PRAY TOGETHER

• Validate Marriage Mission Statement, and Basic Core Values. (Review together and decide how you did in living them out in your everyday lives.)

• Ask:

• Are you in agreement with how you’ve rated yourselves?

• Establish action plans for this month if you need to work on area of your individual live.

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Plan a Household Task Update:

• Discuss home projects that need to be tended to so you’re both aware of them and are in agreement of what needs to be done and by whom:

• What project(s) needs to be done inside our home?

• What needs to be done on the outside of our home that needs special attention?

• Who’s to do what?

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Have a Quick Budget Review:

• Where are we this month in keeping to our agreed upon budget—are we on track?

• Do we have any new expenses coming up that we need to be aware of?

• What’s our plan for saving for this (or these items)?

• Do we need to make adjustments in how we’re handling our money?

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Encourage Each Other in Your Personal and Long-Range Goals:

(i.e. self-study, education, dieting, reading, exercising, hobbies, or just having some personal R&R time that’s important to you as a man or a woman). It’s important to have goals that you share together. But it’s also important to do something “just for you” (that doesn’t conflict with the family’s values or take too much time away from each other).

• Discuss your personal goals so you can encourage and pray for each other. (Keep in mind these goals aren’t to be at the expense of the other’s feelings.)

• Are there any changes from last month’s goals?

• How did you personally do with last month’s goals—did you complete them?

• Determine your own “80/20 goal” for this next month. (These are goals that will improve your life by 80% but will only require 20% of your effort (i.e. organizing or finishing a project that’s been bugging you for a long time and needs to be completed.)

• Pray for your goals (today and throughout the month).

• Discuss goals and plans you can share together including ministry goals. (It’s important to always have goals that you’re mutually working on together. This keeps your relationship alive and growing together rather than apart.)

• What goal(s) are we to work on together as a couple?

• What goal(s) are we to work on as a family?

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(Make sure your dating times are for doing fun things together without the children along. These are to be set appointments and can only be changed upon a mutual agreement for a very good reason.)

• What can we do together on a date, as a couple that we’d both enjoy?

• When and where are we going to go to do this?

• Do we want to have friends join us for this occasion?

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(plus quality time with each child if you have children living at home)

• What type of event(s) do we want to do together?

• When and where do we want to go?

• Do we want the whole family included?

• Do we want to include any friends to come along with us?

• What arrangements need to be done? Who’s to do what?

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• Validate when you’re to have the next planning session. This is important to do right now because if you don’t, it probably won’t get onto the calendar for next month.

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• Coordinate your calendars and decide if you’re in or out of balance on the activities you have scheduled for the month(s) ahead. Keep in mind that it’s important for you to be in agreement on any commitments that will affect the whole family before you say “yes” to anything. Ask yourselves:

• “Do we need to change anything?”

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• ASK:

• How are we doing in our own personal growth in sharing our faith with others?

• Pray for each other’s list of unsaved people that the Lord’s laid upon your hearts.

• Pray for others that need encouragement.

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—bringing up major discussion points that need to be talked through:

• Lovingly discuss issues that are bothering you (These include sensitive topics you need to discuss thoroughly without interruption.)

• Is there an “unresolved” topic we need to revisit because we couldn’t finish our “discussion” about it previously?

• Tell what you appreciate about each other. (Too often we forget to do this.)

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• Share with each other what the Lord’s been showing you in His word and through other resources, in your life, and/or through the lives of others recently.

• Ask each other:

“What can I specifically be praying for you this next week/month?”

• PRAY TOGETHER. This is too important of a part of your relationship to neglect. Get comfortable praying aloud with each other now and every day. You may feel a bit awkward at first, but eventually, you’ll be blessed by it.

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