Marriage is a beautiful thing! It’s also probably one of  the toughest things anyone will ever do in their life. Marriage is about being completely vulnerable, emotionally naked and it’s also a mirror that shows you who you really are. Kenny and I are coming up on 3 yrs of marriage and we’ve both grown personally as well as collectively. It’s really quite amazing actually. I love him more today than I ever have. A lot of times people see our pictures and post and think that we’ve had the “perfect” relationship but let me  tel, you that is completely false. We’ve seen some really  dark days, but our commitment to each other, our faith and love brought us through. We also sow into our marriage. Whatever you sow you reap and that what we believe. Here are five ways to reap an amazing harvest in your married life:

1. Date night: Alone time is so important especially when you have children.  When Kenny and I first had Shiloh, we had a date on our deck while he was asleep. We are deliberate about making time for each other no matter how busy we get.

2. Hang out with other happily married couples and ask questions.

It’s great to hang out with newly weds as well as couples who’ve been married a while. It’s great to be inspired by young love and learn wisdom from mature love.  Don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask them how they made it.  There’s no dumb question. Real Talk.

3. Seek wise counseling: I highly recommend pre-marital counseling not the “froo froo” stuff but the real deal. Kenny and I read the book Preparing for Marriage and it really forced us to talk about issues that we probably wouldn’t have until they came up in our marriage. We also sought counseling in our marriage.  We’re both messed up people with messed up pasts and counseling was a safe place to process those issues together.

4. Education: Power of a Praying Wife/Husband, Love Dare, The Five Love Languages, and Fire Proof are some amazing marriage books that will help you grow in intimacy with your spouse. I highly recommend all of them.

5. Follow a Marriage Ministry: Following a marriage ministry is so great and really helped us our first two years of marriage.  We learned through Karen and Jimmy Evans. We learned how to create a marriage vision and align our life according to what we sow for our marriage.  Another awesome ministry to follow especially on Instagram is Marriage 365. Casey and Meygan are a really awesome couple that are champions of marriage.  They give great date night tips, encouragement and even help in the bedroom;). One last resource I want to give you is a new online magazine, 2Half2Whole is a marriage magazine that’s goal is to inspire married couples. There are tons of great inspirational marriage stories in the magazine as well as tips.

Marriage life is so wonderful, but you don’t have to do it alone.  There are so many resources available and with Jesus at the center you’re bullet proof.  Loves love ya! Feel free to share your thoughts on this post!