Thursday, February 19, 2009

HONEY, I CAN’T READ YOUR MIND!

By: Felicia Fucuals

Learning to communicate effectively in marriage,
can help prevent misunderstandings.

Scripture: AMOS 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Think of discussions in the marriage relationship as being team meeting discussions. Remembering that you are not enemies but teammates in life, whose objective is to work together to achieve common goals on common ground. -- While respecting one another’s ideas and input.

Eliminate the ‘guess work’ frustration that comes with poor communication. Don’t automatically assume the other person knows what you are thinking. I know you married your best friend. I know they’re your soul mate but quite frankly, regardless of the spiritual bond you have, they can’t read your mind.

Take time to have dialogue and share what you’re thinking and feeling. Be clear and concise while watching timing, tone of voice, and body language.

Work on listening skills by not tuning the other person out and rushing them to finish. Be patient if they are an extremely detailed communicator and you’re a bottom line communicator. Repeat what you understood them to say in order to receive clarity.

Work at being and staying on the same page. Practicing good communication techniques is worth your energy and will contribute to more peace and less frustration in your relationship.

Prayer
Lord, help me when I get frustrated in communicating with my mate. Give me patience, help my attitude and teach me how to communicate effectively and value their input. I receive your wisdom so that our marriage will be more peaceful than ever before. In Jesus’ name. Amen.