I love that feeling of relief and gratitude that comes when I realize that I’m not the only person struggling with something! You’ve been there too, right?
Verlynda and I ran a survey of our OYF Clan (email list and people that follow us on social media) in the third week of August, 2014 and received over 50 response. We were touched by the sincerity and the openness of many and, as promised, are now giving you a summary of what we learned.
To those who shared with us in the survey: thank you! We appreciate your input and honour you for your openness and sincerity.
Here’s our marriage challenge countdown:
Marriage Challenge #5: Sexual Intimacy
It’s a strange thing that one of the greatest privileges of marriage is also one of the top challenges. But in bed we are the most vulnerable and exposed both emotionally and physically. So it’s no surprise that issues come up in this are. This is definitely a subject area that our audience wants to take to the next level!
Marriage Challenge #4: Stress
Well, this one was a bit of a surprise at first. But it makes sense: there’s so much going on in our 2014 world! There’s the constant harassment of technology and media, busy family life and just trying to pay the bills.
You talked a lot about stress, being exhausted and being just plain busy. It’s a very clear theme in the responses and something that Verlynda and I will definitely be mulling over.
Marriage Challenge #3: Dating
You also talked about dating a lot! I think there are a number of layers of meaning in this one. We all want to feel connected, to feel romance, to enjoy each other. Our wives want to be courted and we husbands want to be flirted with by our wives.
When you take this with the next challenge, you can see why it was so common.
Marriage Challenge #2: Time Together
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this one to be #2. But you know, it totally resonates with where Verlynda and I are at right now. At the end of summer holidays we are very much ready to have some uninterrupted one on one time! The kids stay up later in the summer and we just haven’t had time to connect like we do during the school year.
This is so important for marriage! We had some great suggestions from you and will definitely be giving this one some consideration going forward.
Marriage Challenge #1: Communication
This is one theme that came out clearly at the top of all your responses. There was such a clear theme of couples wanting to communicate more!
People have been telling us this is an area of concern for some time, and so we put together an amazing communications course that we have had some great feedback on already! You can check it out at www.talktome101.com.
Final Thoughts
When we asked what your spouse would want you to change or do differently, the most common theme was for each of us to step away from our to-do lists and go be romantic or have fun together.
This is a change we all can make right now! It’s accessible. To-do lists never end. But time, once passed, can never be returned to.
We’re going to help you with that right now with two quick steps:
- Sign up for our flagship couple’s communication course: Talk To Me 101
- Turn off the computer, leave your phone on the desk, and then…go have a cuddle with your spouse!