GET IT, SO YOU CAN GET IT…GOT IT?

So let’s get the obvious out of the way….Marriage is a lot of work! It is a never ending journey of give and take. It’s a roller coaster ride of surrender, yielding & partnership. To sum it up, marriage is a ministry unto itself.

I was reminded of that powerful fact when our Marriage & Relationship expert Ann Mainse spent the week with us and shared some overwhelming marital stats with us. Did you know that 41% of Canadian marriages will end before their 30th anniversary? Forty one percent. The average marriage in Canada will last only 14 years.  However, when a couple both come from a stable home, the divorce rate is only 9%, which makes so much sense because we model what we see.

I can say in my own life that prayer has been a lifeline for myself & my husband. I can honestly say that it’s the glue that’s kept us together. Building a relationship on prayer will not only strengthen your relationship, but draw you both closer & cause you to be cheerleaders for one another’s well being and success.

Here’s what I know for sure guys: Marriage is not a power struggle.

Disagreements & arguments are normal and healthy….but world war 3 in your home is not. It’s so important to release ground & yield to one another. Learn to trust the other with your life, well being & dreams. That feeling of safety brings trust, and with trust, all the walls can come down.

Ann Mainse really brought it home for me with the incredible takeaways of the top three needs for men & women…amazing!  For Women, our top three needs in marriage are security, soft non-sexual affection & open/honest communication. The need to feel safe was number one on our list.  For men, the top three things are honour & respect, sexual intimacy & friendship. The need  to be built up, not torn down by their wives was number one on their list. So interesting.

She showed us how these things are all interconnected: When the husband feels honoured & respected & has a healthy sexual life with his wife, he is more likely to open up in communication & to be more loving and affectionate. The more the wife feels safe, loved and heard, is the more open she will become to being sexually intimate with her husband.

Marriage is a beautiful dance of learning, growing, failing, succeeding, loving & living together in complete partnership. The truth is, we are all still learning in our marriages and we all have so much room for growth. Hopefully this week on marriage has helped many of you & given you some valuable tools that you can use! In other words, as I said on the show…”hopefully you will get it, so you can…get it…got it?” LOLOL

Here’s to vibrant marriages everywhere!