You’re dating or engaged. Great! Your love for each other is fresh and exciting. You may be close to making the most important commitment of your life. Perhaps your decision is already made and your commitment is firm. Or perhaps you are still wondering, still testing, still deciding whether this is the right person for you. Either way, you want to go into marriage with confidence. Check out the US Catholic Conference of Bishops' (USCCB) web site on Dating and Engaged. Much of the content herein is referenced to the USCCB website.
Quick guide to marriage preparation topics on this page:
Having a successful marriage means more than FINDING the right person. It means BEING the right person. Sometimes, the FINDING part is easier. BEING the right person can be tougher. Are you easy to live with, generous, flexible, and willing to put your beloved’s needs before your own? Above all, are both of you mature? Check out the Marriage Readiness page. Here are quick links to some of the content:
As a dating or engaged couple, conversation probably comes easily. The two of you enjoy talking about just anything. Just about anything that is, except ugly disagreements. It doesn’t change much in marriage except there are more things to disagree about. You can’t run away from prickly conversations – for long. If anything, marriage accentuates the mild differences you have while dating. They can become serious disagreements once the initial excitement of new love becomes the comfort of secure love. Before you marry, consider “must have conversations” on these topics:
Communication usually comes easily and smoothly to most engaged couples. They can talk to each other about just anything. It may even be hard to understand how or why married couples fight. You may say to yourselves, “We’ll never be like that.” And maybe you won’t. On the other hand...
The challenge is not to avoid conflict but to learn to use it to clear the air. Through it all, you’ll want to love and respect each other. Even as two people grow close together, they will occasionally think differently and have different opinions on how to handle a situation. If this doesn’t ever occur, it is likely that one partner is avoiding a confrontation, submerging his/her identity, or always giving in. That’s not healthy for marriage over the long haul.
Following are some articles that address conflict resolution and offer ways to navigate those inevitable times of minor or serious conflict.
Quick links to other pages on this web site:
|
|
|
