Started this blog yesterday – didn’t have time to finish – so — 34 years ago today (July 16) God blessed me with an incredible gift – my wife Janet. We’ve had our share of ups & downs – tough times & great times, but all in all we’ve had an incredibly blessed life together.

I’ve had many blessings in this life. First & foremost is my relationship with Christ & second only to this is my relationship with Janet. We are blessed with 3 wonderful children (& a son-in-law & daughter-in-law) who have made the choice to follow Christ & live by the truth of His Word. We now have our first grandson and another on the way in a few months; grandchildren truly are a blessing from God! We also had wonderful parents who set a great example for us. We’ve had great friends over the years and have been privileged to serve with some great pastors and in some great churches.

We’re still learning what it means to follow God’s divine guidance for our marriage; Janet’s learning how to show me the respect I need, and I’m learning to love her as she needs (as Christ loves His church). We’re both continuing to grow in the choice to submit to God first, and then to one another.

We’ve not arrived, but here are a few tips we’d share on developing a marriage made in heaven.
– develop & grow a red-hot relationship with Christ
– pray & read God’s Word daily with the intent to apply it
– die to yourself
– discover your spouses deepest needs & strive to meet them – serve your spouse
– quit trying to change each other – you work on you
– stay connected to a church family & small group
– when you struggle, get counsel from wise Christians who are unbiased toward you
– find things you enjoy doing together and make them a habit
– have a weekly date night or day away from the kids
– never disagree on discipline of kids in front of kids – do this privately & be in harmony
– take breaks together – short getaways and/or vacations
– take the word divorce out of your vocabulary
– express your commitment to one another regularly
– learn to communicate honestly – a lifelong process for many of us
– remember special days and occasions
– honor God with your finances – do them God’s way!

Again – this isn’t an exhaustive list and we’ve not arrived; these are just some things we’ve discovered that help us.