Do You Hear What I Hear?

Today I want to share with you a communication style that we learned about at the marriage retreat. It's called E.V.E.

Ever said something to your mate or vice versa and all of sudden feelings are hurt, folks get offended and down, down , down the conversation goes?! I know I have and this simple method really works. The problem is sometimes we "hear" something that the speaker wasn't trying to communicate. So it's always good to first think the best (Phil.4:8) and then work the E.V.E. principle.

So let me break it down for you.

E- Echo
This means when you said something that was taken offensively you calmly ask the other person to repeat or echo back to you what they heard you say, then you go on to V.

V- Validate
After they echo it back to you- you validate that person. Meaning you let them know- Ok you heard XYZ...at that point you let them know that's not what you meant just as sweetly and reassuringly as you can.

E-Empathize
After you really get what the person "heard" you let them know - Ok I understand why what I said made you feel like that or I understand why that was offensive to you. Then you work through it together.

The Bible says with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7. I hope this will help you and I continue to seek out and explore new ways to make our marriages healthier, happier, and a brighter example of God's glory in the earth.


Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
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A Marriage Blessing

I'm just getting back from our church's awesome marriage retreat! What a time we had! I want to share some wonderful nuggets with you as soon as I go over all my notes again, and digest it all real good!

For today I want to share with you this Marriage Blessing that the LORD lead me to during prayer4every1's time of fasting and praying for marriages today.
It's a beautiful blessing/prayer and it's one that my husband and I will begin to pray daily. May it bless you as much as it blessed me!

A Marriage Blessing

We thank You, O God, for the love You have implanted in our hearts.

May it always inspire us to be kind in our words, considerate of feelings, and concerned for each other's needs and wishes.

Help us to be understanding and forgiving of human weaknesses and failings.

Increase our faith and trust in You and may Your prudence guide our life and love.

Bless our marriage, O God, with peace and happiness, and make our Love fruitful for Your glory and our joy both here and in eternity.

Author Unknown


Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!

Investments

Hello Lovebirds!! I'm so excited because my church is having their 1st Married Couple Retreat! It's at a lovely hotel and there will be great teachings, fellowship and food. This retreat is going to be alot of fun but to us it's more than that. It's an opportunity for God to strengthen our bond and the bonds of other couples at our church. It's an investment. What you care about you WILL spend your money on and give time to so on that note...I want to encourage you all to make whatever investments are necessary to keep your marriage moving in the right direction. As children of God we KNOW when we are drifting off course or when we are right on target. Spend the time and the money to make or keep your marriage moving in the right direction.
If there isn't a Marriage Ministry in your church pray and respectfully and humbly ask your Pastors about the possibility of them establishing one.

Next to our relationship to God our marriages are of the utmost importance!!! Get involved in and help to strengthen other couples in your church. Finally I leave you with these words of wisdom by LadyBee "You are blessed to be a blessing" so invest in your marriage and make it so!!! (-:

Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!

Just My Imagination.....

I heard this story the other day and I wanted to share it with you.

A couple was married and they were going along in their relationship and then the devil started sending them thoughts. They took those thoughts and started feeding on them. They took those thoughts and started believing them. Then they started looking at each other cross eyed. They gave those thoughts permission to take up residence in their minds and now they were beginning to ACT on those thoughts. They started believing the lies being planted and instead of communicating with one another and asking important questions like ,"do you feel this way about me" or "do you think like this towards me" they just received those thoughts and they eventually ended up divorced. There was no cheating involved, no abuse, no nothing.....only poisonous thoughts injected by an enemy who truly doesn't care if you are black or white, rich or poor, or educated or uneducated. He simply lives to kill steal and destroy. We don't have to let this happen to any of us! We've got the Word of God. Look closely and let this sink in deep;

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (21st Century King James Version)
4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds,
5casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,
6and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Negative thoughts about our mates, or even other people need to be cast down IMMEDIATELY!!! Let's make sure that we guard our thoughts at all times so we don't end up declaring like this dear ex couple..it was just my imagination running away with me!!

Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!

Appreciation & Romance

Hello Couples! Just a few tips to help you show appreciation for your spouse and kick that love flame up a little higher.

These suggestions can be modified to fit your mate so enjoy!

1. Is there an area that your spouse has has really improved in? Make a card or letter communicating your admiration and respect for your spouse in that area.

2. If you can, maybe at lunch while your spouse is away from the office or after they leave work decorate their office space with balloons, signs saying I love you, candy, fruit, or flowers!

3. Write him/her a love poem explaining where you are going to take your mate for a date; then cut the poem into pieces like a puzzle and have your spouse put it together.

4. Surprise your mate with a romantic getaway at a bed and breakfast. Call your spouse at work and tell him/her where to meet.

5. Give your spouse a gift certificate for a message, if you can afford it get one together!

6. Go back to the restaurant that your spouse proposed to you at and enjoy that memory together over dinner.

7. Give your spouse a card in the morning inviting your spouse to come at lunch to enjoy a special time of fellowship together.


I hope that these ideas bless you and spark up more ideas for you, I know they did for me! Have a wonderful Valentines Day couples and God's blessings to you in abundance during this year of increase!

Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!

I Promise To....

Remember standing there at that altar, or in front of the Justice of the Peace, or maybe the courthouse wherever you were on that grand and special day. Stop for a moment and think about how you felt, all warm and fuzzy inside, ready to jump the broom with the groom of your choice. Do you remember that day! I do, like it was yesterday...
We promised to love and cherish each other, protect and look out for one another. One key tool to our marriages flowing is a fantastic and challenging word called compromise. You know you give a little , he gives a little and nobody is demanding their own way or their every wish to be fulfilled. Now God's Word says that the man is the head of every woman I Cor.11:3 so we know our husbands have the final say, and we can rest in the fact that God has set it up like that for a reason and we can rest in Him.

Let's look at some Scripture from the Message Bible- You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
I Corinthians 1:10

The literal meaning of the word compromise is "together to promise." God's design for our marriages is to bring two unique and independent people together and make them one, as we go through our journey together with our spouses let's make it our life's quest to continually promise to bring about togetherness by making conscious efforts to submit to one another and let go of the need to win or have our own way.

Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!

Humility in Our Marriages Leads to Blessings! Pt 4

Ok let's get to it Philippians 2: 9-11

Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

It says God highly exalted Jesus! Don't you want God to exalt your marriage?!!? I sure do!!! WHY? So Jesus can be further exalted!!! I want God to be glorified in everything I say to my mate and in everything that I do. First to bring glory and honor to God and my marriage and to let my husband know just how important he is in my life! I want hurting couples to be able to look at my marriage and say how do you make it work? How can you submit like that to each other? How can you forgive and go on with pure hearts? WHY? So I can share Jesus with them and help them mature in their walk and marriages too.

Look family there is nothing done that is done for us alone. If you have a good or great marriage "Let It Shine" talk about it with people and make yourself available. Like Ladybee mentioned before there are so many couples hurting, under attack, held in bondage etc... what can you do to help? Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, resist the devil and all his lies and God will exalt you..so He can be further exalted and also so He can use you to help other marriages. Go back and look at the Scripture and list again , copy it down do your own research on humility, and watch God exalt your marriage (-:

Have a great week ahead Visitors, FB & Twitter couples and make each moment you have with your spouse special!

God Bless Your Marriage & Family

♥~~~~~~~~~~♥~~~~~~~~~~♥

Prayer for Everyone
www.prayer4every1.com

We Appreciate Your Visit Today
Please Come Again Soon!