“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)
How would you describe your marriage?
Marriage can be tough. I know! My man and I have weathered some pretty tough times ourselves… so I get it when women tell me marriage is hard.
But could it be that we are making marriage much more difficult than it needs to be?
One of the things I realized when I was in a hard place in my marriage was that I was spending a lot more time and energy fighting with my man and finding fault with him, than I was fighting FOR my man and focusing on the good things about him and the good things about being married to him.
Today, I want to share with you ONE thing that will make your marriage strong:
1. Embrace Him as Your PARTNER in Life –
It’s so easy to get caught up in living life that you forget that you and your man are partners in the life you’re living. Good teams work together because they know they have a much better chance to succeed if they do.
Marriage isn’t about the husband fulfilling the wife’s needs or vice-a-versa. It’s about two coming together as one and functioning as one to glorify God.
I remember when I was a stay-at-home mom, I knew my hubby worked hard all day to provide for our family, and I didn’t take that for granted. So I made sure I took care of my man, our children, and our home. That included a clean house (not a perfect one, but a clean one), clean laundry, healthy meals, packing his lunch and trying to keep life organized on the home-front – and an occasional sticky-note love note tucked in his lunch box or on the steering wheel of his truck.
That was my role in the partnership during that season and while it may seem old-fashioned to some, it’s an important ingredient to maintaining a strong marriage as well as biblical.
Our culture has de-valued the role of a wife and a mother, so for far too many women, they feel like taking care of their family and their home is somehow insignificant.
Your hubby (a/k/a your partner for life) enjoys knowing you two are on the same team and are working together to love each other well, to raise your children together and to help the household run smoothly.
The more you see your husband as your life-long partner, the more you will find yourself working together as a team and enjoying the journey together.
He’s your partner in life and ‘life’ covers just about everything. So embrace him as your partner in…
Your home – Share the load, work together to create a thriving home where love flourishes, children bloom, and things function as well as possible for your unique family.
Your heart – Men are different, so he may never really ‘get’ why you are feeling, but be willing to share your heart and work on ways to convey what you are feeling, thinking or going through in a way that will make sense to him. He’s your partner, so he needs to know. And the same is true for him. He needs to know you’re a safe place for him to go and that you will hear his heart.
And guard your heart, sweet mom! The grass is never greener on the other side of the fence… in fact, you’ll find weeds you won’t want anything to do with there.
Your plans – Let him be part of and help him keep up with the wild ride that sometimes defines a mom’s life. Include him in the events and activities on your calendar. Make his plans your plans and make your plans his plans so he doesn’t feel left out.
Your priorities – Your seasons may change, but your priorities don’t. You are a wife before you are a mom and while God is your first priority, your husband falls in line under him… and then your children and home and church and ministry and job and so on.
When your children are born, it’s easy to shift focus and find yourself stuck with your attention on the kids and your hubby is left waiting in the wings of your life, hoping to find his way back into your world and wondering how he ever got lost in the first place.
Embrace your hubby as your partner in your priorities.
Your parenting – Parenting is a joint venture. Children need their dads to be part of the parenting process. You may not always agree, but chat about what you want for your kids and how you will go about it. He’s your partner in parenting and the more you talk about how you will uniquely parent your children, the more you will work together to raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Your prayers – Praying with your spouse is the most intimate thing we can do with our men. Pray for him, pray with him, and share with him some of the things you are praying about. He is your partner in prayer.
Your ministry – Christian couples are partners in ministry. They may have very different ministries, but the more they support each other to serve God, the stronger each of them become in the faith and in their marriage.
Want some practical ideas of how you can partner together well in your marriage?
Discover each other’s weaknesses and strengths and embrace your differences to strengthen your partnership.
* Who’s best with the finances? Let that spouse handle them.
* Who’s best with organization? Let that spouse handle help keep things organized.
Set some family rules by working as a team when it comes to parenting.
* You may disagree behind closed doors, but come together and do what is in the children’s best interest.
* Be willing to listen to each other if one has a concern about the way the other is parenting. Parenting is a journey of discovery, not a perfectly innate skill and we’re all learning.
So…
- HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MARRIAGE?
- HAVE YOU EVER STRUGGLED WITH SEEING YOUR MAN AS YOUR PARTNER IN LIFE?
- WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO TO EMBRACE YOUR HUBBY AS PARTNER IN YOUR LIFE TODAY?
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