I spent a lot of time traveling for my job in the early years of our marriage. My wife Lynne constantly placed notes of affection or pictures in my luggage simply to remind me of how much she loved me. It was difficult being apart for many days at a time for almost 7 years. Over the years, we’ve been asked a number of times what we did to keep our marriage alive despite so many days apart. My answer is always the same, “It was the small things of affection.”

My good friend Dr. John Trent posits in his book, The 2º Difference, that it's the small things done consistently over time that make big differences and successfully turns things around. Like every other married couple, Lynne and I have struggled in some capacity in our marriage. Yet, today our marriage is stronger than ever in large part because we have been faithful to consistently give affection to each other in many small ways.

Here are a few ideas and suggestions that seem to work well for us:

Paul’s words to us in Romans 12:10 - “Be kindly affectionate to one another," when applied, help us build a stronger marriage.