Marriage Needs Champions...

On this day when so many in our country are voting about the definition of marriage, (which BTW, I believe is correctly defined by the Lord as a man and a woman...) I feel a need to make a statement about how important championing marriage is to our happiness... Not the least of which, is the responsibility I have in my own life to do all I can to make my marriage the BEST it can be... It's actually interesting to me these days in that I don't remember life without hubby... Honestly, I know it sounds like a cliche... but I believe I was just a partial person until I found him when I was 25... he completes my heart...

One of the reasons that we try so hard to talk/listen, is so that we do not lose that gift of completion... In my faith we believe that death cannot take that gift away... but I fear that while on earth sometimes we throw the gift of covenanted, eternal love away... The most committed of husbands and wives often start thinking like each other so it can feel like you don't really need to explain what you mean... but I think that is a mistake... it is STILL important to say, but even MORE important to HEAR what the other person is saying, and maybe especially when you start to think alike... We need to do this listening without interruptions and without second guessing... Effective communication is actually very difficult sometimes.

We have tried to teach our children how to effectively communicate by having similar conversations with them... but with children too, it's not easy to listen, or sometimes to get them to listen when it is important... especially when you don't agree... Hubby grew up in a home where good communication did not exist, in fact almost all true communication was discouraged... so he had to learn how to express his thoughts, and listen with an open mind... he did most of his "personal communication work" in learning many of these lessons before I met him... but these lessons are of course lifetime goals and improvements that we must all keep working at... One thing he did NOT want to do was to raise children with the same issues... so he has really tried to teach them good communication skills, and he is a great listener.

I grew up in a home that was good about talking... but less good about listening... so I have needed to become a much better listener as his wife and as a mother... and to this day I am not nearly as good as I want to be at listening... I know that I just need to stop voicing MY thoughts. I get new lessons in this all the time... I am trying to be open to them. I truly am trying... I do so much better with hubby, probably because I agree with a lot of the things he is saying, and it sounds just a bit "silly sophomorish" but I still think he is "dreamy", I just like to hear his voice...

Keeping marriage young and exciting is a worthy goal... I encourage all married couples to keep working at it... Champion your own marriage if you are married and if you aren't encourage someone that is married to have a better partnership with their spouse and show a greater measure of love and devotion... I believe that in doing for your spouse that which is the thing that is most important to them, that we learn to love more abundantly... I believe in this principle of service that can help you to keep yourself and your spouse working at and championing marriage... by doing things for and with hubby that he likes... never giving up... working together, praying and playing together FOREVER, I believe I will succeed at my goals, and I believe you can succeed too...