Ten Things to Protect our Marriage

Tomorrow will be our tenth wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd give ten things we've done to help our marriage in the past ten years...

1. We bought two tubes of toothpaste. It doesn't really cost extra to have two tubes and then we don't start and end our day with an annoyance that the other person squeezes the tube the "wrong" way.

2. We discuss all big purchases. We have joint accounts and we don't buy much of anything other than groceries without discussing it.

3. We do little things for each other--Justin makes me coffee in the morning; I keep his clothes clean.

4. We share childcare responsibilities to a reasonable extent--I'm home during the day, so I get the night shift, but he helps in the evenings with watching them and baths.

5. We both have some jobs that we routinely do around the house. There's no question that he takes out the trash or that I do the grocery shopping.

6. We discuss our girls' discipline, so that we agree and the kids don't divide us. Instead we show a united front.

7. We trust each other completely and never give the other person reason to question. We are transparent about where we are, who we're with, and we are rarely apart aside from work.

8. Divorce is not an option. We believe that our vows, including "To death do us part," is unbreakable. If things ever got horrid we could separate, but we would never file for divorce, therefore never freeing us to remarry.

9. We agreed early on to never let our parents in on real disagreements. Your parents will (almost) always be on your side and it's much harder for them to forgive than it is for you, since you love your spouse.

10. We base our marriage in Christianity.

We've had plenty of rough patches in ten years, but I am thankful to God for my husband and the father of my children!