Her Advice: Preparation For a Great Marriage

ADVICE

BY COACH CHRIS

Hello ladies! I am super excited about this edition of Her Magazine because it is a special edition: The Bridal issue. Let me tell you why I love this: It is because I absolutely love marriage! I think that marriage is truly a blessing and an honor—when done right.

My husband and I have the privilege of meeting with couples who are thinking of getting married and those who are already married. It is our passion to see marriages work—but most importantly that marriages have access to the right tools and resources that are needed to experience a great marriage. Each year, we plan and facilitate a marriage retreat through our business (The Monday Solutions Group) called “Focusing On Forever” where we take couples away for the weekend and lead them through various activities and exercise that are designed to help strengthen their marriages. It is such an honor for us to partner with couples from all walks of life as they focus on growing their marriage.

One of the things that we hear often from couples is this: “we wish we would have spent a little more time preparing for the marriage as much as we spent planning the wedding day.” Now, don’t get me wrong, the wedding day is quite important. It is a time to bring family and friends together to witness a very special combining of lives through a sacred ceremony. The flowers are beautiful. The lighting of the unity candle is pretty. The dresses and tuxes are flawless, and the wedding cake is oh so delicious! I do want to just encourage you, as you are putting the finishing touches on your guest list that you do not forget to make sure you plan for more than a great wedding day—prepare for a great marriage.

I want to offer you 4 basic keys that I have found that are very important as you are about to spend your entire life becoming “one” with the person that you believe will be with you forever.

KEY 1: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! Communication is if you are going to have a great marriage. It is important that you learn how to express yourself and listen well! KEY 2: Learn to forgive often Marriage is a classroom. Your feelings will get hurt and it is important to learn to forgive. Do not sweat the small stuff so to speak. One of my friends once said this statement to me and it has a lot of truth: “if it is not worth divorcing over—do not spend energy on it!”

KEY 3: Learn how to live selflessly Selfishness is the fastest way to bring destruction in a marriage. If you are going to be fulfilled in your marriage, you will have to learn how to give more than you take. Pouring yourself into your spouse will give you fulfillment.

KEY 4: Continue dating I cannot tell you how many couples forget how to date once they get married. To nurture your relationship, you will want to do the things that made you attracted to the person in the first place! Flirt with each other. Run around the house without clothes on (if you all are by yourselves—of course!) Explore interests and activities AFTER you say “I do”—your marriage is worth the continual pouring in!

I wish you the best as you are preparing for your wedding day. I know that you are going to be an absolutely stunning bride! I just want to ask that you keep it in the forefront of your mind though, once the wedding comes to a close, that you do not forget that you still must work on building a great marriage. Know that I am excited for you and I hope that this article has been a blessing to you. Congratulations and many blessings to you!

Christy Jones, also known as Coach Chris, is an improvement coach for leaders who works to help them break free from feeling overwhelmed while taking their teams to high levels of performance. Contact her at beginmonday.com.

www.reflector.com/her Her — February 2021 25