Marriage 22 | Bret Legg

Life is Full of Turtles

June 20, 2016April 25, 2015 by Bret Legg

I was on my way to work one morning and there it was. A small box turtle inching it’s way across the road. There wasn’t a good place to pull over or to turn around and I was running a little late for work, so I decided not to stop. A couple of days later, I went for a walk down that street and I saw it. The turtle had been mercilessly run over.

When I saw it, I couldn’t help but think, “If only I had stopped.” It wouldn’t have taken much. It wouldn’t have taken long. It would’t have cost me much. But it would have meant everything to the turtle.

Counting Pennies

April 16, 2018April 21, 2015 by Bret Legg

In some marriages, “counting pennies” means being very frugal and saving every penny you get. But in other marriages, “counting pennies” means turning over sofa cushions to find enough change to get the bills paid.

I looked back over the last year of blog posts and realized I have not written any posts on marriage and money management. Maybe that’s because, unlike other areas of marriage that come fairly easy, money management is an area of marriage that’s never really come natural to me. (My wife is the financial strength in our marriage.)

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve always been able to pay our bills, meet our obligations, and even save some money, but it just doesn’t come as natural as other things.

I remember where we really started to learn about managing money.

Understand What Your Spouse Is Not Saying

April 16, 2018April 14, 2015 by Bret Legg

If you’ve read my blog, you know I caution spouses about trying to read each other’s mind.

But then my wife took me away for a few days on a surprise trip to North Carolina. (That’s right! She made the plans, told me what to pack, and then said, “Drive.” It was wonderful! I owe her big time.) Any way, back to the story…

Little Things Mean A Lot – Honesty

April 16, 2018March 31, 2015 by Bret Legg

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.”

Are Your Dogs Out?

April 16, 2018March 26, 2015 by Bret Legg

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?

April 16, 2018March 24, 2015 by Bret Legg

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…

Marriage Is Like Baseball

April 16, 2018March 17, 2015 by Bret Legg

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?

April 16, 2018March 10, 2015 by Bret Legg

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?”

Dissatisfaction in Marriage

April 16, 2018March 3, 2015 by Bret Legg

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.

Remember Why You’re Married

June 20, 2016February 24, 2015 by Bret Legg

Unless you’re a newlywed, you know how easy it is to let the demands, stresses, and frustrations of life crowd out the things that brought you together in the first place. It’s subtle at first, but eventually these things can take a marriage to dull distance at best and disappointing finality at worst.

But there’s something you can do to hit the refresh button on your marriage. It’s not expensive counseling, and it’s not an awkward marriage retreat. It’s simple, it’s easy, it doesn’t cost anything, and it will remind you why you got married in the first place.