Did I tell you yet about the lady that visited our Bible Study a few weeks ago? She’d been married for FIFTY — count ’em — FIFTY years. She (Mrs. Janey) gave us her top ten tips on making your marriage a success (I, of course, loved that it was a top ten list.) And everyone wanted her to come back the next week so that we could ask her heaps more questions.

She did. It was great.

One of the things that stuck out to me the most about her talk (totally random, you’ll think, but read on…) was that she talked about how she got up every morning before her husband to get herself ready and put on her makeup. She didn’t want him to leave for work without saying goodbye to her, looking her best. She pointed out that there are too many women who don’t care whether he’s married.

The thought of getting up super-early for pretty much anything is a hard one for me. I already get up between six and 6:20 most days. And the Hubs has already left for the gym by then. I suppose I could get ready by the time he gets back but that’s when I spend time with the Lord. Om, sorry guys, I’m having a conversation with myself. I’ll continue it at another time.

So where were we?

Well, just the week before this special guest graced our group with her presence, I’d been considering how much makeup I could ditch from my routine, as a part of the Naked Face Project. But I don’t really like for my face to be nekkid. So I was very thankful for an excuse to keep my beauty regime in tact.

You’ll be glad to know there were other, mayhaps more important take-aways from the talk. And today at Signposts I shared some of my own thoughts about Fighting for your Marriage (instead of fighting in it.) And tomorrow, I’m sharing that Top Ten List from the guest speaker, which I think you’ll also enjoy.

On a more personal note, I think one of the most useful things the Hubs and I have incorporated that has been a great help to our marriage is setting aside a specific time each week where we go through a specific set of questions that we discussed and decided on. They include things like “How have I honored and loved you this week?” and “Is there anything we need to let go of?” and “How is your walk with the Lord” and “How are we doing with Asher and Blake?” Although we struggle to faithfully keep up that habit each week, when we do, I always sense that there’s so much life in it.

The questions have become an integral part of our lives, so that we can still ask each other those questions when we have a good car ride in front of us or some time on our hands — so it doesn’t have to just be on the sofa with sleeping boys in their room anymore.

So what works for you? Any marriage advice you’d like to share? You can click over to Signposts or comment right here. I hope you’ll enjoy both posts — especially the second one!

You might also like this recent post by Pastor Perry Noble — Seven Ways to Destroy Your Marriage

and this post from We Are THAT Family — 100 Ways to Make Your Marriage Rock

One thing I’m sure of — you can decide to fight in your marriage, or you can decide to fight for it. Pick your fights well, Rocky!

xCC