My mother’s right hand rested on the large panes of the airport windows. I watched silently as she choked back her tears and dabbed her eyes. I saw her tuck her fear and worry away, in a place deep inside where we couldn’t see. She straightened up, turned to face us with a small smile, and drove us home.

As a military pilot, my dad spent his share of time on deployments–living away from home, most often on an aircraft carrier practicing maneuvers. These were usually 6-months stints, but occasionally lasted as long as a year. As a child, this meant that I missed my dad, sure, but I was blessed with the naïveté of childhood: I always knew he’d come home. He’d miss some basketball games, we wouldn’t go to the golf course for awhile, and his easy-to-open wallet would be MIA for a time, but eventually he’d return and life would get back to normal.

And for us, it did. He returned safely every single time, and our family weathered the small storms of re-adjusting to life as a family of 4 under the same roof. As I think about those adjustments, I realize how well the rest of us would be served to apply some of the same ideas. Click here to read my post at Wedded Bliss about 4 ways we can learn from military couples.

photo credit: larryzou

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  Does that word have you singing the old Aretha song?  That one little word has resonated with fans throughout the years in part, I think, because we get it.  We all get it.  Is there anyone who doesn’t desire a healthy dose of respect from others – from our friends, family, and even strangers? When it comes to marriage, it’s the same story:  we deeply desire the respect of our spouse.  And, in the beginning, it seems pretty simple.  It seems easy, even.  Because when you’ve recently fallen in love, there’s no end to the things you admire and respect about your beloved and he admires and respects about you.  Easy as pie.

Flash forward.  Add pets, a house, yard work, and jobs.  Throw in a couple of kids, housework, chores, chores and a few more chores.  Add different interests and new friendships.  Mix in a healthy dose of difficult parenting choices, less and less time together as a couple, and there you have it: A Full-Blown Recipe for Disaster. 

What’s a girl to do?  See my post over at Wedded Bliss today for more.

If you consider the element of surprise strictly the stuff of fiction novels and blockbuster movies, think again.  Surprise isn’t just for John Grisham and Tom Cruise.  It can brighten up a regular old marriage, too.  

See my post at Blissfully Wed today, and discover 5 ways to keep married life interesting!

photo credit: leezi5