Rock Solid Families - Ep 244 -  Summer of Love Series - Part 2 - Communication

“We're not saying you're not going to have conflict. It’s how you resolve the conflict and the tools that you have in your toolbox,” explains co-host Linda Hutchinson. Healthy communication strategies are pivotal for maintaining and building intimacy within a marriage. In Part 1 of their Summer of Love Series, co-hosts Merrill and Linda introduced their Marriage Assessment, a tool for couples to determine their strengths and weaknesses within their partnership. This assessment breaks marriage quality down into four categories, emotional connectedness, spiritual connectedness, physical intimacy, and communication skills. Today, Merrill and Linda Hutchinson discuss communication skills through sharing their ten key rules of engagement for communicating with a significant other. 

These ten rules of engagement are game changers when it comes to building intimacy and communicating effectively. By taking the time now to recognize and resolve breakdowns in communication, you can prevent larger marital issues from popping up down the road. Effective communication starts with intentionality. Make time each day for a heart check with your partner, prioritizing checking in on how one another is feeling over any and all distractions. When speaking with your spouse, give them your full undivided attention and resist the urge to interrupt the conversation. Research shows that it can take around eight minutes to progress past surface level talk, so it is critical that you allow enough time for these daily check-ins. When you do have a conflict, set a time limit for resolving it instead of allowing it to linger and grow. By using ‘I statements’, you can take ownership of your feelings and be assertive without putting your partner on the defensive. Most importantly, make time to pray with your partner. Couples who pray together statistically have a much lower likelihood of divorce.

Following these ten rules of engagement will help you build more intimacy so that you and your partner can enjoy a Summer of Love. Be sure to complete the linked Marriage Assessment to get a clear picture of the quality of your marriage and use it as a guideline for which areas to invest more work into. 

Quotes

• “Men are slow to warm up to talking about how they are feeling about things.” (12:47-12:52 | Merrill)
• “Research says it takes about seven to eight minutes before you get past surface talk.” (14:05-14:10 | Linda)
• “Trust the process and show that you are invested in it.” (15:31-15:36 | Merrill)
• “Pray together with your spouse on a regular basis.” (31:47-31:50 | Linda) 

Links

Summer of Love Assessment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZPpGt0BsmNwkaBsUSwoUBTsYtf4K4dDFqJJI1uDxoOs/edit?usp=sharing

Youtube: https://youtu.be/MHdbrBwDSVU. 
Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/636718/13113572

Instagram Rock Solid Families | https://www.instagram.com/rocksolidfamilies/?hl=en 

Website | https://www.rocksolidfamilies.or

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