I can’t believe Christmas is only a few days away! That means next week is New Years. One of my favorite things about this time of year is making new goals or resolutions. They usually reflect my own personal growth so I thought it might be fun to focus not only on how to make myself better, but on how to make my marriage better.
Here are a few of my marriage resolutions.
- Consistent date night. Every couple can do this. Money is no excuse! Little children are no excuse! Find a way, whether it’s a walk around the block, a babysitting-swap, or an at-home-date after all the kids are in bed. Make it special, and make it consistent.
- Speak his love language. Speaking another language is hard! Speaking another love language might be even harder. My husband’s love language is acts of service. Mine is quality time. For years, I showed my husband that I loved him by just being with him. Well, that made me feel great but not so much him. But when I clean out his office or make his favorite dinner, he feels loved. Make a conscious effort to speak your spouse’s love language.
- Pray together daily. This is a simple yet effective way to strengthen a marriage. Make a priority to share this sacred time together every single day.
- Thank him for something specific each day. Feeling appreciated goes a long way. But just saying “thank you” in general can get old. Tell you spouse exactly why you appreciate them.
- Have a new adventure together. Going through new experiences will strengthen any relationship. You might learn some lessons, make each other laugh, and definitely make memories!
- Get away for at least one night together. It doesn’t need to be extravagant or expensive. Reserve a room in the city, or find someone to take your kids for a night while you enjoy your home in peace!
- Let go of one of your pet peeves about him. We all do annoying things that drives our spouse crazy. Habits die hard. Is it really worth it to obsess about something so insignificant? If you do, it could potentially ruin your relationship.
- Cultivate a new hobby together. My husband and I are complete opposites in almost every way, hobbies being a main one. We have always encouraged each other to pursue our own passions, but lately we have put extra effort into creating new interests together. This has strengthened our marriage even more!
- Grow my personal relationship with Christ. When growing your personal relationship with Christ, your marriage will naturally strengthen.
- Only speak positively about him. Confession: During the first year of our marriage, I wasn’t the best at this. Venturing into marriage is a brand new territory for most of us. And dealing with everything that goes along with it can be hard. You want to vent to your mom or to your girlfriends so you don’t feel alone. Before you do that, make sure your husband is the first to know about your concerns. Then, if you need a third-party opinion, ask in a neutral way giving your husband the benefit of the doubt.
How will you make your marriage better this coming year?
Follow Becky on Instagram and Facebook!
2 Responses
“Let go of one of your pet peeves about him.” This one is definitely a challenge. These are all really great resolutions though! I agree that speaking another’s love language can be tough and easy to forget when we feel loved a different way. I am going to put some of these on my list of resolutions as well! Thanks for the ideas!
Thank you for this list. I will definitely be applying a greater focus to several of these things as we move into 2017.