Well, lucky for all of you, we have now hit the final installment of Sarah's dissertation on Marriage and Relationships. :) The last session we attended was given by John Trent, entitled "Small Changes, Big Results."

Bottom line, don't wait until things get bad to make the corrections that need to be made now. In your married life, we go through stages and phases, and it becomes easy to become status quo, ordinary, predictable, and comfortable. While all these things can be okay, it also doesn't provide for growth and stability in your marriage. If you are not moving forward, you're actually going backwards. How can that be? How can holding steady be a bad thing?

Well, I would argue that your marriage, just like your relationship with Christ, is a dynamic entity. It needs nourishment and protection. It needs to be nurtured. So, if we are stuck in the same ol', same ol', we are not putting time towards strengthening the very union that will pull us through when circumstances are not so normal, or are tested, or are troubled.

That is why John Trent recommends the two degree difference - making small little changes rather than overcorrecting when something has gone awry. Relate it to driving - to keep it between the lines, you make minimal adjustments frequently. If you fall asleep at the wheel, and wake up when your tires hit the shoulder, you quickly and abruptly turn the wheel, causing the vehicle to potentially careen out of control. This can cause irreversible damage, and perhaps have long lasting consequences.

In the same way, with your marriage, make little things meaningful each and every day, even if you feel they are insignificant. These two degrees may be in the form of an attitude adjustment on your part, a kind kiss at the door, a respectable comment rather than a sharp retort in a disagreement, a touch, a peck, a timely phone call. All these things are little, meaningful gestures that help your spouse know they are loved, cared for, respected and significant. If you stay on the path of little corrections along the way, and keep Christ as the focus, you may be able to avoid sharp, critical U-turns in the future.

I was reminded of a thought today when reading a fellow Love Dare participant's entries (thanks Angie!). She was speaking to feeling convicted about her nagging about socks on the floor and other things her husband should be doing. (Yes, been there, done that!) However, it brought to mind my mother's words after losing her spouse at the tender young age of 37 (yep, my dad). She told us how she would always complain about him leaving his socks by the bed, and the fact that she would always be the one to pick them up. Now, she would trade anything in order to daily throw them in the hamper herself, just to have more days with him. It's all in the perspective.

Grasp and hold tight to the one you love. Each day may be the last, and we want to live it without regrets. Praise the Lord we are blessed to have the promise of reunion in heaven if you have Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. But, for each and every day on earth, I choose the path of loving my spouse, with the assistance and blessing of the Most High God.

What greater gift have I been given here on earth?