What do your priorities look like?

So many of us get our priorities out of whack when we spend more time, energy, and effort at work or in our ministry than we do with our spouse and family. Here at iWork4Him, we take marriage seriously! Start implementing these simple yet impactful actions to protect and improve your marriage:

1. Pray together daily - not just over meals and not just in crisis.

2. Share a calendar.

3. Make sure your spouse has full access to your phone, including your password.

4. Designate a date night every week (or every other week) and leave your phones in the car when you are out.

5. Eat dinner daily as a family.

6. Set talk times each day (wind down time).

7. Bring your spouse to work regularly. Make sure that he or she meets everyone.

8. Set your work hours and keep them.

9. Schedule at least one week-long vacation a year and quarterly getaway weekends.

10. Go to bed together (easier for romance).

Save this checklist and make time soon to talk with your spouse about applying these “rules” to your marriage!

Get extra protection with these Home and Work ideas:

Bonus Home Suggestions:

• Try eating lunch once a week with your spouse.

• Make friends with other couples who want the same thing and share taking each other’s kids for the weekend or even a few hours.

• If you exercise, exercise together. No gym time alone.

• Set designated “no phone” times at home.

• Have devotions together daily.

• Attend a marriage conference yearly.

• Limit your kids’ sports to one sport a year. Sports involvement can kill families, can eliminate involvement in church – your kid is not likely to be an Olympic athlete.

• Find a Marriage Mentor Couple you can learn from.

• Read marriage books together.

• Learn to say “No” to any person, place, or thing that gets in the way of your marriage. Make this a decision filter for your marriage.

• Serve together. (You can check with a pastor at your church.)

• Get enough sleep, eat a good diet, and exercise. (Seems simple enough!)

Bonus Work Suggestions:

• Don’t have 1-on-1 lunches with anyone of the opposite sex who is not your spouse.

• Don’t do 1-on-1 meetings with employees of the opposite sex behind closed doors or in a private place.

• Make sure you’re hiring for talent and be careful with assistants. Make sure they’re not a distraction.

• Invite your pastor to work and have lunch together.

• If you are a local church pastor or a ministry worker:

1. Never do counseling alone with the opposite sex, try to do it as a couple or 2-on-2.

2. Set your ministry hours office hours and reflect family as a priority on your schedule. Work around the non-negotiable hours.

3. If you are a preacher, schedule weekends where you don’t preach. Get away from your church ministry.

4. Remember, God wants you first - not just what you can do for Him.

Bring it all together with top-tier faith and work encouragement and resources:

• iWork4Him Podcast

• iWork4Him PowerThoughts

• iWork4Him: Change the Way You Think About Your Faith at Work

• Awaken Podcast Network

• iWork4Him Weekly Newsletter