Practice Random Acts of Kindness with Your Spouse

One of the fun things about marriage is that you have another person, a partner, the love or your life, for whom you can lavish attention. Here is a ready made opportunity in the form of the most important person in the world, and opportunity to give of yourself. We have heard of random acts of kindness before. Typically, in practicing this, you look for opportunities to do something nice without the chance of reward or acknowledgment. Most of the time, the person who receives the act may not know it was you that performed it or even that it … Continue reading →

Twenty-Nine Gifts

There is a new book out by author Cami Walker called, 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life, published by Da Capo Lifelong. In this book, the author tells about how after she was diagnosed with MS, she went on an adventure of making sure to gift someone with something everyday for 29 days in a row. These gifts could be anything, from flowers given to a stranger, to good thoughts and prayers for a loved one. The author says that this practice made such a positive difference in her life that once she was done … Continue reading →

Helping Young Marrieds

If you’ve been married a few years or a long while, how prepared are you to encourage and help those just starting out on the marriage path? Recently a couple I know celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary. Someone commented that in this day and age where many marriages never last anywhere near that long, this couple is an encouragement to others. I remember too when I said once how long Mick and I had been married the person looked at me in stunned amazement. She then congratulated me on our long marriage. Funnily enough it doesn’t seem that long at … Continue reading →

Learn from Dogs

Those of us who are married can learn a lot from dogs. Dog owners know how faithful loyal and loving these four footed friends can be. Their love and loyalty does not depend on what we do for them. They will love us regardless and not hesitate to show it. In the words of John Grogan from Marley and Me ‘A dog doesn’t care ifyou’re rich or poor, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about/? How many people make you feel special, extraordinary?’ Yet shouldn’t that be … Continue reading →

Focus on What You Have

In marriage it’s not about what you own, not even sometimes about what you do. It’s about being together and enjoying each other’s company. Since it was a beautiful sunny winter’s day, after lunch yesterday we bundled our little dog into the car and drove to one of the quiet beaches near us. It was not deserted as we’d expected but still only a few groups of people on the beach. Some brave souls were in the water. We were not two of them. We walked along the beach, sat for a while watching the teal water as they waves … Continue reading →

Renewing Your Marriage Vows

Would you renew your marriage vows? At one stage, it became quite a trend for people to renew their vows. Would you? Why or why not? One reason why you might choose to renew your marriage vows is to publicly affirm your love for each other. In this day and age where many marriages are going to the wall, it’s great for others to see a marriage that has stood the test of time, that is still going strong and where the couple still loves each other and puts the other one at the center of their world. You might … Continue reading →

Should Marriage Preparation Classes Be Compulsory?

Given the sad state or marriages and the number of marriages that are ending in divorce, should marriage preparation classes be compulsory for all couples? Instead of waiting till couples are experiencing problems in their marriages and then trying to fix them, should we try and nip it in the bud before they marry? Sometimes it seems that people need to think seriously about what they’re doing and what marriage entails, rather than just being swept along by a wave of emotion. Love is not enough in marriage. Love alone, will not get you through the tough times, the economic … Continue reading →

What Would You Sacrifice for Your Marriage?

What would you sacrifice for your marriage? Sacrificial love is obviously on my mind since Saturday and on Mick’s too, since he was the one came up with the idea for this blog. Saturday in Australia and New Zealand was a day when we remember the sacrifice made by many during war time where men sacrificed their lives that their wives and families might live in peace. There have been other examples where men have been hailed as heroes after saving their wife. Last year in a blizzard, a man sacrificed his life in for his wife and friend. That’s … Continue reading →

Are You up for a Dare?

Are you up for a dare – a dare to enliven your marriage? 40 days could change your marriage, if you let it. According to experts it takes anywhere from 20 to 40 days for something to become a habit. So, doing one positive thing for our spouse each day over 40 days to show we love them would become a habit we could incorporate into our marriage. This morning I received a email suggesting this 40 day love challenge in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. It meant starting on New Years Day. Now obviously it doesn’t have … Continue reading →

A Short Summary of Life and Marriage

Ther is a legend that Ernest Hemingway, once wrote a whole story in six words. This sparked an idea where online magazine Smith decided to run a six-word memoir contest. Entries poured in by the thousands, some from established writers like Joyce Carol Oates, and others from writers who had never been published. It resulted in the Not Quite What I Was Planning Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure which I reviewed. As I read, some made me cry. Others made me laugh. Some left me confused. In an article by Mem Fox about writing a picture book, she … Continue reading →