Three Practical Tools for Improving Your Communication
By Harold & Bette Gillogy
Introduction
What is a good marriage? Some people think a good marriage is one that stays the same through the years. But there is something desparately sedimentary about a marriage that does not change. How can a relationship not change one way or another when everything around us is changing so quickly? Our circumstances, friends, jobs, places we live, our children — these are all changes that cause inevitable conflict. Even we ourselves are in constant process of change. It is a real struggle to turn these challenges of life into growth points for our marriages. So, by definition, a good marriage IS a struggling marriage inhabited by struggling people.
The key to productive struggle is to struggle together as a team. The problems are going to be there. Did we think that two individuals could mesh without sparks? That life was going to hand us its challenges on marshmallows, instead of rocks? The question is not: "Will we have struggles?" The question is: "Are we willing to work together in our struggles?"
We all need help now and then, don't we? We all have times when we need an encouraging word. So we want to encourage you: Hang on...work together...make the struggles count!
We also want to encourage you with a few practical suggestions to help you in your struggles. Growth is a lot easier when we are learning to really communicate with one another; when we're learning how to be open with the one we love. So here are three suggestions that will make a difference in your relationship, if you will both commit to do them.
