Ten Secrets to a Happy Marriage (from the book Forever, by Karen Kingsbury)
- God has you here to serve one another. Love acted out is serving.
- Women need respect and nurturing. Love your wife so she knows you'd lay down your life for her. Continue to date her and admire her. Share a hobby - find something you can do to have fun together.
- Laugh often.
- Be patient. Love crumbles quickly under the weight of unmet expectations.
- Spend more time trying to fix yourself than your spouse.
- Keep short accounts. The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down while you are angry." Make it a habit to forgive.
- Determine upfront that divorce is not an option.
- Learn about love languages. Not all people show long or receive it in the same way. You want a back rub and your spouse wants a clean kitchen. The love languages are fairly simple: acts of service, time, physical touch, gifts, and words of affirmation. Learn them. Love is better received when it's in the language that person speaks.
- Words of affirmation are a love language for all men.
- Men are born to be leaders. He cannot lead unless she gives him the confidence to do so. If you love your husband, build him up. Confident men do not seek love outside the home.
So what did you think??
I really didn't think I would go for a book series like this one. I never really got into the Christian book thing after elementary school... not that I didn't like it, more that I just never took the time to get into it I guess, or find out if I liked it or not...
So when a few friends mentioned how they loved the karen kingsbury books, i thought I'd check them out. I'm always looking for a good read! At first while reading, I thought, 'how cheesy and unrealistic...' but then I realized that it might just be me! Maybe other people really do talk to God this way, this often. It was a real eye opener for me and my own relationship with God. I have a lot to learn and discover about Him since reading these books.
So anyways! When I came across this list, I thought 'Wow, this is exactly what I needed to hear, something that I can do to keep my marriage healthy.' It all is common sense for relationships, but put down in a list makes it easier to reference and easier to work at and remember.
I know I've heard of the love languages before, and I know there's a book out there about it too I think... but it's good to be reminded of them... and try to remember this when I want to do something nice for my husband. I guess that means I should make his lunch more often... I KNOW that's one of his love languages(acts of service)!!
