One day back when I was working at the preschool, one of the other teachers asked me a simple question- who is your best friend?  I quickly answered- Travis (my hubby).  And that has been the answer for the 22 years I have known him.  Our marriage is built on love but founded on friendship.  In fact, we didn’t start dating until after we were friends for a short while. You can read more about our story here.  But one of the strengths of our marriage is by far our friendship.

If I get good or bad news, the first person I want to tell is Travis.  If I go out I always want it to be with him.  We do everything together- watch tv, travel, work on wedding days and do everyday life.  It is a blessing.  If you can do one thing right now to strengthen your marriage- work on the friendship.  Do you like hanging out with your spouse?  Can you tell them anything?  Do you have shared interests?   I am not saying you have to do everything together, but I am saying that you need to spend time doing things that are fun together and talking a lot!

If you need help with communication in your marriage, begin with just talking about your days.  Ask how work was, what they did.  And listen, really listen.  Ask questions and see where it goes.  If you can talk about the little stuff, you will eventually get to the big stuff.  One thing that can help facilitate conversations too is a daily devotional.  We have done several and I will be sharing more about that soon.  Devotionals are awesome because they give you prompts for things to talk about.   Read the passage and then discuss.

So today, I challenge you- plan a fun date with your spouse.  It can be anything- in our out of the house.  But do something you both love.  And then start a conversation about ANYTHING.  And just build that friendship.

Want more marriage monthly?  Check back in February for our second edition!