I just recently began a series that I'm calling "Marriage Advice Tips from Successful Marriages." The responses are from several friends that live nearby that are committed Christians. All of them have strong marriages. You won't want to miss a single tip.
The tips are not in any certain order, I'm just rolling out what advice each woman had for two brides we knew who both just got married this month. If you missed tip #1, just click here.
Today I would like to feature a friend's tip who has been married 33 years next month!
Marriage Tip #2:
1. Don't talk to anyone in the morning until you have talked with the Lord, and don't read anything in the morning until you have read God's Word.
2. Be deliberate in saying something kind, affirming, encouraging, complimentary, or simply express gratitude, to your husband every day. (You can thank him for coming home...not all husbands do.)
Oh, my. I love this tip, but I'm feeling a bit guilty right now. I normally have my quiet time in the morning with coffee, but today I had to go to an unexpected meeting. I thought it would last only a few minutes, but it lasted 2 hours. So here I am sending you this tip, and I didn't even do what it says today! I'm sorry I'm not being a very good example to you right now. I wanted you to have her excellent advice even if today I did not follow it. ☹
Aren't you glad that we can't do anything to earn God's favor? He doesn't love me any more for meeting with Him, and He doesn't love me any less for not meeting with Him! He loves us with a perfect love!!! It was my loss of blessing to not meet with Him this morning, but I'm going to meet Him right NOW! Adios!
I am going to start this day over, and have my quiet time now and meet with God for a very late breakfast:-)
We'll continue with this series next week with more tips from these wise friends who love God! I wish everyone of you who are mothers a very blessed Mother's Day! I'll interrupt this series just briefly to post a letter next time to mothers that I wrote when my daughter was born blind.
Oh, one more thing I just remembered! Do you have the devotional Jesus Calling by Sarah Young? You can get the Jesus Calling Ap especially if you look at your smartphone or iPad when you wake up. I started doing that when my alarm goes off on my phone after my friend sent this tip in.
You can look at the current day's reading right from your phone! (I still try to have my extended quiet time of Bible reading and prayer with my coffee, but the ap was one way to read God's word first before speaking to anyone. I don't do it every morning, but I did it today:-) You might really like it.
Walk by Faith,
Great advice. The only thing is I don't fully agree with tip #1. Definitely the first half but I don't know about the second half. As I've interviewed couples happily married 25 years or more, one of the things I realized is they all had a daily ritual that usually began at the very beginning of the day or the very end (for the sake of consistency). So my husband and I now have coffee together and our "us" time first thing in the morning -for about an hour- and then we begin our day after that. I think that earthly connection with our spouse is very important and the Word will still be there 15 minutes later. But if you have a schedule that allows alone time with your spouse before alone time with God, I don't think that makes a bit of difference. Mother Teresa had her hour of devotion every night after they spent all day helping people on the streets of Calcutta. The important thing is that our thoughts are lifted toward God all day and we pray without ceasing. At least, that's how I look at it :).
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you, Fawn, that the non-negociable here for our growth in the Lord to is meet with Him, pray and read His word! Just like we wouldn't dream of going a day without taking in physical food, we need to take in our spiritual food. For my friend, she feels strong that she must get with God before anyone else, or before she reads anything else. That may be a personal conviction that she has which others may enjoy. I hope that no one reads my friend's habit and puts themselves under a pile of guilt if they fall under another schedule. Thank heavens that we have freedom in Christ & that the Lord longs to meet with all of our very different personalities and needs and that we don't all have to follow the same schedule! The important thing is that we make time some time and some place! (in addition to praying anytime, anywhere!) I also love the unexpected times with the Lord that come up, like in my car with Worship music when my heart fills to overflowing with His love, when I thought I was just running out for lettuce!:-)
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