Andrew's Marriage Tool Kit

Activity - Create a Marital Action Plan Make sure to speak my truth. Sometimes I'm inclined to hide that my feelings have been hurt or that I feel differently about something. We have remarkably few disagreements in our relationship and I think that when something does come up I'm often surprised. I'm also a conflict avoider, but I often need to kindly and clearly express myself and be vulnerable in order to move on from a hurt or a disagreement and not feel resentment. Sandwich technique. Along with that, I plan to utilize the sandwich technique when bringing something up. It is important to me to be sensitive to Natalie and her feelings. She is never out to get me, and deserves only kindness. Tell Natalie more stories about my life. It seems to me almost like Natalie has always been in my life, so I'm sometimes surprised when a story from, say, three years back gets brought up and I have to explain it to her. I shouldn't be surprised, nor should I become com

Activity - Process Fear I discussed a topic that I was having some anxiety about with my fiancee, Natalie. While I don't want to share the topic, it has to do with our upcoming marriage. At first I beat around the bush a little to get up the courage, and then I dove in. It wasn't very comfortable, but I pressed on and Natalie was super understanding and had lots of comforting things to say. It seemed like the discussion was over, but I was still feeling like I hadn't quite yet fully processed my fear for some reason. This led into a related topic I didn't know I was worried about until we started talking. Once we addressed that topic as well, I felt much better (though not perfect). It made me realize that these conversations don't always completely take our fear away, but they do allow us to understand it and deal with it in healthy ways. I'm so glad I was able to talk about it. Natalie is amazing. Things from Class Finding Mr. Right vs Becoming Mr. Ri

Activity - Serving Others I do try to serve others on a regular basis, but I didn't know about this particular requirement until yesterday, so... - 5 :( Things from Class Unhealthy Family Dynamics - Tammy talked about a few types of unhealthy family behaviors such as parentification - allowing or encouraging a child to enter the parents' ecosystem or play a parental role with siblings. It is really helpful to understand and be able to recognize these unhealthy behaviors so that I can help others who may be in these situations (and I want to avoid them in my own family, too). Responding Well to Sexual Exploration in Children - I want to remember to practice responding to the following situations. Your 3 year old twins enjoy bathing with you. They ask questions about your body parts and how they work. You frequently see your 5 year old son with his hands down his pants. Your 7 year old daughter asks you what it means to be a virgin. You notice that your 10 year

Activity - Personal Philosophy of Marriage To me, marriage is first a committed personal attachment (or couple relationship). Marriage as an institution is also very important to me and certainly informed my choice of partner, but my conception of marriage is found first and foremost in the relationship itself. Marriage is very important to me because I believe it is the happiest path for me to take in life, I believe it is the way God would have me live, and I think I can be a good husband and father and the world certainly needs more of those. I absolutely foresee marriage in my future -- I'm marrying my fiancee in a few short months. Things from Class Live your why - it's important to keep in mind why  we're doing the things we do! It feeds into living genuinely and being trustworthy when we allow our actions to flow from our innermost understanding of who we are and what we want. Menstrual Cycle - I didn't know about the mucus that blocks the cervical open