This month, we change our clocks as part of daylight savings time. This is somewhat new for me because residents of Indiana haven’t always adjusted their clocks. It took me a few years to remember if I should move our clocks up an hour or back an hour. Finally, someone taught me an easy way to remember. I was told to “fall back” and “spring forward”. That subtle little lesson has been helpful.
In the same way, small things in our marriage can make a big difference. When you aren’t careful, you can drift in marriage and may need to make small adjustments to fall back in love with your wife. I speak from experience as I allowed my marriage to grow apart. Here are my insights and 3 ways to fall back in love with your wife.
1. Turn back the clock on your marriage
One thing neither my wife or I realized was how our morning and evening routines impacted our marriage–specifically our evening routine. We began to drift into this routine of going to bed at different times. I’m talking drastically different times.
Sometimes I’d stay up doing something while she would retire to bed. By the time I decided to get up and go to bed, if I didn’t fall asleep where I was, she’d be sound asleep. Although we’d be sleeping in the same bed, it felt like we both were alone. We truly became passing ships in the night.
As we began to be intentional about going to bed at the same time, or at least retiring to our bedroom, we noticed a difference. While it doesn’t seem like much, it can have a huge impact. We enjoyed more conversation, and we both were awake and coherent–at least to begin the conversations. We never knew how much we were missing until making that change.
2. Fall back to the beginning
Dating is essential to helping your marriage thrive.Prior to marriage, we used to have some pretty hot dates. We spent a lot of time together. Our date nights provided a place for us to connect emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Once we got comfortable, in married life, and we had multiple children, our hot dates seemed non-existent. Date nights, period, became non-existent. Within the last couple years, we’ve changed that. We decided to fall back to the beginning of our relationship. We got serious about dating each other.
When you do this, you will definitely fall back in love with your wife. It has been that way for us. Dating is essential to helping your marriage thrive.
3. Set your clocks to the same thing
In addition to the challenges that came from going to bed at different times, our mornings were negatively impacted. We just seemed to be on different pages. Then, after attending a marriage retreat, I accepted a challenge from a pastor. The challenge was to start each day with my wife by reading a passage from the Bible and praying with my wife.
This small act each morning helped us to start each day on the same page. I read the bible passage to her. I prayed, then she prayed. Each day, it felt like we walked out of our bedroom empowered for whatever was ahead, and we felt like we were on the same team. That one small change brought amazing results. Doing this, along with the other two, are three great ways to fall back in love with your wife.
Sound Off: What do you do to stay in step with your wife?
Huddle up with your wife and implement one of these things.
Huddle up with your wife and ask her, “What made you fall in love with me?”