This past week Danielle and I celebrated our 8 year marriage anniversary.

During the week I had the opportunity to reflect on what I have gleened over the last 8 years of marriage.

Brendon & Danielle Wilson

Here are 8 thoughts that have allowed Danielle and I to have an incredible marriage.

• The biggest – we are each others best friend. In todays culture of sex, money and image… tend to get the most time on this one …. however … 8 years into it I would say that all three of the latter will come and go but you better still be best friends.

• We have a regular date night with just the two of us every two weeks or hopefully every week. Even if it is sharing a $2.45 coffee at Starbucks …. getting out of the hustle and bustle to connect is huge for us.

• MARRIAGE CONFERENCE …. I cannot over state how big this one is. We have gone to a conference for nearly all of our marriage and even when we were engaged.
• Weekend to Remember through Family Life 
• Love and Respect Conference …. if you can’t get to this conference then GET THE BOOK …. Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs 

• An intense desire to resolve conflict as soon as possible … I say as soon as possible as one of us tends to want to resolve it quickly and the other wants a little space (no names mentioned) …… Scripture tells us in Ephesian 4:26 that we should not let the sun go down on our anger + if we do … it allows the enemy a foothold. Danielle and I are passionate about trying to not let anything come between us….. more about this in the next point.

• As eluded in the prior point ….. in the past 8 years Danielle and I have worked really hard in trying to make sure nothing comes between us. This has not been easy at times, especially with bills to be paid, ministry, business, kids and so much more. However ….. when life tends to get crazy we always up our communication to each other and that tends to help. I come from a divorced family so I am pretty passionate about making sure we are communicating.

• 3 days or more AWAY from the kids and ALONE …… this is one that we are slowly getting right ….. this past January we got away for 8 days alone, by ourselves on a Carnival Cruise Ship. In this day and age everything else is competing for our time and energy and we must make time away with our spouse a priority.

• Living DEBT FREE ….. we have drunk the cool aid with Dave Ramsey and having Financial Freedom has been an incredible blessing in our life. It has not been easy and many times we have had to say ‘no’ to something but the end goal of financial freedom has been well worth it. Check out Dave Ramsey  for more on this

• Having Fun …. we live in a serious world and I am guilty of this way to often ….. we have tried to have fun … whether it is rollerblading. picnic in the park, get-a-way to the mountains or simply doing a stupid dance in the kitchen when the stress level is rising ….. having fun is critical …. in fact … laughing releases some good stuff in your brain and body.

• [Bonus Point]  Marriage takes commitment …. there is no EASY way to get around this. Marriage is taking two different personalities and joining them together for a life-time. HOWEVER … the rewards, joy, friendship, memories, relationships and so much more come from the incredible overflow of a great marriage.

I am passionate about marriages going to the next level – Here is another excellent article about 8 Lies that Destroy Marriages from Family Life

8 Tips That Destroy a Marriage