Does the following exchange sound familiar to you? (Please say it doesn’t just happen in my marriage!)
Spouse 1: “Where do you want to eat?”
Spouse 2: “I don’t care. We can go anywhere.”
Little Things Mean A Lot – Honesty
Month: March 2015
Are Your Dogs Out?
I walk most every morning in my neighborhood. It’s a great time for me to think, listen to music, pray, and make plans for my day. I’ve done this for years and have never had any problems with dogs.
But over the last couple of years, I’ve started having “encounters” with dogs in the neighborhood. More and more, dogs are coming at me snarling, barking, and threatening. I’ve even been bitten a couple of times with one of those “encounters” requiring a trip to the ER.
What’s A Good Marriage Look Like?
What’s a good marriage look like? Even if we don’t ask this question out loud, we all wonder what a good marriage really looks like. Maybe you have your own ideas about what a good marriage looks like. When you think about a good marriage, maybe you picture a husband and wife…
Looking for Peace
There’s a shortage of peace in the world. Terrorist invade and ravage our world like cancer cells invading and ravaging a body. Countries are on edge over territorial, trade, and nuclear issues. Racial tensions tear apart our communities and country. Political parties bicker and battle over every little issue. Husbands and wives divorce and fight battles over children and property. There’s a shortage of peace in the world.
Marriage Is Like Baseball
I often tell couples that marriage is like baseball. The key is knowing which pitches to swing at and which pitches to let go by. Others have said the key to marriage is figuring out which hills are too small to die on. However you describe it, there are times in marriage when you have to determine…is this something I should try to change or is this something I should learn to live with?”
In a podcast entitled “Managing Tension,” Andy Stanley talks about determining the difference between a problem to be solved and a tension to be managed. He is speaking to leaders of organizations, but I believe the concept is also applicable to spouses in marriage.
Are You Listening To Me?
Have you ever been in a conversation with your spouse and you zoned out, only to wake up to these words, “Are you listening to me?” Or maybe you were in a heated discussion where you were graciously sharing the benefit of your knowledge with your spouse, only to have them interrupt you and say, “Are you listening to me?”
Accumulation or Appreciation?
Maybe you’ve seen this…a preschooler is sitting on the floor playing with a toy. They’re perfectly content with the toy they have, until they see another child playing with a different toy. Then the preschooler wants the toy the other child has. They don’t want to just exchange toys. They want both toys!
It’s funny in preschoolers, but it’s not so funny in adults. Yet so many of us get caught up in accumulating things rather than appreciating what we have.
Dissatisfaction in Marriage
To be married is to know dissatisfaction. That statement will probably get me in trouble, but it’s true. You can’t live with someone who is different than you and not experience some dissatisfaction. Your spouse won’t make the same decisions you would make. They will correct you at times. Their priorities will be different than yours. You won’t like all their habits and quirks. No matter how great your spouse might be, being married to them will bring a certain amount of dissatisfaction.