Just a Couple of Pickles: #6 Love is Not Irritable

Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

We are a little bit on the fresh side…only 6 months into our marriage. So we have yet to face some really difficult, challenging, or irritable moments. It’s not to say that we don’t have moments of frustration or irritation, because we certainly have those fuses.

The Love Dare may not be as applicable to newly-weds, but Andrew and I are challenging each other to continue our wonderful relationship, friendship, and spirituality. I’m anxious to see how far we get before a spark becomes a fire. Sometimes sparks fly off but we take precaution (or in my terms…fire prevention). Our little tiffs may be related to me being such a prevention Nazi (AKA nagging). I’m a planner, organizer. It is that which drives Andrew crazy. I do love spontaneity, however.

Our 1st and biggest fight occurred on New Year’s Eve. People joke…right?! Well, when it comes to me being sarcastic or joking…it’s completely interpreted to the point its offensive! I learned a hard, valuable lesson…Tiffany is not allowed to comment on jokes! Otherwise, I predict that our tough challenges will probably come along when we have children.

By this dare…Andrew is convinced that we’ve done everything in the Love Dare book. Like my mom…”so is our marriage perfect?” Absolutely not!! In fact, he claims he wrote the book – haha! Needless to say, there’s always room for improvement. So when childhood cancer survival rate reaches 94%, do researchers and scientists stop finding ways to improve their quality of life or increasing the chances of survival? At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital…they’re not happy until the survival rate is 100% across the board for all types of cancer! That could take decades…or centuries! Marriage should be treated the same way…strive for 100% through trial and error or when a curve ball is thrown at us. There may be some downfalls, hardships, or failures…but they only serve to make us stronger. Just as a researcher or a physician is tirelessly working to save a child with cancer…married couples are capable of doing the same to save their promising love.