No matter how good your parenting efforts are, if you’re marriage grows weak over time it will corrupt your influence as a parent.

We want our marriages to be the example they desire to have someday. Often, how we view our marriage determines it’s reality.

Is it possible we need to step up our expectations for our marriage with a bigger “why” that surpasses even our own happiness?

Perhaps joy in marriage comes from shooting beyond ourselves anyways. God wants us to enjoy marriage, its an incredible thing; but to what end?

The bigger goal is to Glorify God with our marriage.

What is the most powerful team in the world? It should be the marriage team. Your marriage team!

Let’s give our kids something worthy to look for and cultivate in their own marriages someday by modeling it well.

My husband and I have learned from the beginning and lived out one of the secrets of an incredible marriage that Glorifies God and catalyzes great parenting.

It is nourishing the gifts and dreams in your spouse.

If we don’t draw them out in each other we aren’t being an effective team, but if we do it’s amazing how it catalyzes the growth in each of you, but also the marriage overall.

You probably are the person that knows your spouse the best out of anyone else in the world.

If you don’t encourage the gifts and dreams, then who else will?

When we feel good about living out dreams God has given us, that call us to use our areas of giftings, we feel the most alive. It actually makes us better parents as long as it’s not at the cost of time parenting, of course.

There are seasons for dreams, but how can you nourish one gift in your spouse today? It may be one your spouse doesn’t even fully embrace within themselves. Watch what happens when you consistently nurture one gift weekly, monthly, and for an entire year.

Here is a Courageous Wife Challenge:

How can you nourish, encourage, or draw out one spiritual gift or talent in your spouse today?

It may be one your spouse doesn’t even fully embrace within themselves. Watch what happens when you consistently nurture one gift weekly, monthly, and for an entire year.

It will be transformational for your marriage. Isn’t that what you want your kids to expect in their own marriages?

Model it and watch new realities for your marriage unfold.

We speak more on this with practical examples from my own marriage in the new EPISODE #10 on the Courageous Parenting Podcast. Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts or go to COURAGEOUSPARENTING.COM to watch and see show notes and Scripture references.