Hopeless, lost and lonely. Those are some of the words I’d use to describe our marriage in the early years. It wasn’t a great place to be. Our marriage was on the verge of ending, and we were close to having spent more time being engaged, than being married.
We are in a different place today. We’ve made it through a lot of challenges which have ended the marriages of many other couples. We made it through trust issues. We made it through in-law issues. We made it through job loss, financial devastation and homelessness (twice!). Many times, we weren’t sure if we would make it as our marriage seemed dead. We didn’t see how it could be possible.
Now we are able to look back and see how we brought life back to our marriage. We were able to resurrect our marriage and you can do the same. Here are five ways to bring your marriage back to life:
1. Remember what attracted you to your wife. Sometimes life gets the best of us and we forget what brought us together. Hold onto that vision and revisit it. She may look a little different and have changed in some areas but, at her core, she is still that same woman.
2. Start dating again. We rediscovered dating again a few years ago, and it’s changed our marriage drastically. We are pretty ruthless and don’t let anything stand in the way of our weekly date.
3. Get away. There is nothing like a week away with your spouse to help your marriage. Just the break from the norm does wonders in itself. When you attend an event or retreat geared to help your marriage, it has amazing results. We now attend, at least, one weekend marriage retreat every single year.
4. Get help. Marriage counseling comes with a stigma that causes couples to avoid it. But remember: Counseling, in good and bad times, can help your marriage grow and help you grow together.
5. Pray together. This has been one of the most powerful things we’ve done over the course of our marriage to bring our marriage back to life. It is a game-changer. If you are praying, but not praying with your wife, I encourage you to pray with your wife. You will reach a level of intimacy that you don’t often reach.
Mark Merrill is the president of Family First. For the original article, visit allprodad.com.
Joseph Mattera 
BJ Foster 
Shelby Bowen 
