I pulled the following text from a lawn care website. They had a section on lawn care tips and as I read it, it reminded me of marriage.
“Contrary to popular belief, dandelions cannot be effectively prevented. They can only be controlled when they’re actively growing.The best defense against weeds is a thick carpet of grass – so thick it doesn’t give the weed seeds a chance to sprout. That’s one reason Scott’s LawnServicefocuses on improving your lawn’s turf density. And during the growing season we constantly monitor your lawn for new weeds and knock them out if they appear.”
So how do I relate this to marriage? There are many weeds out there that threaten marriage. Children, work, career, friends, family, and anything that directs your time and attention away from you spouse or creates stress, challenge and at times upheaval. You can’t prevent them, you wouldn’t necessarily want to prevent them. Many of these “weeds” are blessings in your life. But how do you control for them so that they don’t penetrate the turf of your marriage? Like the lawn care guy says, you have to keep the turf so thick that weeds don’t have a chance to sprout.
So how do you keep the turf of your marriage thick?
Take time out for each other to laugh and play together. Make your marriage a priority and don’t let other life obligations get in the way of spending time together
Talk through difficulties with one another with kindness, a loving heart and an open mind (be willing to listen to and understand your partner’s perspective).
Share your appreciations of your partner on a regular basis
Do the little things each day that let your partner know you love and cherish them
Don’t take each other for granted
Have a sense of humor with one another and don’t take yourselves too seriously
Always maintain a sense of good-will and compassion for your partner
Again, doing these things won’t prevent the normal ups and downs in marriage, but they will work to prevent those ups and downs from tearing through the turf.