Is your marital bliss flight about to crash 😳 ???

For those of us that have flown recently I'm assuming you're pretty thankful for the pilots getting you to your destination safely. I can also gather that you are grateful they didn't try to land the plane on auto pilot or if they got off course they jumped right in and corrected things quickly before you ended up running out of gas somewhere over the ocean.

I have a questions for you: Is your marriage stuck on autopilot?

If you leave a plane on autopilot long enough, eventually it will get off course or even worse, run out of gas and crash. A lot of us say things like, "I just don't have money or time for date nights." Or things like "when the kids get older, we will get our marriage back." Or have fallen into the trap of "We have an average or OK marriage." If you neglect your marriage airplane too long, one of you will crash and it will be hard to clean up the mess. But if you've gone through this I'm here too say that there is hope. I know because we've been there.

I urge you, just like the control tower is saying to the pilot, get back on course. I'm asking you to do the same. Don't settle for a mediocre marriage. Don't fly along, just taking what life throws at you. Here are 3 practical ways you can flip the switch from Auto-pilot to manual and enjoy some great time together.

1. Be intentional about Date Night.

This is one that has been a struggle for us, especially in the early child rearing years. We were always broke with time and money and we looked like the zombies from some of the movies out there from lack of sleep. But we wanted to have a great marriage so after a few years of failing miserable at this, we stared to understand how important it was to our marriage. We would plan the time and She would set up the sitter and I would plan the evening. Just being on the same team goes a long ways. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money either. Lately we have been more intentional about 2 date nights out and 2 nights in. That means we are spending at least 1 night a week building our marriage and we aren't paying a sitter every week. If you've got the funds to go out once a week, thats awesome! If not just do date nights in and maybe once a month go out. Do something though before you get disconnected.

2. Be Intentional about spending time together every day.

One of the first things we try to do every day is to have "snuggle time." Now I know this sounds strange or even sexual but let me explain. When we were struggling Johnna was calling out for more non sexual intimate connection, so "Snuggle Time." was born. We committed that we would spend at least 10 minutes first thing in the morning just holding each other. I like to look at it like Giving the first fruits to your marriage just like we do to God. You're saying that before my day gets crazy, you are important. Now you may think well I don't have time for that, I have to get up early for work, or I spend time in my bible first thing. That's awesome and I do the same. I get up way before she does and I read my Bible, pray and answer emails. But then I go snuggle with her for a few minutes before the day gets away from me. We also give each other a hug and kiss when we get home from our day and spend a few minutes on a walk or our front on our porch just downloading the day. We are saying "You are the first person I want to see." after I've been away from you and I missed you.

3. Be Intentional about prioritizing sexual intimacy.

Another amazing gift in marriage is sexual intimacy. When you can be intentional about your sex life together as Husband and Wife, your marriage gets boosted into overdrive. So many of us just put this area of marriage aside. Husbands and Wives are both doing this. Sometimes it's one or the other and its just not a priority. I understand that in the midst of craziness you get drained and there isn't anything left in the tank for sex. Well If you want an amazing marriage this has to stop. You need to prioritize sex, schedule it if you have to. You schedule every other important meeting, why not one of the first gifts God gave us in the bible besides each other. If you are willing to make sexual connection a priority then I promise you, you will feel the jet stream as you fly through the air without auto-pilot and deepen intimacy in your marriage.

#intimacy #marriage #love