Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day , so grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right . Good morning , everybody , and welcome .
It's Wednesday and we are right smack dab in the middle of a mini-series that I started yesterday , where we're talking about six keys to a happy marriage , and then tomorrow , on Thursday , we're going to talk about the cornerstone the cornerstone that makes any marriage successful .
Yesterday we talked about three keys that we felt were important to keep a marriage going and happy . First one was embrace change . It's going to happen . There's no sense fighting it , so we need to embrace it and let ourselves change with the changes that are taking place around us . Secondly , we talked about keeping the romance alive .
Yeah , keep dating your spouse . Keeping the romance alive . Yeah , keep dating your spouse . Enjoy going out for dinner and doing fun and romantic things together . It will keep your marriage strong and growing .
And the third thing was make sure that we keep communication happening , and one of the greatest parts of communication is when you can laugh together and enjoy a moment . Enjoy something fun and funny that you maybe didn't expect . Today I've got three more keys to help encourage you . Number four it's simply respect .
Respect and support are essential ingredients that knit our lives together . Respect means that you value your partner's thoughts , their feelings , their desires , especially even when they are different from your own . I know , guys , that's not always easy , but it really is important .
Never forget that part of marriage is building the relationship where you encourage one another . You help each other grow to become what you should be as people and as part of God's family . Listen to this from Ephesians 5 , verse 33 . Each of you must love his wife as he loves himself , and the wife must respect her husband . That's mutual respect .
Number five is keep learning together . They say that learning keeps the brain young , so a couple needs to find some things that both of you will enjoy , or maybe trying something new . At one point my wife and I decided we were going to try to learn ballroom dancing .
It didn't quite go as we'd hoped , but we look back on it now and laugh at ourselves and enjoy the idea that we actually tried something that neither of us was very good at , but we had fun . Don't be afraid to try something new and then , even if it's not perfect , you still have learned something more and you're closer to each other .
The best case scenario is you gain a new skill . Worst case you have something to laugh about and go remember when , and that will keep you chuckling together through a few anniversaries , chuckling together through a few anniversaries . And the sixth key today that I want to give you is treasure the small moments .
My wife and I have been married for over 45 years and it's easy to take each other for granted , so we need to remember to celebrate the small things A well-done chore , a perfectly brewed cup of coffee , or even not stealing the blankets off of your spouse when you're climbing back into bed in the middle of the night .
And how about creating some new traditions , like talking together every evening about your day ? Or having one evening a week where all you have for supper is cheese and crackers and popcorn , so that you can talk together or watch a movie that you both want to see .
Or maybe doing something completely silly and off the wall , like sharing your best dad jokes with your wife , or reminding your spouse of the thing that made you laugh a couple weeks ago . There's been evenings when Sharon and I have gone to bed and we're laying there and one of us tells a joke that the other one hasn't heard .
It's silly , it's dumb , but we're so tired that we just laugh . And then we can't stop laughing , never stop laughing with each other . Enjoy your time together and be thankful for the wonderful gift of your spouse . You see , maintaining a happy marriage after 45 years it requires a mix of things .
You have to have love and laughter and you have to have forgiveness and humility . You have to learn to forgive and forget , and it takes work , a lot of work , but it's well worth it . I hope you have a great day , my friends , and be sure to join me tomorrow when we talk about the cornerstone that can help make any marriage successful .
Have a great day and we will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for joining us today and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right with Danny Mac .