I really loved our reading this week in my marriage class. What I got from both chapter 6 in Gottman's book and chapter 3 in Goddard's book was that part of having a happy, healthy, rich, fulfilling marriage is learning to see our partner as God sees them. We also need to treat them as the beautiful son or daughter of God that they are. In all reality they are a prince or princess to our Father in Heaven and to his kingdom. I knew my husband was special, but thinking about him in that light changes things for me.
Marriage is hard work, but it can be a lot harder when choose to turn our backs on the ones we are supposed to love the most. I really love what Gottman had to say about the magic that happens when you turn towards your spouse rather than away. He likened one act to a snowball rolling down a hill. Just one small, kind, sincere act at a time can do a mountain of good for your marriage. It breaks down walls little by little. It kindles the love and fire a relationship.
Goddard spoke from a more spiritual perspective. He talked about how when we turn towards our spouse we are taking small steps to becoming like God. We are preparing ourselves, and at the same time preparing our spouse to live with Heavenly Father forever. I love that we are doing it together.
Just an example from my own marriage this week. My husband and I kind of let the dishes go a bit wild this week. We still didn't have too much in the sink, but I was starting to get that feeling of claustrophobia in my own house you know. I mentioned something really small to my husband about how I wanted to clean after I got back from class. He listened to that need and without asking he started cleaning and we were able to have a nice house together. That small act of listening was really special to me and it's not something I'm going to forget.
We aren't perfect and neither are our companions, but I really feel as Goddard does when he said that Heavenly Father put us together to help us succeed in this life. Sometimes we get distracted by Satan's here-and-
now problems, but if we both choose to keep an eternal perspective we are going to be able to look past the little annoyances and trivial things and just love our spouse. I'm really grateful we have a loving Savior who allows us to not only make mistakes, but to learn from them and repent. He helps us along our journey.
Marriage is hard work, but it can be a lot harder when choose to turn our backs on the ones we are supposed to love the most. I really love what Gottman had to say about the magic that happens when you turn towards your spouse rather than away. He likened one act to a snowball rolling down a hill. Just one small, kind, sincere act at a time can do a mountain of good for your marriage. It breaks down walls little by little. It kindles the love and fire a relationship.
Goddard spoke from a more spiritual perspective. He talked about how when we turn towards our spouse we are taking small steps to becoming like God. We are preparing ourselves, and at the same time preparing our spouse to live with Heavenly Father forever. I love that we are doing it together.
Just an example from my own marriage this week. My husband and I kind of let the dishes go a bit wild this week. We still didn't have too much in the sink, but I was starting to get that feeling of claustrophobia in my own house you know. I mentioned something really small to my husband about how I wanted to clean after I got back from class. He listened to that need and without asking he started cleaning and we were able to have a nice house together. That small act of listening was really special to me and it's not something I'm going to forget.We aren't perfect and neither are our companions, but I really feel as Goddard does when he said that Heavenly Father put us together to help us succeed in this life. Sometimes we get distracted by Satan's here-and-
now problems, but if we both choose to keep an eternal perspective we are going to be able to look past the little annoyances and trivial things and just love our spouse. I'm really grateful we have a loving Savior who allows us to not only make mistakes, but to learn from them and repent. He helps us along our journey.
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