Monday, April 2, 2012

Marriage Monday: Do You Help Your Spouse Succeed?


Discover the joy of helping your spouse succeed.


"Three simple questions to help your spouse succeed:
  1. What can I do to help you?
  2. How can I make you life easier?
  3. How can I be a better husband (wife)?"

Notice the way these questions are worded. They are not meant to be asked in your mind, to ponder on your own, but rather you need to actually ask them of your spouse and be willing to act on the answer they give you.

My husband and I have a weekly "check-in" with each other (and our family) to see what's on the calender, to go over personal goals if any, and to discuss our 'family or personal business' basically meaning anything we'd like to talk to the family about. This is prime time for us to be active in asking what we can do to help each other (and sometimes we've even now discovered specifics, for example if I have a meeting with a client or he has talk in church he's preparing for).

"Four practical ways to help your spouse succeed
  1. Offer encouraging words.
  2. Take supportive action.
  3. Provide emotional support.
  4. Express respect for your spouse."

What has worked for you and your spouse? What is something that you'd like to work on? 
What can you try to do this week to help your spouse succeed?


Quotes in this post were found in The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman (Author of The Five Love Languages)



You can find my other Marriage Monday's here.

5 comments:

Rachel+Co said...

Love these! I know my favorite words from the husband are: What can I do to help you? Thanks for sharing.

Greg and Kimberly ... said...

Thank you for this! It makes such a difference in my marriage when I have charity in my heart and not get too wrapped up in my own needs. Checkin in has been a huge help for us as well!

╰☆╮Sapphire Ray╰☆╮ said...

Newest Follower :)
Found you on Blog Frog
You can follow me back here and join my giveaway :)
http://acountrygirlcan.blogspot.com/

Tiana Smith said...

I love the idea of actually talking to your spouse and asking how you could be better. It's always good to check in!

Karen Adair said...

I once heard the phrase "If you each give each other 80 percent and expect 20 you'll be the happiest couple." Or something like that. The idea was that you give more than you expect, and that with each person doing that you're BOTH blessed.

I put my husband through his Bachelors and Ph.D. (he got to skip the masters--the little smarty pants) and the last 9 years he's been helping me do the same thing. He drops everything to help me study for a test or take care of the kids. And he hasn't complained about the state of the house, knowing very well why it's less than perfect. THAT's how we support one another. We KNOW what each other is about and what they need/can do. LOVE this post. Thank you so much!!!!