UNCOMMEN: Empty NestSample

Investing in Your Marriage

You help your child (now adult) finish packing their car and watch them drive away from the only home they've known. They are moving to an apartment or house to start the next chapter of their life on their own. 

You and your spouse are standing on the porch waving as they drive out of sight and you may wipe a few tears away as you both head inside. You shut the door and realize it's just the two of you now. 

It's really quiet.

If you and your spouse have waited until this point to start investing in your relationship again, you've made it extra hard on yourself. You and your spouse may have used the children as a buffer for common ground on which everyone interacted.

May I suggest that you start investing in your relationship long before your children are packing to leave the house. While God should always be at the center of your marriage, you are to cleave to each other. As parents, we tend to place our children in that number one spot. My wife and I adore our children and can't spend enough time with them, but I need to prioritize my wife.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Suggestions:

• Pray for each other daily
• Date night (don't talk about the kids)
• Weekend get-away (at least once per year)
• Do at least 2-4 marriage studies per year
• Communicate daily
• Show love for each other (verbal, physical, and emotional)
• Attend church together weekly
• Be intimate as often as possible
• Confide in each other
• Encourage each other
• Pray for each other daily (yes, again!)

If you never stop working on your marriage, then you won't have to start working on your marriage!

Uncommen Questions:

How often do you invest in your marriage? (Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Only when there is a problem?)

Do you prioritize your wife?

Do you place your children ahead of God? Ahead of your wife?

Uncommen Challenge:

I challenge you to be proactive in your marriage. Invest in your wife as if the children are leaving today. Rekindle the passion in your marriage and start pursuing the woman of your dreams.

Scripture Verses:    
Philippians 4:6-7 
Genesis 2:24