Marriage Course - August 20, 2012

Day 4 - The Third and Fourth Seasons of Marriage - Autumn and Winter

Marriage

Autumn
• season of richness and maturity-reaping
• the benefits of what has gone before
• marriage more established having weathered tough times
• may be teenagers in the house
• emotionally the most exhausting stage of parenting
• the greatest need is to support and encourage each other

Winter
• empty-nest stage for many
• probably fewer demands with an opportunity for more time together
• can be the most exciting stage of marriage
• the greatest needs are shared interests and good communication

Question:Reflect on what you've heard so far. If you are in one of these seasons, talk together about the pressures you've worked through until now in your relationship, and the pressures you're currently facing. If you’re not here yet, what do you think it will be like?

From Series: "Marriage"

Study Guide

More Messages Associated With "Family"...

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Teenagers needs the confidence that comes from knowing they are loved.  Their behaviour often acts like a gauge showing how full of love their internal “emotional tank” is.  Today, we introduce the concept of the five love languages as a way of expressing love to our teenagers in order for them to feel loved.

  • Our teenagers’ greatest need is to feel loved and accepted during this enormous transition in their lives a time of:
    • self- discovery
    • pushing for independence
    • much self-questioning
    • peer pressure
    • they can experience a lot of self-doubt and feel awkward and unlovable
    • confidence rests on:
      • security (knowing they are loved)
      • self-worth (knowing they are of value)
      • significance (knowing there is a purpose to their lives)
      • seek to keep their emotional tank” full of LOVE:
        • their behavior acts like the gauge to show how full of love they feel
        • knowing that they are loved and accepted enables them in the long-term:
          • to resist peer pressure when they need to
          • to make good choices
          • to build close relationships

Discovering how our teenagers feel loved

  • discover the primary way each teenager feels loved, whether it’s through:
    • time
    • words
    • touch
    • presents
    • actions
    • (see Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages of Teenagers)
    • importance of a particular love language may have changed as a child has grown older

Question: Which of the five way of expressing love was most important for you during your upbringing?