This week I want to discuss something I have learned. I have learned that my marriage is full of ups and downs. It’s like many marriages based upon friendship. I have been with my husband as friends for 16 years now. I didn’t marry him until our 10th anniversary of dating. We made sure that our marriage was based upon mutual, deep respect friendship. My marriage is PSO or Positive sentiment override. There is a lot of positive sentiments in my marriage. When I do my schoolwork and have meetings, my husband has taken over some of the household chores. When I am tired and not feeling well, he will cook and take care of the grandchildren. When we have arguments, we have learned to stop before it gets heated. We have a deep discussion, but we don’t yell and scream at each other. We use repair actions and words to stop the arguments. We do things for each other without expecting to get anything in return.
Friendship is essential in a marriage. When you get to the empty nest stage of life, the couple needs companionship to continue in the marriage. Couples have all this time to spend with each other they then must figure out what to do. Their time is no longer spent on their children. We have turn to each other as friends and continue to build a relationship with each other. When they have a deep friendship with your spouse, your marriage will work. They will be able to weather any storm that comes their way.
We must overcome the natural man in our lives and marriages. The natural man is the enemy of marriage. To overcome the natural man, we must yield to the Holy Spirit and become a saint through the atonement of Christ. We must then become like children submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love. We must be willing to submit to all things in which the Lord sees fit on inflicting us with. This is the way to overcome the natural man. We must look to Heavenly Father for His help. Without His help, we will fail, but with Heavenly Father by our side helping us we can overcome the natural man. Mosiah 3:19.
Marriage 