Is there anything in the world that can compare to your beloved's smile? Does your heart feel warm and happy watching them laugh and enjoy life?  Are you looking forward to enjoying that beautiful / handsome smile for a lifetime? That is great, but let me warn you, the mouth that can curl upward will occasionally curl downward. Unfortunately, the ones we choose to love won't always be in a good mood. During the dating period, we generally see more good moods than bad moods. After all, new love makes the sorrows of life more bearable. There is nothing as exciting as the experience of new … [Read more...]

I believe my wife would call me a perfectionist and I have a secret. I have figured out a key element toward what it takes to maintain harmony in a marriage with a perfectionist. The concept is simple, yet profound – and it could change your life. In the Summer of 2002, I sold books (KJV Open Bible, Kindergarten through 12th grade Book of Knowledge, and a comprehensive Family Health & Medical Guide) door-to-door with the Varsity Internship Program. They were hard, grueling days. Those of us that braved such a job had 80 hours of sales training in one week and then we were unleashed to … [Read more...]

Let me get it out in the open: your spouse will annoy you from time to time. Some of these annoyances may be severe and often; whereas, others may be so rare they take you by surprise. Regardless of how wonderful of a marriage you have, you will get on each other's nerves occasionally. So, how do you deal with it? Maybe he would rather drive lost for an hour than ask someone for directions. Maybe she can never be on time. Maybe he likes to make jokes at the wrong time. Maybe she just can't seem to keep the kitchen clean. The lists of possibilities are endless. As you live your life as a … [Read more...]

Today, I heard the following quote by Ruth Graham Bell, "A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers." What a wise saying! Every married couple should have this cross stitched and hung in their bedrooms or embroidered on their pillows! So many marital problems come down to forgiveness issues. Let's face it: we are prideful creatures. We don't like to admit we are wrong and we certainly don't like continuously admitting we're wrong when we don't see our spouse doing the same.  After all, why should we keep being the one to apologize? Why should we have to humble ourselves and feel weak … [Read more...]

When I was a child, I dreamed of my future husband. I wondered what he would look like, what he would do for a living, and I wondered what kind of a life we would have together. Because it was my fantasy, I also dreamed of all the good times we would have and did not spend much time considering the bad times. When I would see couples fight, I would think, "Wow, I'm so glad my marriage won't be like that!" People often do not dwell on the bad times to come when they are considering marriage; yet, some do based on what they have experienced from other marriages. However, most of us look … [Read more...]