💝 Ditch the date night rut with these out-of-the-box Valentine’s ideas!

💍 Being engaged is a whirlwind! Here are some things no one tells you about the engagement period.

💛 Get all you need to know about emotional safety.

🤔 Wondering if you’re a good friend or if you have good friends? Look no further.

😘 Looking for a fun Valentine’s date night in? Check out this or this!

why date nights should be a priority for your future marriage

In the early years of marriage, couples usually find it easy to schedule date nights. Once children come along and careers get more intense though, date night takes last place on the list of important things needing attention.

Before long, couples find themselves going through the motions of marriage and stuck in a rut when it comes to romance, all the while looking for a cure.

Guess what?

Date night just might be the cure. Here’s Why it matters in your future marriage:

💛 Helps You Connect

💛 Increases Intimacy

💛 Builds Resilience

💛 Increases Happiness

💛 Energizes Your Relationship

Date night may seem like an optional item on your “to-do” list that requires planning and energy you don’t feel like you have right now. The truth is, date night is vital for the health of your relationship!

here’s how you can tell if someone is trustworthy

Oddly enough, you are going to have to trust me on this. You don’t know me. At the end of this, you are going to have to decide if this is trustworthy advice from a trustworthy source.

This is probably a good place for a disclaimer or three:

• Trust is a two-way street. Sometimes we withhold trust from people that are trustworthy. We may have gotten burned by someone close to us. We may be having trust issues because the world has gotten crazy and we are anxious and stressed out and feel overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of opinions and information. Or, we may have trust issues to work through on our end for a variety of totally legitimate reasons. Make sure you are doing the work on your end.
• Trust exists on a sliding scale. Trust is less like a light switch and more like a thermostat—we can turn it up as we develop trust with someone or turn it down if we see someone showing signs of not being trustworthy. Sometimes we don’t have enough history with someone to really decide if they are trustworthy and we have to go with a gut feeling about them. Only you know the track record of your “gut feelings.”
• Trust can be regained. We have all violated someone’s trust at some point. I know I have. I’ve been grateful that they didn’t write me off as “untrustworthy” forever and ever but gave me opportunities to regain their trust. Sometimes it has taken a period of time and understandably so. Leave others the room you want to be human and make mistakes. That said, there are pathologically untrustworthy people. Note it and act accordingly.

There are things you can be on the lookout for when it comes to trustworthiness. And you should be on the lookout. Trust is the bedrock of our relationships, but trust is also a fragile thing.