Little Things to Help Create a Strong Marriage & Family

Saturdays are our favorite around here.

I. Love. Weekends. But don’t we all? For some of you, the weekend means you get to spend time visiting friends or family you haven’t seen in a while. Or maybe it means you need to play catch up on household duties or grocery shopping. For some of you, weekends mean your husband is home with you and the kids, something you (like me) look forward to all week long. Sometimes you may look forward to the weekend for all the fun events and activities you get to pack into your schedule. Weekends mean all of these things to me at different times, but today, I wanted to share with you our Saturday morning ritual that has made a big difference in our marriage and helps us have a strong marriage and family.

Little things that add up to make a big difference

Early in marriage we started “slow Saturday’s” to help center us as a family and ultimately helps us to stay close and connected to one another and our Creator. Before kiddo’s came along, we regularly had a laid back Saturday morning together sleeping in, making/perfecting our favorite blueberry or banana pancakes and reading a devotional/ praying together. Sounds pretty magical, right? Well since the addition of two precious kiddos that time has certainly looked different over the years, the importance of it does not disappear… in fact, the importance of taking the time to devote ourselves to being intentional with one another, praying together and being grounded in our faith together has increased as we have added new members to our family.

Importance of this ritual has increased since having kids

In the past we have typically tried to do our devotional time during Audrey’s nap, but as she has gotten bigger, we occasionally try to include her in this time. Sometimes it a little chaotic and her attention span is pretty short, but that is understandable because she’s only two years old. Soon we will have to find a more family oriented devotional to do all together. I’ve heard this one is really good and we are going to try it soon. Right now she loves to read this book before bed and its such a great one for her devotions.

Hopefully this will become something she will look forward to and something we can model for her as we teach her what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. It really has helped to keep us on the same page and allows us to talk/ pray about anything on our hearts. We believe this anchors our family and will help us have true joy when facing any storm.

A thriving family starts with a thriving marriage

I want to share this with you in case you are needing some encouragement in your marriage… which is probably EVERYONE, am I right? Marriage can be tough, two sinners coming together as one with different personalities, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses and backgrounds. It can be a recipe for disaster, but with the Lords strength & guidance, a solid biblical community supporting you and a healthy dose of forgiveness, you CAN have a sweet and satisfying marriage that glorifies the Lord.

A thriving marriage is important for a thriving family as a whole. This prayer and devo time has been a great encouragement to us, helps to keep our marriage healthy and, most importantly, points us to the Cross. There is nothing more unifying than praying together.

Start a prayer journal

Make time to sit down, grab a journal and start by writing out what comes to your mind. Any anxieties, stresses or requests you aren’t intended to carry- write them down. Any prayers for your friends, family, country, etc… write them down. We usually use bullet points and take turns going down the list praying out loud together. I can definitely tell when we haven’t been able to pray together in a while. We start to feel anxious, nitpick about small things and lack an eternal perspective on our situation. I can definitely feel it if we are not connecting on a spiritual and emotional level. We are much more patient, gracious and loving if we are seeing our spouse as God sees them. I feel way less likely to sweat the small stuff and am more likely to put his needs before my own, and vice versa.

Find a great marriage devotional

If you are needing a devotional to do with your husband or wife, I HIGHLY recommend doing this one once a week together when you are not rushed or tired and can give your spouse full attention. This is our favorite couples devotional that we have ever done and find that it truly enriches our marriage. We are currently enjoying this one on parenting as well.

Take time to pray together

Another fun part about writing down prayers is the ability to go back and see so many prayers answered. We’ve done this since early in our marriage, it is so neat to look back in our journal and see so many answered prayers and see what we were thankful for at the time. It’s spurs us to praise and worship him even more because He is such a faithful God. He is truly the anchor through any storm in life & helps our family to have an eternal perspective.

Having this time also allows us to resolve any conflicts or issues we are having with one another because who wants to pray with someone you are in a fight with!? It’s kind of impossible! We try to keep short accounts with one another, being gentle & bearing with one another in love because we know no one is perfect and when I mess up I know that’s how I would like to be treated. Sometimes it’s hard to forgive and we may be tempted to keep a record of wrongs (and bring it up whenever you fight), but as Christians, we should be the first to show grace and offer forgiveness as a display of love. (1st Corinthian’s 13)

Here’s to slow, laid back Saturdays!

I’ll be doing a series of posts on ideas to keep your marriage strong and healthy to help you and your family go deeper in relationship with each other and with God! Let me know if you have any marriage related questions in the comments below. Our marriage is definitely not perfect, but I do want to help share what keeps our marriage on the right path.

Also, this week I will also be sharing our BOMB pancake recipe that I mentioned we enjoy every Saturday. It’s so delicious and pretty healthy to boot! So stay tuned for these posts over on instagram and here on the blog. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to my blog so that you won’t miss a post!

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These are the little joys of life & what truly matters in life! What are some of your priorities/ traditions you like to do with your family? What are some ways you have found that help you create a strong marriage and family? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Photos by the talented Melody G Photography. You can check out her website here.