Married Couples
My 3 Strands for Married Couples
You. Your Spouse. God.
Building a friendship for life with faith, love, and hope.
Marriage is not one moment.
It is not only the wedding day.
It is a lifetime of ordinary days, hard days, joyful days, anniversaries, new beginnings, unexpected challenges, forgiveness, laughter, prayer, and love.
Whether you were married last week, twenty years ago, or are rebuilding your relationship after a difficult season, My 3 Strands invites you to remember a simple truth:
Your marriage has three strands.
You.
Your spouse.
God.
And God gives you three spiritual gifts to strengthen that relationship:
Faith.
Hope.
Love.
Your My 3 Strands marriage materials describe marriage as a “community of three in love,” where husband, wife, and God are woven together in a relationship that can reveal God’s love to family, friends, and the wider community.
Marriage Is Woven One Day at a Time
A wedding begins a marriage.
But a marriage is built afterward.
One conversation at a time.
One decision at a time.
One act of kindness at a time.
One apology at a time.
One prayer at a time.
Your newlywed materials encourage couples to treat every moment of marriage as a gift and every day as an opportunity to commit to, serve, love, and cherish one another.
That is how a lifelong friendship grows.
Not all at once.
But strand by strand.
Day by day.
Year by year.
Three Persons in Your Marriage
Marriage is more than:
You + Your Spouse
There is a third strand:
God.
So your marriage becomes:
You
Your Spouse
God
God is present in your marriage not only during church services, anniversaries, or moments of crisis.
He is present in the ordinary life you share.
At breakfast.
In the car.
During disagreements.
While raising children.
While paying bills.
While making decisions.
While celebrating.
While grieving.
While growing older together.
The My 3 Strands marriage materials describe this directly: every marriage involves three persons—you, your spouse, and God—and becomes a community of love rather than two people living only for themselves.
Three Gifts for Your Marriage
Faith. Hope. Love.
Marriage changes over time.
You will not be exactly the same people ten, twenty, or forty years from now.
So God gives you gifts that can grow with you.
Faith
Believe in God. Believe in each other.
Faith says:
I still believe in you.
I believe God is working in your life.
I believe God is working in mine.
I believe our marriage is worth tending.
I believe we can continue growing.
Faith does not mean pretending that problems do not exist.
It means trusting that your spouse is more than the frustration of one difficult moment.
And it means trusting that God can still work within both of you.
Your marriage resources repeatedly describe faith, hope, and love as a spiritual lifeline that grows stronger as these virtues are braided into daily married life.
Hope
Believe your story is still being written.
Every marriage experiences seasons.
Some are light.
Some are difficult.
Some are exciting.
Some feel routine.
Some require tremendous patience.
Hope helps a married couple say:
This moment is not the whole story.
A difficult year does not erase every good year.
A disagreement does not erase love.
A season of distance does not mean closeness can never return.
Hope keeps looking toward what God may still create.
It asks:
What could our marriage become from here?
Love
Cherish the person you married.
Love begins with feeling, but it cannot survive on feeling alone.
Married love becomes action.
Love listens.
Love notices.
Love serves.
Love makes time.
Love tells the truth.
Love apologizes.
Love forgives.
Love protects trust.
Love celebrates.
Love learns the other person again and again.
Love says:
Your life still matters deeply to me.
Your materials call marriage itself one of the greatest gifts spouses give each other and use the image of “unwrapping” that gift by continuing to use, enjoy, and invest in it.
Newly Married?
Begin Weaving the Habits That Can Last a Lifetime
The early years of marriage are filled with firsts.
Your first home.
Your first holidays as husband and wife.
Your first major decisions.
Your first conflicts.
Your first anniversaries.
Your first discoveries about what married life is really like.
Newlywed life is not about creating a perfect marriage.
It is about beginning healthy patterns.
Talk.
Listen.
Pray.
Laugh.
Spend time together.
Keep dating each other.
Learn how your spouse experiences love.
Learn how each of you handles stress.
Learn how to disagree without damaging the friendship.
Your newlywed resources emphasize that building friendship takes every day of married life and encourage couples to cherish one another in both small and significant ways.
The habits you weave now can become strands you carry for decades.
Celebrating an Anniversary?
Look Back With Gratitude. Look Forward With Hope.
An anniversary is more than remembering a date.
It is a milestone in the tapestry you have been weaving together.
Think about everything contained between your wedding day and today.
The places you have lived.
The people you have welcomed.
The prayers God has answered.
The difficulties you have survived.
The laughter only the two of you understand.
The changes neither of you expected.
The ways your spouse has grown.
The ways you have grown.
An anniversary gives you the opportunity to say:
Thank you for the life we have shared.
I still choose you.
I still believe in us.
I still want to discover what God has ahead for us.
Your marriage renewal materials describe every anniversary as a milestone on the journey of becoming best friends for life.
Celebrate the years behind you.
Bless the year ahead.
Keep weaving.
When Marriage Is Difficult
Tangled Does Not Mean Finished.
Some marriages reach seasons when the relationship feels strained.
Communication may have broken down.
Trust may have been wounded.
You may feel more like roommates than best friends.
You may wonder how the relationship that once seemed so strong became so difficult.
My 3 Strands does not suggest that a short prayer magically removes serious problems.
But it does offer an important starting point:
Remember who is in the relationship.
You.
Your spouse.
God.
And remember the gifts that are still available:
Faith.
Hope.
Love.
The Retrouvaille materials acknowledge that rebuilding a trusting friendship requires time, patience, and kindness, while encouraging couples to bring the wisdom of marriage renewal into daily life.
When a marriage is hurting, faith may simply mean:
I believe healing is worth seeking.
Hope may mean:
I will not assume today must become tomorrow.
Love may mean:
I will take the next good step.
Renewing Your Marriage
Marriage sometimes needs renewal.
Not because everything has failed.
But because every living relationship needs attention.
A couple may renew their marriage after:
A Marriage Encounter weekend.
A Retrouvaille experience.
A retreat.
A difficult period.
An anniversary.
A family transition.
Children leaving home.
Retirement.
Illness.
Loss.
Or simply because both spouses want to become closer again.
Your Marriage Encounter materials encourage couples to carry the wisdom of a renewal experience into everyday life through communication, shared prayer, date time, worship, and continued attention to the friendship.
Renewal asks:
What do we want the next chapter of our marriage to become?
Become Best Friends for Life
Marriage is more than sharing a house.
More than sharing finances.
More than raising children.
More than attending events together.
At its deepest, marriage is friendship.
The person beside you is someone you continue learning.
Someone you continue discovering.
Someone you continue choosing.
Your My 3 Strands materials repeatedly use a beautiful phrase for this calling:
Best friends for life.
That friendship requires time.
Patience.
Kindness.
Communication.
Attention.
Shared experiences.
Prayer.
And the willingness to continue seeing the person you married as a gift.
Start With Two Minutes a Day
A strong marriage does not always require a complicated spiritual practice.
Begin simply.
My 3 Strands invites married couples to spend just two minutes a day remembering God’s presence in their marriage.
In the morning, pray.
Remember the three persons:
God.
My spouse.
Me.
Then do the same before bed.
The marriage resources recommend this brief morning-and-evening practice as a way of creating a continuing awareness of God’s presence and the couple’s connection to one another.
Two minutes will not solve every problem.
But those two minutes can remind you of something that is easy to forget in the busyness of life:
We belong to each other.
God is here.
Our marriage matters.
Pray Your Three Strands
The My 3 Strands marriage prayer expresses the heart of the mission:
A man and woman, with God’s hands,
knit a marriage of 3 Strands.
Three cords of love, faith and hope
weave a stronger bond than rope.
The prayer card then names the three persons in the relationship:
God
My spouse
Me
The My 3 Strands marriage resources use this simple daily practice to remind couples that love, faith, and hope can become a spiritual lifeline throughout married life.
Your Marriage Is Part of His Tapestry of Grace
Think of your wedding day as the beginning of a new section in a tapestry.
At first, you could see only a few threads.
Now perhaps there are years of them.
Children.
Homes.
Friends.
Moves.
Jobs.
Celebrations.
Arguments.
Reconciliations.
Birthdays.
Funerals.
Vacations.
Hospital rooms.
Quiet evenings.
Answered prayers.
Unanswered questions.
Ordinary days you did not realize were precious until they were gone.
Some threads shimmer.
Some are dark.
Some are knotted.
Some appear out of place.
Yet God can continue weaving through all of them.
You see the strand you are holding today.
God sees the larger pattern.
Your marriage does not need to have been perfect to become beautiful.
Its beauty can be found in remaining willing to love.
To grow.
To forgive.
To begin again.
To treasure.
To hope.
For Every Season of Marriage
My 3 Strands can accompany couples through many chapters of married life.
Newlyweds
Build the friendship you want to carry through life.
Anniversaries
Celebrate the tapestry you have already woven and bless the years ahead.
Marriage Enrichment
Strengthen a good marriage before problems become walls between you.
Marriage Encounter
Carry renewed communication, prayer, and friendship back into everyday life.
Marriage Renewal
Rediscover each other and begin weaving a new chapter together.
Troubled Marriages
Hold onto faith, hope, and love while taking meaningful steps toward healing.
Empty Nest and Retirement
Discover the person beside you again as life enters a new season.
Growing Older Together
Treasure the friendship that has carried your lives across the years.
One Marriage. Three Persons. Three Gifts.
You + Your Spouse + God
And:
Faith + Hope + Love
These two sets of three are at the heart of My 3 Strands for Married Couples.
One describes who is present.
The other describes how you love.
Together, they create a simple way to remember the spiritual heart of married life.
Treasure Your Marriage Today
Do not wait for an anniversary to tell your spouse they matter.
Do not wait for a crisis to begin praying together.
Do not wait until the children are grown to make time for each other.
Do not wait for the perfect moment to say:
Thank you.
I’m sorry.
I forgive you.
I believe in you.
I’m glad I married you.
I love you.
Marriage is woven in moments like these.
My 3 Strands for Married Couples
You. Your Spouse. God.
Faith. Hope. Love.
Three strands woven into a friendship for life.
For Newlyweds →
Celebrate an Anniversary →
Strengthen Your Marriage →
Renew Your Marriage →
My 3 Strands Marriage Prayer →