CHANGING THE ODDS OF MARRIAGE
THE ODD THING ABOUT MARRIAGE
Ironically, as much as people think marriage is a game of chance, many relationships follow a predictable pattern of failure.
YEAR -1: The year in which working on your relationship can have the most benefit is the year before you get married
YEAR 1: The year with the most amount of divorces (this includes all marriages)
YEAR 3: The year in which major problems are present but couples may not be aware
YEAR 5: The year in which couples begin to recognize serious problems within their relationship
YEAR 7: The average length of a first marriage
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These may be the most influential years of marriage. If we could change these years, we could dramatically cut the rate of divorce, greatly increase the level of marital satisfaction, and forever change generations of families.
What if we could take the risky years of marriage and change them for the good?
What if we could take these odd years and make them good years?
WORK THE ODDS TO
CHANGE THE ODDS
Our goal is to turn the odd years of marriage into good years, thus drastically improving the chance of a successful marriage. Apart from the daily needs of marriage, the average couple should take an extended amount of time every other year to focus on their marriage--read a book, get counseling, focus on a specific area to improve, meet with a small group to study relationships, etc. For a healthy couple, more than that is not necessary, but less than that brings risk. If a couple would take the odd anniversary years to focus on their connection, their marriage would forever be different. In 2022, we will be using the book, Friends, Partners & Lovers, by Kevin A. Thompson to discover the three roles each spouse plays—a friend, a partner, and a lover. As friends, you'll learn to play and laugh together. As partners, it helps equip couples with solid ways to handle conflict and communication. As lovers, there are suggestions on how to bring back the sizzle. It helps identify five keys to a healthy marriage: humility, respect, mercy, communication, and resilience.
