Good Bricks

Last night my husband and I were talking about lots of different things about making sure our marriage stays strong.

I have this new theory that goes along with the whole "build a strong foundation" suggestion.

We can either build with good bricks or bad bricks....

Examples of bad bricks would be:

-to much time spent on the computer when you could be interacting with your spouse (especially when kids are sleeping and you could really talk)
-overspending (I also see this one as wanting material things to hide behind...instead of finding joy in your relationship/family)
-routines (although some are good, it's so easy to get caught up in doing "things" when you should be having fun with your family)

NOW..rather than focus on all the bad bricks we could be using, here are some of the good bricks I could think of:

-compliments--they don't take any money and really don't take much time.  A compliment to your spouse can go a long way!
-reading--scriptures, church magazines, uplifting material...together and individually...when you surround yourself with positive and uplifting things you find yourself actually being more positive and uplifting!  (I know...get out of town, how simple is that?)
-moments--take a moment to show you care...for us we always kiss before we get out of the car...small I know....and it is amazing how important it is to us feeling recognized...if one of us forgets the other always misses it and points it out...
-reminisce--take a little time every now and again to remember one of the many reasons you chose to be married to your spouse...remembering those things brings you right back to those same feelings...it's wonderful
-give of yourself--sometimes it's nice to just give up a moment of your time/day to encourage your spouse to do something they love, whether you can or want to participate or not, it lets them know you want them to be happy and that you think about it.
-do for yourself--it's so easy to forget to take a minute/day/weekend for yourself and do for you!  If you don't have a little of this in between all the laundry, dishes, hugs, boo-boo kisses, etc, you will go crazy and we all know that's not good for anybody!
-pray--you'll find the strength, the answers, the comfort, the whatever you are in need of.  There's no doubt about it.

I guess for me these thoughts stem from wanting to keep my marriage alive and strong...I want to learn from the people around me and not repeat their mistakes and repeat their greatness. 

There are so many more things that I can think of, but I can't seem to get them all out in this post, so I'm sure I'll visit this topic again and again.  I guess that's really the point anyways isn't it?  To keep learning and growing, in spite of ourselves.