“Your marriage is the foundation on which your entire family life is built. Anytime you've got extra pressure in your outside lives, it can really add to the pressure that you experience in your relationship.”

In the weeks that lead up to Christmas, financial stress, social pressure, and endless to-do lists can add up to a tense situation in your marriage. We need to take steps to protect and nurture our marriages during the busy season of Advent.

Danielle shares some ideas:

Pause.
Take a breath before responding to your spouse in a challenging situation.

Spend time together.
It’s always important for couples to make time for each other, but even more so during stressful times. Enjoy the holidays together!

Talk.
A little communication ahead of time goes a long way toward avoiding misunderstandings and conflict.

Give in.
Compromise whenever you can, and convince yourself to let little things go.

See the big picture.
Ask yourself: Will any of these stresses and annoyances matter a hundred years from now? Next month? Next week? Even the day after tomorrow? Turn the whole mess over to Baby Jesus and pray for the gift of perspective.

At the end of this week’s show, Danielle replies to Alyssa who wrote in to say how much she enjoyed our recent episode about finding more time in your day.

* For episode shownotes visit https://daniellebean.com/.