Have You Started Your Marriage Spring Cleaning?
By Neysa Ellery Taylor
So yesterday was the first day of spring. Winter is gone. Summer isn’t here yet. But spring has sprung and what are you going to do in this season? Most folks change air filters, clean out closets and garages, and mop floors. They spend weekends weeding the yard, planting flowers, and cutting the grass. So after you do all of the improvements to your home and yard, are you doing any improvements to your marriage?
What many people don’t realize is that marriage has seasons too, and each season has work to be done. To often we get complacent in marriage and think “Well, we’re ok. We aren’t having any major difficulties so why rock the boat?” I am not saying to make trouble or to look for things that aren’t there. You can be content but never becomplacent. Those are two very different things. Content means that you are in a good place and satisfied with where you are but always open to growth and change. Complacent means you really don’t like where you are but it’s “good enough.” “Good enough” will kill a marriage. “Good enough” will choke the life out of your passion. Let’s be honest: “Good enough” never really is “good enough.”
In this season, you need to take stock of where you are in your marriage. Take a look around. Do you have dust bunnies in your marriage that you need to sweep out? These “dust bunnies” could be resentfulness, a spirit of unforgiving, unresolved conflict. These “dust bunnies” could be lack of sexual touch, affection, or true communication. You have to get rid of the dust bunnies in this season. Take a look at the show Hoarders. No one ever purchased an item and said “wow, I am on my way to being a hoarder.” Nope, it started with one purchase after another after another until the home was overwhelmed. Marriage dust bunnies are the same way. You may be able to overlook one or two, but if you don’t deal with them, then one day the dust bunnies will overrun your marriage.
So take a moment this season to really sweep out the dust bunnies. To really shake the dust off your marriage. Throw open the windows and let the spring breeze flow through. Remember spring is a season of freshness and renewing. And who doesn’t want that for their marriage? I know I do.
Neysa Ellery Taylor is an integral part of the writing team here at Blackloveandmarriage.com. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, Chris, and their 4 children – Asyen, Maya, Preston, and Patrick. An Emmy-Award winning journalist, she hopes to share her passion for marriage and God through her writing. You can read more of her work atMyriadthatisme.blogspot.com
