Give Me This Mountain

You know how when you first start to like your spouse while you were dating? You could text until 2:00AM, facetime for eight hours, talk of the phone every day, and basically spend every minute with each other. While you are dating you can't get enough of each other! Why is this? Because you are curious about them, you want to get to know as much about them as you possibly can. For some couples this changes after they are married for a while. Where did the curiosity go? What happened to the magic? How do we keep the heart of love pumping and alive? Dr. Gottman, a well known marriage therapist has advised that when there is no humor, fun, or interest in our spouses, we can eventually come close to getting a divorce. As we have admiration for our spouses, serve them, and are interested in their lives, I think we can keep the heart going and not fall into the trap of boredom. Turn a new leaf, find something new or interesting about your spouse today. Keep the heart pumping. 

One of the main issues in marriage is the discussion of money. Why is this such a major problem between couples? Why does this cause a riff in a relationship? How can paper do so much damage? Let's think about this for a minute. You have two different people coming together in a marriage. Each person has lived their own life their own way for their whole lives. They use their money differently. Some save and some don't, some have had to pay bills and some haven't. The fact of the matter is, we all deal with money differently. With married couples there is no difference. What is important about these kinds of discussions is not only that they happen but that they are handled the right way. There has to be good communication about these things or else you will run into problems. When you have good communication you have a good marriage. It won't be perfect, but it will work, and it will work well. Just like with money, we all communicate, cope, and handle situations i...

Being connected with your spouse in all things is vitally important. As I read this week I had a memory impressed upon my mind. I was reminded of when my husband and I got married a few months ago and he surprised me our first day as husband and wife. While serving as missionaries we had a mission rule that we needed to share with our companions three things that we loved about them that day. And it was a rule that we do that each night. Well the first day we were married my husband began to tell the three things that he loved about me. I was so surprised and a little emotional. I hadn't done that or received things like that for over a year. For me this is an example of being connected with your spouse. Seeing the little things that your spouse does during the day that are good and that you love about them. And then spending the time to express those things that you love about your spouse to them are the little things that keep marriages together. The small and simple things are t...