With the time change, it’s time to spring forward in your marriage & strive to make it successful. A successful marriage is one that is based upon the principles of the Bible, Christ centered & happy. This is the kind of marriage that will last until one of the spouses is deceased. As you watch the shadows of the sun move around a sundial, couples are challenged to “shadow” each other with love, respect.

Just as the hands on a clock move automatically, so should your actions demonstrate sacrifice, kindness, & commitment to your marriage vows. As a metronome marks the musical time, so should your marriage tick with harmony. Pray for one another. Seek a time where you can spend quality time together! Work at keeping harmony in one of the hardest areas-money. Take time to record expenses & savings.

Charge no more than you can pay in one month without extra fees on your credit card. Talk about goals & dreams. Just because you’re one in the bond of love doesn’t mean that you really need to give up individual ideas & concerns. Day by day, your attitude toward marriage sifts through life like grains of sand in the hourglass. If you have an unforgiving, grumpy or annoying attitude, you may miss out of many pleasures of matrimonial bliss. Such an attitude can even lead couples to think they no longer love each other enough to stay together.

The time for a successful marriage may tick into divorce. Couples are not blissfully happy :) all the time. Jobs, family relations, even heath are issues that affect married life. But when couples seek the principles of faith, turn their time toward heaven & seek forgiveness one with another, a successful marriage can be achieved.

Pat Strawbridge is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, Mississippi University for Women & has done postgraduate work at University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Home Economics with emphasis in family relations. She & her husband, Drennon, live in Cleveland, TN near their son, Mike & his wife, Janice, & two grandsons Scott & Will. White Bible Ceremonies for Couples: Advice for Successful Marriage is available in manual form with instructions or CD with photos, instructions & suggestions. at http://www.whitebibleceremony.com