{"id":1483,"date":"2010-02-18T11:48:20","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T17:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.185.166.32\/~davidfoster\/?p=1483"},"modified":"2010-02-18T11:48:20","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T17:48:20","slug":"the-best-way-to-stay-married-to-the-same-woman-for-38-years-is-to-not-get-a-divorce-happy-anniversary-paula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/the-best-way-to-stay-married-to-the-same-woman-for-38-years-is-to-not-get-a-divorce-happy-anniversary-paula\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way to Stay Married to the Same Woman for 38 Years is to Not Get a Divorce: Happy Anniversary Paula!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Well I am proud to announce that today is my 38th anniversary of being married to the same woman; the girl I met in third grade.\u00a0 Her name is Paula.<\/p>\n

As I get older I realize that those of us who have been married to the same person for a very long time are becoming an endangered species.\u00a0 It seems that divorce has become way too common of an option<\/strong>.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t speak for Paula, but in the 38 years that we\u2019ve been married and with all the difficulties we\u2019ve had and all the pain I\u2019ve caused her, I\u2019ve never thought that divorce was ever a solution.\u00a0 You know why?\u00a0 Because we\u2019ve dealt with hundreds and hundreds of people who have opted for it, and they fail to realize that when you get divorced you take the same dysfunction with you and relive it in the next marriage.<\/p>\n

So what does it take to get married, be married, and stay married, happily married to the same woman or man over 38 years?\u00a0 Here is my take.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It takes lots of generosity<\/strong> to believe in the heart of your mate when their actions can\u2019t be explained.<\/li>\n
  2. It takes patience<\/strong> to believe that a person can change, and that nagging can\u2019t achieve it.<\/li>\n
  3. Faith<\/strong>: faith in God and faith in the person that you\u2019ve committed to love for the rest of your life.<\/li>\n
  4. A great sense of humor<\/strong>.\u00a0 You have to learn how to laugh at each other and laugh at the situation because sometimes that\u2019s all you can do.<\/li>\n
  5. The power to prevail<\/strong>.\u00a0 Everyone faces quitting moments in their marriage.\u00a0 It\u2019s those who push through it that last.<\/li>\n
  6. Children <\/strong>help keep you together over time, because you have a common interest and passion even when you don\u2019t have a common emotional attraction.<\/li>\n
  7. Really great sex <\/strong>over time.\u00a0 Yeah, I had to mention that because every great marriage that sustains itself over time has some level of consistency in their sex life.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not every day or every week, but it\u2019s consistent, pleasurable, and both parties are committed to being great lovers to each other.<\/li>\n
  8. An understanding of just how destructive divorce is<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  9. An understanding that when you make a promise to another person, <\/strong>there has to be a point at which you draw a line in the sand and take your stand.\u00a0 So often today we run from our commitments and promises when they get hard.\u00a0 There has to be at least somewhere in your life where you stay.<\/li>\n
  10. Prayer:<\/strong> prayer for each other and prayer for those you love.<\/li>\n
  11. An understanding that comes from intelligent talking<\/strong>; not talking at each other, screaming, yelling at each other, but always talking to understand and then talking to be understood.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These are just a few of the things, it seems to me, it takes to stay married to the same person over a long period of time.\u00a0 Paula and I have made it 38 years as of today, and we\u2019re committed the rest of our lives not just to make our marriage fun, but to help as many other great people as we can, grow great marriages<\/strong>.\u00a0 That\u2019s our real passion.\u00a0 Remember, relationships aren\u2019t built like houses.\u00a0 They\u2019re grown like gardens.\u00a0 Guys, the word \u201chusband\u201d is an agricultural term.\u00a0 Are you helping your wife grow to her full, God-given potential? Is she blossoming under the umbrella of your covenant relationship?\u00a0 If she\u2019s not, man-up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Well I am proud to announce that today is my 38th anniversary of being married to the same woman; the girl I met in third grade.\u00a0 Her name is Paula. As I get older I realize that those of us who have been married to the same person for a very long time are becoming … Continue reading “The Best Way to Stay Married to the Same Woman for 38 Years is to Not Get a Divorce: Happy Anniversary Paula!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1483"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}