pastor at Port Hardy Baptist Church on Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He enjoys blogging, reading, photography and watching hockey.