There are many resolutions floating around right now. Even the news programs talk about how to get the most out of your 2015 resolutions. How to take them from abstract ideas to tangible, reachable goals.
A web search for the most popular resolutions choices brings a variety of responses, but weight loss, exercise, or healthier eating top every single list. The second most common resolution seems to be related to finances, especially getting out of debt. “Stop smoking” is also on every list I found.
Something Missing?
What I found most interesting, however, was the missing element: not one “most popular” list had a resolution related to marital growth.
Oh, there were statements about spending more time with family and generic concepts revolving around improving relationships. But nothing about actively growing a marriage.
Do we as a society really put that little thought into the active, conscious growth of our marriages? I think the high rate of struggling marriages and divorces points very clearly to the answer.
I want to break the mold in 2015!
I love my marriage. My husband and I just celebrated sixteen years of marriage, and I could never in a million years have found a more amazing man to share those sixteen years with. I love seeing how our marriage has grown, and I thank God daily for the blessing of my husband.
But as I look back, I see that a lot of our marital growth has been reactionary. We have reacted to struggles. We have reacted to “discussions” forced by circumstances. Yes, there has been proactive growth as well, but I do not think we have ever been intentional about ensuring proactive growth in our marriage. Perhaps it is time for that to change.
Let’s Make a Plan
So, what will that look like? Well, I could create a set of tangible goals and share them with you. Really, though, my list would not help you much. It isn’t so much that my marriage differs from yours or that our areas of growth vary greatly (although both are probably true). It is more the reality that growth begins with hashing out where growth is needed.
Planning our tangible goals requires taking our marriages before the Lord, asking Him to clarify where we need to grow and learn. How we need to pray for our spouses. Where we need to surrender. And what we need to pursue together.
My list will not take you before the Lord. But your list can.
So, will you join me?
Can we break the mold together this year? I can’t wait to come back at the end of the year to see what God has done!
Not Quite Ordinary 