(Miss the beginning of this series?  Check out the other posts!) Though I may not have been confident about everything in my future, before I married, I was quite confident that I was going to be good at marriage. After all, I studied marriage, I read books about marriage, and I wanted to help other people have good marriages. My life pretty much revolved around marriage – my future marriage and others’ marriages. And I found Eric. He also wanted to help couples with their relationships. He had a realistic (as much as he knew back then) picture of what marriage would be. So, we were … [Read more...]

(Miss the beginning of this series?  Check out the other posts!) When my brother-in-law was in college, he and some buddies decided to play a joke on one of their friends. They were on their way home from a road trip and while one of their buddies was asleep, they parked in front of a wall and, in unison, they all started screaming. So, the poor guy woke up in a car and saw a wall just feet in front of him. In terror, he joined in the screaming until he realized they weren’t moving. Wow. When he told me that story, I laughed until I cried. As mean as it was, I had to respect the … [Read more...]

(Miss the beginning of this series?  Check out the other posts!) Who among us likes to be wrong? Let’s see a show of hands.... Pride is one of the most apparent displays of the fall of man. Most humans hate to be wrong and hate to admit when they are wrong. Even those who apologize for everything and walk through life with kick me signs on their backs don’t like to admit they are wrong. Their demeanor is a result of trying to lay low and produce harmony. It’s not because they have no pride. One downfall Eric and I have experienced in our relationship is blaming each other for … [Read more...]

To see the introduction or the first horseman to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (predictors of divorce) series, please click here (introduction) or here (part 2). What comes to mind when you think of the word contempt? When I think of contempt, I picture someone with a scrunched up face, thinking about someone he or she cannot stand – someone who makes his or her blood boil – someone who has caused him or her deep pain and frustration. Whatever you think of when you think of the word contempt, you probably have the right idea. Dictionary.com defines contempt as the feeling with … [Read more...]

To see the introduction to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (predictors of divorce) series, please click here. Out of the four horsemen to be discussed in this series, criticism is the one I have to guard against the most. A few nights ago, Eric and I were having a gentle dialogue about areas in our lives which we could improve. If I recall, I was more than happy to share my opinions with Eric on the areas in which he could improve. ~smile~ But, I had to ask him to share his opinions on my faults. He was careful in his delivery, which I appreciate, and the one area of improvement he … [Read more...]