My husband and I have experienced at least 4 of these 5 common marriage problems. If that’s you too, take heart: every marriage has issues. The good news is that by being proactive instead of reactive, we can make significant changes and see growth and health come to our most important relationship.
My husband and I used to struggle with communicating. We could never find time to talk because he was always busy with work during the day and tired in the evenings. That’s when we realized we needed to schedule a coffee date just as if we were scheduling it to catch up with a friend. Here are some solutions to the top 5 marriage issues.
1. Lack of emotional intimacy
Planning time to be intentional in sharing your heart with one another is key here. Talk about things that are really important to you, and remember not to challenge or disagree with your spouse when they are being vulnerable and telling you what is most important to them. My husband and I have found we need to build time into our weekly schedule to be intentional in doing this; otherwise, it doesn’t happen. Download our Q & U app for questions to kickstart this time.
2. Lack of physical intimacy
One great strategy for increasing physical intimacy is to plan time for it. If you both know that you’ve agreed to be together at a certain day and time, you will be able to make it a priority and mentally prepare to enjoy it.
3. Disinterest or lack of appreciation
It’s essential to choose to put the relationship above everything, including work and your children. {Tweet This} Pretend that you are dating again. Act as you did then. Take time to focus only on your spouse. Have each of you take the texting challenge to make sure you are staying in touch through the day. Here are texting ideas for you and for your husband.
4. Communication
One way to address a lack of communication is to schedule time for a face to face every day, even if it’s only 15 minutes. Make it the same 15 minutes every day, so it’s easy for neither of you to miss this time. Do this before you spend time with the kids. Or like my husband and I did, plan a weekly time that you never miss.
5. Money
Plan a time to work out a budget that you both agree on. Agree to sit down to look at expenses at the end of every month. Allprodad.com has some great advice about couples planning a time to talk about money: “If the meeting is prearranged and you both come to the table with 100% transparency, then the conversation about money can move from the emotional and into the practical.”
What is your top marriage issue, and how have you tried to solve it?
