After all of the planning for the wedding is behind you, after the wedding actually occurs, after the the relatives and guests go home to their normal lives again, after the honeymoon is behind you — the marriage begins. And that can be a real-eye opener when you start to face what everyday life together will truly involve.

“They say that marriage doesn’t really start until you return from your honeymoon, and they’re right. For this is the first time you’re actually together as man and wife without the glitter, without the hype, without the distractions of ceremony or vacation, and with all the decisions of starting out still to be made.

“For most newly married couples, it also means setting up a new home, which is supposed to be fun, which is supposed to be exhilarating, and which often turns out to be exasperating. You didn’t just gain a husband or wife —you gained his or her old sofa bed and chairs, the old posters (from college!), the old T-shirts, and boxes of things you may well be fighting about 3 weeks or months after the day after your wedding day. The point is, you most likely won’t be haggling about things; you’ll be fighting about what those things mean or meant, to you or your spouse.” (Curtis Pesmen, Your First Year of Marriage) 

Many marriage “experts” are discovering that some newly married individuals and couples go through a period of time where they are depressed after the wedding is over. It can involve a combination where they are decompressing after the wedding —from going through such an emotionally intense planning stage, to the actual event, and then they enter into a time when their expectations are challenged with the reality of being married.

To read more about this, please click onto the following web site links to read:

•  HOW TO AVOID THE POST HONEYMOON SLUMP

•  NEWLYWEDS OFTEN FORGET TO PLAN FOR THE MARRIAGE

Additionally, below you will find links to articles where you can learn some things to help you adjust to each other in your new life together. Keep in mind that:

“Marriage is more than sharing a life together; it’s building a life together. What you do now is for both, and what is said now is for both. What your purpose is now is for the kingdom and giving glory to the image of God.” (Norm Wright, from the book, One Marriage Under God)

So how do you build a life together that will be pleasing to each other and to God?

“How does a newlywed couple live out the promise made before God and a community of family and friends? Decision, priority, balance, and forgiveness are the keys. Decision is the operative word. Fidelity requires decision, decision to follow through on a pledge. Decide to act honorably. Decide to put your marriage as number one each day.” (Mary Stubler) 

To help you with this mission, please click below to read:

• A LESSON LEARNED FROM NEWLYWEDS

•  THROUGH THE YEARS

•  BUILT TO LAST

The above article was put together by Cindy Wright of Marriage Missions