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Candid Chris
Michelle: When I was teaching third grade, one of the assignments I gave my students was to create and write about their own superhero. One of my students, wrote about Buttered Toast Man. A three-pager about a guy whose job it was to save the world from dry toast. What my students didn’t know is that I live with my very own superhero, my husband, Candid Chris. His superpower: tell people hard-hitting truths that they might not want to hear and probably want to acknowledge even less. If I were writing his superhero story, I would include the time that Candid Chris said to our neighbor, “Sure your new car is great, but it…
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What is the Secret to a Happy Marriage?
Most people don’t start out in marriage thinking “This could be fun for a while, but once it’s not I’ll move on.” When you get married it’s exciting and romantic and fun and interesting. But no marriage is free from challenges and disagreements. There is no magic finish line where there are no challenges in our marriage. The temptation to think such a place exists is one of the biggest dangers of all, because it sets you up for failure.
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In Sickness and In Health
Julie: I’m sick. And tired. And sick and tired of being sick and tired AGAIN. I’m basically allergic to life, which causes frequent infections and debilitating migraine headaches. John knew all this when he married me, and he cheerfully vowed to love me “in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live.” I’m pretty sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
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Us Against the World
Marriage is not a 50 / 50 proposition. The weight of responsibility in marriage will vary unevenly between husband and wife from day to day. But what do we do when the load is not balanced for a long time or when we both don’t have much left to give each other?
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Boosting the Bright Side
CHRIS: Michelle has the great responsibility of helping me to see the bright side of things. While I sometimes get frustrated with her eternally rose-colored glasses, I also know that my negative outlook can use some pinkish tint every now and then. Here’s some things we have done to boost my ability to see the bright side.
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More Than a Piece of Paper
A person once said to us (rather cynically), “Marriage is just a piece of paper.” We disagree. Marriage is about two people creating a life together. A marriage doesn’t just touch the two people in it. It touches their families, their friends, their co-workers, and their children. We have to keep our ‘piece of paper’ intact for the sake of the two of us, but also for the world around us.
