Surprise your wife with a love note on her mirror. Let her awake to a message straight from your heart to hers.

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As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, it is a great time to reflect on what needs to be resurrected in our own marriage or family. Is there something that has died that needs to be revived? Perhaps regular dates, family fun nights, a vacation...

Bring something back to life this week.

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Most wives are take charge, do whatever it takes kind of women. Unfortunately, that incredible character trait can lead to us as husbands letting them take over way too much responsibility. Despite their innate abilities, our wives need us to step up as husband and father in our family. They are looking to us to for direction and leadership. 

When our children need discipline, step in before your wife has to. When it is date night, plan the entire evening.  If there is a difficult conversation that needs to take place, start it and stay engaged. When you want to disengage, tell yourself, "Take the lead."

Your wife and children are looking to you for direction, if you aren't doing your part, start now. 

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How do you and your bride respond to change? I have to admit that our family has had more than our share and lately I have been wanting more stability. Life doesn't stop because we want a time out. Set a time to discuss what has been changing lately and how you are handling it.

Your view of your situation makes all the difference in how it will ultimately turn out. You never know, your current circumstances might just lead to something more beautiful than you could ever imagine. 

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Hopefully you were able to get a jump start on Valentines last week. Now you need to bring it on home. Finish strong and pull out all the stops to make it the most romantic ever: notes, cards, presents, dinner, time... Remember it really is the thought that counts.

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Get a head of Valentines Day and buy a bouquet of flowers for your sweetheart. If you deliver them late this week, they should still be pretty and make your bride feel special leading up to the big day.

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Communication is the key to any relationship, particularly marriage. When things are not going well, communication is usually the first thing that breaks down. Keep the communication lines open.

One thing that has worked well for us is to share the best and worst thing that happened during the day. This is great to do before you go to bed and also works well with your children.

Try it each day this week, see what differences it makes in your relationship.

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Sign up for a marriage retreat in your area. This is a great time to step away from the stress of daily life and focus on the most important relationship we have on this earth. https://www.eventbrite.com/ has a list of retreats all around the country.

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As the year comes to a close, take some time with your family to review the past year: accomplishments, failures, good times together, things you wish would have been better, etc. 

Have each person come up with what they want to do differently in this coming year. Discuss a plan on how you are going to accomplish this.  Write them down and put them on the refrigerator or bathroom mirror to remind yourself throughout the year. 

I don't know about you, but 2023 had a lot of difficult challenges for us. Let this year be the beginning of a new adventure.

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Gather friends and family and have a good old fashioned game night. Pick out some favorites and try some new ones.

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