Thanksgiving
What a
great time to talk about marriage. We
should all be grateful for our spouses and the little/big things that they do
for us. It maybe something as small as
taking out the trash or clearing their dishes after a meal. As a woman these tiny little gestures sure
help to set a more inviting mood from me for intimacy. This is something that seems to come more
easily to men than women.
“An angry word will pour cold water on a spouse’s
romantic “on” switch more quickly than you can imagine, while a meaningful apology
can pave the way to a gentle invitation toward intimacy.”
~ Sean E. Brotherson ~
This week we were able
to read a great article titled “Fulfilling
the Sexual Stewardship in Marriage” by Sean E. Brotherson. In this article
he talks about the true nature of sexual fulfilment and its place in the
marriage.
As a young 18-year-old
I entered the Los Angeles Temple to be married for time and all eternity in
January of 1998. I had all the hopes and
dreams of the world in front of me. I
was excited and nervous all at the same time.
Then in the matter of a 5-minute ceremony, my whole life changed. All those things that we had been taught were
wrong were and to be saved for marriage were finally legal. Needless to say, it
took my mind a bit longer to get wrapped around the idea that it was now a
commandment to be fulfilled.
So in reading Brother
Brotherson’s article he had a great way to help set a more positive climate in
the marriage.
“…measure the number of “positive” expressions toward
each other (compliments, kind words, affection, etc.) versus the number of
negative expressions toward each other (sarcasm, criticism, put-downs, anger,
etc.) over an hour or a day, or even a fifteen-minute period of time. The
higher the ratio of positive to negative expressions, the more “warm” your emotional
atmosphere is…The higher the ratio of negative to positive expressions, the
more “cold”
your emotional atmosphere is.”
So this next week I am
hoping that we can all start to measure our expressions towards our spouse and
if they are not warm
then I hope that we will be able to work towards making them that
way. In doing this I hope that we will
be able to grow closer to our spouse and be able to have a fulfilling marriage in
all aspects. Let us all give thanks for our spouse this week.
