Marriage is what brings us together, today.

When we arrived at the church we are currently using as our base camp, we discovered that they had dedicated the entire day (and following week) to enriching, enhancing marriages. As I looked over the 10 sessions and the worship assemblies, and the combined classes, it seemed a little overwhelming, and made me glad I was traveling all week. That is a lot of information for someone to take in, much less put into use on a regular basis. I could look at the guys and see their eyes glazing over as they read the topics, Parenting 101, Ideal Marriage, How to Affair-proof your marriage, on and on and on. I guarantee you guys have a pretty simple approach to this topic. 1. how do I handle the terror-inducing comment, "we need to talk" Yikes! what I have done now? This brings on instant mental inventory, what could it be? was it something today? did I forget an important day? did I lose a kid? nope they are all accounted for....
And 2. How is this going to result in more "action"?
Ladies, I'm sorry, we are pretty simple creatures, all the theory in the world isn't going to help if we don't get a few solid tips on how to handle the above two concerns.

Okay, here are my tips for making a marriage last:
1. It is the guy's fault...we need to change. pray the man's prayer:
Lord, I will change, if I have to, I guess. Amen.
2. Take over doing the laundry. Wait, hear me out, there are benefits.
First a little primer on doing laundry.
A. There are two color categories; white and others. Separate them into two piles, wash them separately, they will not stay separate in the washer...I know, I've tried.
B. There is a little tag in women's clothes, on shirts it is in the side seam (the line running from the arm pit to the bottom of the shirt) in little tiny letters it will tell you how to wash and dry the garment. Most will say, wash in warm or cold water, hint: wash everything on cold. Now, you have to set the water temp with all those crazy little dials on the machine, set everything the same (cold). To dry, good luck, you're going to take some criticism because women don't follow the instructions either. Line dry all jeans, your wife can explain it.
C. Wash and dry on Saturday, it is not a constant job, just check on it every hour or so and keep the groups going. Why Saturday? Because....
D. Fold on Sunday while watching the game. Brilliance! You are not a couch potato, ignoring the family, you are "folding clothes!" At half-time, take them to each person's room (folded) and set them in front of their dressers, now you are teaching them responsibility. How cool is this plan.
One more benefit/insight if you have preteen or teenage daughters. You won't be able to tell their underwear from your wife's (or if you can, don't admit it) I mixed them up intentionally, you are covertly complimenting your wife, and you are mortifying your daughters. I call that a win-win.
Don't worry about boy's underwear, there is usually only one pair for the week.
3. Date your wife (another blog) but a friend of mine used to say that on their anniversary he would "treat her like a girlfriend, instead of a wife." Hmmm, I'm not sure what he meant, but I hope he meant treat her with romance and consideration, but again another blog.

These hints should cut down on the terrifying question (not completely, because let's face it, we usually have something that needs to be discussed) For some reason, when guys help with the laundry and dishes and kids, the wives seem to have more energy and interest for the really fun stuff.
So, when you finish filing all those handouts from the seminar, make sure you have plenty of clothes soap, and the schedule for Sunday's game.
Godspeed, guys.
Don