Ready To Call it Quits? Encouragement For Newlyweds

Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God. —Psalm 42:5

Marriage is the most challenging experience I have ever had in my life, and may ever have. Now, don't get me wrong. I love being married, and I am crazy about my Husband, really. I have never been more motivated in all my life to go after the fullness God has for me. I have a wonderfully compassionate and patient Husband. Still, this is no dating game. I can't check out, hang up, storm out, break up then make up when things get rough. The rose-colored goggles are gone and we both get tired. Making a vow to God at the altar to love, honor, and cherish someone and to honor that commitment until death, is not the same as saying, "I love you and I want to spend my life with you". Becoming one is an art to be mastered, and we are beginners picking the strings out of tune while our fingers become raw and callused.

GUEST BLOG: Journey, Discovery, and Growth: Yolanda’s Gems for a Successful Marriage by Loureva Watson-Slade

Our good friend Loureva Watson-Slade is a fantastic blogger. I read this and thought I would share these wonderful gems to remember for a successful marriage.

Journey, Discovery, and Growth: Yolanda’s Gems for a Successful Marriage: Although I meet many women who are enthusiastic mothers, sadly it’s not very often that these same enthusiastic mothers are also enthusiasti...

What's The Point? How Marriage Teaches You To Forgive

Loving and Forgiving Even When I Don't Feel Like It?

During times of stress in marriage, I've begun to find myself wondering "God, what is the point in all of this?" What motivation do I have to continue to give of myself in this when it doesn't seem like what I'm doing is producing any fruit or change? Whether I'm feeling guilty of my own confessed shortcomings, pointlessly dwelling on the flaws of my spouse, or just frustrated with the entire process of becoming one, God must have a plan.

THE TRUTH! The First Step To Having A Healthy Relationship

Before being married, I was given some advice by an acquaintance. He said to me, "Your wife ain't gotta know everything". This may most definitely work for his marriage, but as for mine, WRONG!! I am convinced that most marriages are lacking the happiness and joy that they should have and ultimately end up in failure because of the lack of TRUTH! Both men and women keep feelings and thoughts from each other in an attempt to shield the feelings of their mate. This type of thinking will always lead down a road that could be avoided if the truth was and ALWAYS is spoken in LOVE!

"Up Under" Each Other? Why Your Friends Come Last Now That You're Married

After the joy and fascination with getting married, the blissful honeymoon, and taking photos,there is a curveball that is thrown at newlywed couples that few "words of wisdom" at the wedding reception address. I'm talking about the first few weeks and months of marriage, and the adjustment stage.

"Wow! We're married, can you believe it?!" begins to turn into "wow. we're married. How on earth are we going to do this?" This new unique challenge isn't just about moving in together and figuring out where we will fit all of our clothes now, or who will clean the toilets. After the bliss of the honeymoon subsided for us, we found that the idea of "cleaving" to one another can be a very different and uncomfortable situation for two very different people, with two different ways of doing things, from two different walks of life. The joy of having a companion to wake up to everyday can quickly begin to feel isolating, and even at times annoying, as you get to know one another and learn to work through conflict.

Getting Your Way By Doing Absolutely Nothing

Bitterness over countless disappointments in people both personally and professionally caused me to be one of those people that believed “If you want a job done right, do it yourself!” When things didn’t turn out right, I constantly justified my wrong actions by denying them and defending them, and placing the blame on everyone else. After all, if you and everyone else has done me this way, or everything always turns out the same, I have to protect my self! I have a tendency to want to be very outspoken.

Being in a healthy relationship is teaching me that my way isn’t always the best way, and that, as the saying goes, “you can attract a lot more bees with honey than vinegar”. I am learning to be a much better LISTENER.  Being able to back down for sake of peacemaking, be kind, and consider others before yourself, is a skill that requires a great deal of virtue and strength, and can’t be perceived as weak (unless of course you are allowing someone to blatantly wrong you or abuse you- then run!).