Hi Lovebirds!  How was your weekend?!  Did you take time to bookend your days?  Have you been having your daily dose?!

(thanks to Tony Morgan for this video)

Do you remember your wedding vows?

“What?!  Word for word?  You must be crazy!”

Nope.

Not with half of marriages ending in divorce. Not with the majority of the rest ending even worse- stuck in monogamous, married misery. If we stayed true to the vows we made, we wouldn’t be experiencing the problems we’re having right now.

Couples- think of people you know that are on the brink or are already divorced. What promises did they make at the altar? What covenant did they commit themselves to? What vows did they solemnly take before God and these witnesses?

Now which ones did they fall through on? Which vows did they never come close to achieving? Did they ACTUALLY take their covenant seriously? Do you? Are you fulfilling the promises you made to the one you love? Or have you forgotten already? (I confess, I’m here)

Maybe the reason people get divorced isn’t because it “just wasn’t working out”…
Maybe its because we let the other person down.
Maybe it’s that we aren’t good at keeping promises.
Maybe it’s because we have forgotten the promises we made.

Re-read your vows. Keep your promises.

I’m gonna go read my vows now…

Jay

I love books, and I love bookends.  Maybe some day I’ll start a collection of epic antique bookends.  Where would I even start?!

You’re familiar with bookends right?  They are normally big, heavy, sturdy pieces of carved wood or stone.  You put one at the beginning of your row of books, and one at the end.  Bookends hold it all together.  Bookends are very pretty!

As a couple, you need to bookend your day.  With prayer.

Every day of my marriage to Michelle starts with a prayer, and before we fall asleep, it ends in a prayer.  She prays every morning that God would guide our days, give us opportunities to grow, build our relationships, and grow us closer to Him.

Every night, I pray about what’s coming up in our lives that week, ask for rest and energy, thank Him for everything, and re-affirm the commitment our lives, our marriage, and our future to His will and His kingdom.

The benefit of praying in the morning:
-it gets you in the right mindset for the day
-it wakes you up
-it reminds you who you are and who you serve
-you can’t be a gwumpy-bear after you’ve just prayed to the Lord of the universe!

The best part about praying together before bed…you CANNOT go to bed mad!

-it forces you to look back and re-evaluate your day, admit mistakes, confess sin, and be grateful for blessings and wins
-it’s a great way to let go of stress
-it let’s God have the last word

It’s so simple, and SO worth it!  And hey, if you pray together for just these 4 minutes a day, you’ll end up praying for a full day each year!

He is worth it, your marriage is worth it, and you are worth it!

Bookend your days with prayer, and let God take over everything in the middle.

Rest in love this weekend,

Jay

If you think of someone who would appreciate this idea, please send it to them or talk to them about it (there’s a button below!)

Hi Lovebirds!

I have been married for just under seven months, and I can already say that being married is hard work. But it IS manageable!

Here’s a simple trick for making your marriage awesome: think about pushups. Not ones of a supporting nature, but those associated with working out!

Here’s what I mean… I read a blog post from Steven Furtick this week (I will do a Crush of the Week column on him soon), and this is what he said:

I got an interesting piece of exercise advice one time-never forgot it.
This guy (who was in great shape) said the only exercise commitment he ever made was to do one push-up per day-every single day.    Not to run 5 miles a day, complete four 90 minute workouts per week…
Just one push-up per day.

When I asked him (skeptically) what the value of one push-up was, he explained:
“Well, one push-up isn’t going to do much for you, that’s for sure. But once you get down to do one, you usually end up doing 30, 40, or 50.
And then you figure, hey, while I’m down here, may as well do some sit-ups too.
Before you know it, you’ve had a pretty good workout. And it all started with one push-up.”

I wonder how you could apply this strategy to some of the things you hate to do, but know you need to do? Just get started, and often the rest will happen from there. Getting started is the hardest part.

IT APPLIES TO MARRIAGE!

So here’s your “marriage push up.” Michelle and I call it “The Daily Dose.”

Take three minutes. Just 180 seconds. Crawl into bed, fully clothed, and start cuddling. Look each other in the eyes. Say ‘I love you’. Maybe kiss. Maybe nap. Maybe talk.  Next thing you know, you are having a deep, heart-to-heart conversation. You’re catching up on each other’s week. You’re laughing and telling stories, and praying for people you love. You’re making a mental checklist of things to do, and starting plan your next great adventure together. Maybe you’ll get a great idea for your next surprise date or random love-gift. You build a connection. Your relationship goes deeper. You build intimacy. You won’t want to stop. You fall more in love.

Suddenly, three minutes can turn into 2 hours. And if you’re lucky…

Jay

Hello there!

Just Married is a blog for couples- almost engaged, engaged, newlyweds, and married couples.

We would appreciate if singles and those not soon to be married could read the other blogs instead- we don’t want the issues discussed here to cause you any sort of temptation.

So if you fit into the category of coupledom…we will be talking all about engagement, weddings, marriages, and of course, nooky. That’s a terrible word isn’t it?

God willing, new posts will go up on Wednesday and Friday.

Talk to you soon!
Jay