Last year I was feeling very disheartened when I was scrolling through social media and saw so many failed marriages. So many people I remembered seeing beautiful wedding photos and happy faces not too long ago were suddenly changing their names and erasing all memories of their spouse.
Being a wedding photographer, I am invested so much in beautiful wedding days, but, as important as those days are, the marriage is so much more important.
I don’t have the answers for why so many marriages are failing, but I do have a theory that social media has a lot to do with it.
How many times do we scroll and see people who appear to have perfect lives and perfect marriages and wonder why ours doesn’t look like that?
It is easy to only see the Instagram-worthy moments and think your marriage should be like the Nicholas Sparks books and your favorite rom-com, but honestly, it is a life-long commitment that takes a lot of sacrifice and intentional selflessness.
For the second year, I will be sharing posts from guest-writers all month sharing their wisdom, and I wanted to start the series by sharing something that I think is super helpful in our marriage and also applicable to all relationships!
KNOW HOW TO LOVE YOUR SPOUSE
It is so important to know HOW to intentionally show love to your spouse in the way that they receive love best. There are five love languages I’m sure you’ve heard of: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. It is easy to show love how we receive love, but everyone has different love languages!
For example, my number one love language is gifts. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, but I love just thoughtful gifts and it is important for me to find special gifts to show love to others.
Will’s love language is physical touch. So it easy for him to reach out with a hug, or want to hold my hand, but it means a lot more to me when he knows I’ve had a hard day and he brings home flowers, or picks out a sentimental gift for my birthday!
Finding out your spouse’s love language is a simple, practical way to make sure you are intentionally showing love in the way they need!
Throughout the month of February this blog series will continue with couples in all stages of life sharing what they have learned, challenges they’ve overcome, and advice for other married couples, and I can’t wait to share!
With love,
Katelyn Workman
Read last year’s guest posts: