Guest Post---Emily Carnes

A Few weeks ago, I posted over at Emily's blog while she was in Africa. I thought I'd post it here too. Enjoy! 

I'm Leslie from Did YOU Hear about the Morgans?

It is an HONOR to be posting for Emily while she is away in Africa. I must admit, I am a wee bit jealous of Emily. I have always wanted to take a mission trip to Africa. Maybe one day, I will get the opportunity. 

When Emily e-mailed me about guest posting, she said I could write about anything. At first, I was overwhelmed by the word anything. It is one thing to post anything on your own blog and a complete other beast to post anything on someone else's blog! 

After a bit of thinking, I decided to write about one of my favorite things...marriage! 

My husband, Matt, and I have been married since 1/1/11. We were friends for 8 months, dated 6 months, and were engaged 9 days shy of 6 months. That means we have known each other for a total of 4 years. All that to say, we still have SOOO much to learn about each other and our marriage BUT here is what we have learned so far. I hope this helps and encourages some of you precious married or soon to be married people out there!

1. NEVER go to bed angry. 

I know this may sound silly to some but this is honestly one of the best things we have ever done. The bible says in Ephesians 4:26 "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." (NIV) In our short 2 years of marriage, there have been arguments and heated discussions but we have always made it a point to either resolve the issue OR agree to disagree until the morning. It's be a blessing AND a life saver. 

2. COMMUNICATE your feelings. 

This is hard for some people. In most cases, it's the men but certainly not always. It is important to share how you are feeling. Neither person can read the other person's mind. From my experience, holding in emotions? it NEVER helps. Be comfortable around each other and foster an environment for the other person to share his/her feelings. 

3. Have FUN!

Every marriage should be fun. If you aren't having fun, something needs to be discussed. Every married couple has at least one activity they like to do together. When times are hard, unite around that activity. Matt and I like to cook together, play board games, watch re-runs of Law and Order: SVU or go for a walk. All of these things help to bring us closer to each other. 

4. SERVE Each other. 

Every marriage should be about serving the other person. I won't go into detail too much here but click the link below to read a post I recently wrote about serving. 

Out Serving One Another

5. REMEMBER what's important. 

This has been especially dear to us recently as we have dealt with some issues in our families, lives of our friends etc etc. We have had to remind ourselves almost daily to remember the important things. The argument over how to hang something on the wall? Not important.

The attempt to prove the other person wrong about something? Not important. 

The reminder that we are in this together? SOOO important. 

Remember, always look to God and look to each other. Drown the world out AND? He will direct the path for your marriage. 

God Bless and PLEASE come visit my blog sometime!