My wife and I just celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. I am so grateful for her and our relationship in so many ways.  Our love for each other has grown year by year. 

What I found interesting was the number of people who were amazed we were celebrating 39 years together. To some of the people  it was an “earth shattering feat”. However, in my mind I am more in awe of the people who have 60 or 65 years together.

While being married, and happily married, for 39 years is great, our goal is to share a lifetime of love together. So I begin to think about what it would take to spend a lifetime of love together and I came up with this formula:

• LOOK – Look for the good in each other. Look for ways to encourage the good in each other. In a world that is overly fixated on the negative, let your relationship be a safe place for both of you by looking for the good and cultivating it.
• LISTEN – Listen to each other. Listen at more than your words; listen to the meaning behind the words. Listen for the words that say I need help or I just need you to listen. Listen for the opportunities to serve and to surprise each other.
• LOVE – Love each other unconditionally. Love when you don’t understand. Love when you don’t feel like it. Love with the intention of being best friends and spouses.

A love that will last a lifetime will not happen overnight. But it does happen a day at a time.