I was thinking today about the different words of advice that were given by people in the toasts they did (mind you the toasts were done with sparkling cider since we don’t drink alcohol…) during my daughter Ashley’s wedding dinner last week. One toast in particular that stood out to me was given by my daughter-in-law Alexis when she expressed the importance of working consistently to build your relationship through weekly date nights in marriage and little acts of kindness, and that the best way to keep a marriage strong is to pray together as a couple each night before going to bed. Alexis shared that marriages are all full of ups and downs and there are going to be plenty of times when you’re upset and/or angry with your spouse for something they either did or didn’t do that day. But she went on to share that nothing will diffuse that anger you have toward your spouse faster than having to say prayers with them each night, as there is something incredibly humbling about asking God in that prayer to bless your spouse…

My daughter-in-law is a wise young woman and her advice is spot on.  Marriage isn’t easy even if you are head over heels in love with your spouse.  Just learning to live with someone else is challenging, but then add to that the fact your completely reliant on one another both doing your half to make the marriage successful, you’re both trusting the other to act with complete fidelity to the marriage, and you’re both going to have to make significant sacrifices in order to make the marriage work. There’s just no doubt about it – marriage is hard work!  But I agree wholeheartedly with my daughter-in-law’s advice in that a happy marriage requires more than just doing the hard work…it requires a whole lot of prayers being said together if you are going to have any chance o getting through all the hard times and life difficulties you’ll have to face together. Having a good marriage is going to take a whole lot of hard work and a whole lot of divine intervention 🙂

“Nothing proves that you love someone more than mentioning them in your prayers.” –unknown

PS. I want to say Happy Birthday to my daughter-in-law Alexis (May 24th) who gave that lovely toast above and I want to tell her thank you for the example she sets for me and others.  Alexis is an amazing young woman and I feel so incredibly blessed to have her as my second daughter!  Happy Birthday Alexis

~Amy Rees Anderson