No matter what relationships we go through, there is that early phase in young love that we pour out our passion for each other. It could be with gifts, candy, mixed tapes or my favorite, Love Letters.

Even though writing our thoughts and feelings down on paper can be hard to do, even if your love note is just a statement that expresses your overwhelming passion for the other one, that’s a love letter. I’ve written many to my wife. Most of them were in the early days when we were living in different cities or when I’ve messed up and needed to get my words out clearly. Now with the world of Facebook and email, I try to get back to writing them as often as I can.

I even love that in the Bible, Jesus wrote Love letters to us about what he had planned for our life. What we could expect if we spent more time together. This is a good cue, a lost art; that we need to get back to. It’s basic communication that is a necessity for marriage to work.

This is nothing poetic or profound, but whether communication is down or not, a love letter can speak volumes into your relationship because it’s like a photo. It’s a snapshot of what your love is like the day you wrote it. I’ve even been at a loss for words and simply expressed that to my wife and she understands that my desire to choose to love her is so large that there are no words to describe it. When you look at love letters like snapshots, you can go back and look at them over and over again.

When was the last love letter written? When was the last time you read an old love letter?

We over think these thinks so much sometimes that we just stop doing them; like it’s gotta be deep or something out of a movie; just poor your heart out, even if it’s fears and worries too. The honesty means a lot to your spouse and can raise your level of intimacy if we just do them.

Matter of fact, I need to go heed my own challenge and write a love letter to my wife. I hope you’ll do the same.

The Marriage Playbook™
~where marriage is going~

As a kid, I use to have a friend who had trampoline in her backyard. Once I got the hang of it, we use play outside for hours. I had to get use to the bounce, the boundaries and the dynamic of jumping with another person. It took lots of practice and plenty of injuries before I could jump and enjoy it.

In thinking about those summer afternoons in her backyard, I can’t help but think about my own marriage and how it feels like a trampoline. In watching other people jump, it looks so easy until you actually get on and find out it takes some skill and time to really make it work; just like my marriage.

I have had to learn the boundaries so not to hurt me or my spouse. I’ve step outside those boundaries enough to know how to ‘jump’ so I don’t fall on her and crush my wife. Just like on a trampoline, you have be in communication with your partner, be aware of your surroundings, not jumping too high or too low and knowing what they plan to do so you can work together. When you get into a rhythm, you can really enjoy each other with flips, tricks and laughs of all kind. Getting frustrated is normal, just use that to drive you to make it a goal to master how to jump. We can stand on the side and watch in fear but the journey of learning the trampoline together makes live pleasurable when both partners are looking out for each other. We can jump with our own joy in mind but if your spouse is not enjoying the jump with you, something needs to be done to change it. I heard once that a man’s worth is based on the joy on his wife’s face; I find I often have to re-adjust how I play in my marriage so that I find my worth daily. If my wife and I are on the trampoline together, it’s important we both get the most out it by being in sync with each other.

I remember in those summers on the trampoline, just sitting and talking about anything and everything was just a much fun as the jumping. Maybe taking a breather and enjoying each others company again may be the first step to enjoying your trampoline again.

The Marriage Playbook™
~where marriage is going~