Marriage can be scary. I mean, with a divorce rate over 50% in America, I can say with certainty that I was scared! And I know marriage is hard.
When B and I decided to get married, we both wanted to be prepared! Together, we decided to go though premarital counseling. If you are unfamiliar with this term, its basically where an older, wiser couple or married elder talks to you and your fiance about what marriage entails. Usually they do this in sessions, about 6 to 8 or even more.
As a newly married gal, I can definitely say that someone who has been married for 20 years can pass down a lot of wisdom. Going through premarital counseling helped B and I prepare for life together, and honestly allowed us to work out many personal kinks before we moved in with each other! We talked about budgeting, chores, communication, sex, God, trust...I don't want to think about how many fights we might have had if we never went though counseling!
I know there are many happy couples who never attended a day of premarital, but for B and I it was totally the right decision!
Another thing we did together was read. He and I read lots of books on marriage and love and commitment jointly and separately. If you are a christian and married/about to be married, you should check out these books.
- Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married (Chapman)
- When Dreams Come True
- The Love Dare
- Head over Heals
- Passion and Purity
- Devotions for Dating Couples
Some books I read on my own:
- Captivating (Eldredge)
- When God Writes Your Love Story (Ludy)
- Lies Women Believe
- The Forgotten God (still working on reading this)
- Crazy Love
What about you? Will you/did you have any premarital counseling? Also, I would love to hear suggestions on any good books on this subject. Both B and I learn something new every day, and we always appreciate the wisdom of others.
