Hello Again, FINALLY!

It has been a long while since I last posted... but all is well on the home front! My husband and I are planning on attending a marriage workshop put on by the Army National Guard in a few weeks and I mentioned this to our daughters the other evening. Consider the fact we have always told them that we are 100% committed to our marriage and that divorce is not an option for us. Well, our oldest said "why? are you having marriage problems?" This was the prime opportunity to share a life lesson with them, without "preaching" to them. I told her no, we don't have marriage problems. I could have left it at that but decided to share a bit more with her. I said "why wait until there might be problems? Isn't it better to go to a conference to try to prevent problems then wait until problems happen to fix them?" She thought about my answer and thought that sounded good, but still asked "so your not going to get divorced?" Mind you, we have discussions but never really have arguments or fighting that might indicate issues. I shared that it is better for us to go now so we can continue to keep our marriage strong. She was good with that! It got me thinking a couple of things... 1) Couples need to be proactive in protecting their marriages and 2) Kids of any age worry about their parents relationship/marriage. So what can be done? 1) Be Proactive! Go on dates, talk about your feelings, share stories with one another, serve the Lord together, hold hands, say I love you, take the time to smile at your spouse, exercise together, go on family outings, eat dinner together, send texts during the day, discuss goals for the future... I could go on and on! 2) Be an example to your children and others! My husband and I try our best to be good role models for our children, their friends and the kids we work with. We talk things through, make time for each other, let our kids know the importance of marriage, share our views of marriage (during tv shows, movies, music), show affection toward one another (even when they say GRRRROOOOSSSSSS!), let them know of our future plans, include them in making family plans and more! They need to see how much we love each other... who they choose as a spouse has a lot to do with what they see/experience at home. To me the biggest thing a couple can do is to be selfless towards one another... put the other person first. Life is not all about ME! This is such a strong example for children. When they see loving compromise, working together, sharing differing ideas and putting others needs first (not to the extreme) they begin to form opinions/ideas of what they want in a spouse. Have a wonderful day and stay strong through your JOURNEY of LOVE!