All Good Things Must Come To an End.

As the semester is almost finished, we have gotten to the end of “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work”. I really like the way Dr. Gottman finishes his book. He tells us by having gratitude each day for our world around us, the blessings we receive each day, and expressing thankfulness for the things your spouse does will make life joyful. This will create warmth within ourselves, be an example to our children, and spread to all we know. People enjoy being around a person who extrudes positive energy.

From this book I have learned many ways to make marriage more meaningful and help our relationship to blossom.

·         Take time to ask questions which allow us to really know and understand a person.

·         Always remember why we fell in love as a couple. Review with pictures and memories of days gone by to create warm feelings.

·          Give admiration and true praise, which builds fondness between us.

·         Make time to do things together to make more memories and grow our friendship.

Raise the Bar!

A study by Donald Baucom suggests that your expectations of your marriage be high. He also stated that a couple will be happier if they refuse to accept negativity and stop it in each other. Carefully watch for signs of growing apart each day. Nurture our relationship daily to avoid having to patch up serious damage later. By spending time together connecting, working through problems along the way, laughing together, having goals together, and supporting each other can only enhance our marriage. That is the life Heavenly Father wishes for us.

Heaven is Where We Want to Be!

I also enjoyed the spiritual lift from reading Dr. Goddard’s book: “Drawing Heaven into your Marriage”. Having the gospel a part of this class makes so much sense. How simple is the message of having the Lord as a partner in a marriage. It is the way to love purely and rise above the petty problems which make relationships unsteady. When we have the pure love of Christ as our guide, we cannot find fault in others. Charity allows all other gospel principles to be in our lives.

He writes that charity, or the pure love of Christ, is not artificial good cheer, a thin veneer of politeness, or while holding our tongues, we judge and resent in our mind. These are the way of a natural man, and we have a choice to live better than that. Satan would have our families a shamble, winning any way he can. What works well, is for family members begin to pick others apart. To find fault and thinking how much better one is over the other. With the pure love of Christ, that won’t happen. We need to pray for that love every day for ourselves and our family.

                                             



Elder Oaks explains what charity is:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-08-3255-charity-the-pure-love-of-christ?lang=eng