3 Tips for Enjoying Your Wedding Anniversary

　　By Lynette Kittle

　　Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil”- Proverbs15:16

　　Anniversaries can be hard. Deciding what to do, where to go, how much time to take, and how much money to spend have the potential to cause strife and division at a time where a couple wants to celebrate unity and oneness of purpose.

　　Expectations and pressure to have a fabulous time, to get along perfectly, and have remarkable conversation don’t help.

　　As well, sometimes compromise is necessary if each spouse has a different vision of how to celebrate their anniversary. Varying expectations give an opportunity for resentment, bitterness, and disappointment to brew, especially for the spouse who feels they didn’t really have a say. A happy compromise is a delicate balance to attain.

　　Likewise, 1 Peter 5:8, describes how the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, set on causing strife and division between couples. Particularly, it seems like he particularly prowls during anniversaries, setting out to rob, kill, and destroy a couple’s unity, working to start their coming year of marriage on a negative note.

　　Additionally, real life health, finances, childcare options and more have the potential to set certain limitations and dampen the day. So how can couples successfully navigate through a wedding anniversary and make it safely through to begin another year together?

　　Below are three tips to help us enjoy our wedding anniversaries.

　　1. Determine to make the best of our day. We can decide ahead of time that our day doesn’t have to be perfect for us to enjoy it. Even if interruptions and obstacles try to knock us off course, we can choose to not let anything ruin our day but rather look for ways to work through, bounce back, and recover our anniversary.

　　Lean on God to help you through any challenges that arise. Believe what Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

　　2. Look for meaning over cost. Often we feel pressure to outdo the previous anniversaries by spending more time, more money, and making it a bigger event. But rather than looking to go bigger, what if we plan anniversaries with meaning?

　　How about instead, we consider recreating a setting or activity we two when dating or first married, by visiting a favorite spot, restaurant, or event that brings back loving and fun memories of time spent together.

　　When my husband and I were first married and attending college together, we really didn’t have extra cash. Commuting 50 miles each way back and forth to school for the day, our finances were tight.

　　Thankfully Burger King offered 2 Whoppers for $2, plus a free refill drink if you bought their cup. In college day survival mode, we made the leap to purchase the endless refillable cup, along with splurging on the 2 for $2. For months our lunch consisted of the free refill drink and two sandwiches, which tasted amazing to us because it was usually all we had to eat on our class days.

　　A few years ago, just for fun and to go down memory lane, we drove through Burger King for our anniversary. Sitting in the car eating our food, we reminisced about our many Whopper lunches. It’s an anniversary we won’t soon forget because it offered us much more in meaning than it cost.

　　3. Go against the flow.In a world constantly telling us we deserve to have what we want, why not let our spouse have their way?

　　Philippians 2:3 urges us to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

　　Ask God to help us reach out in love to our spouse, deferring to his or her preference in how to celebrate. And when we do, instead of dragging our feet because it wasn’t what we had hoped for, we make every effort to fully enjoy the day, valuing our spouse above ourselves.

　　Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, iBelieve.com, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, Startmarriageright.com, growthtrac.com, and more. She has an M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as an associate producer for Soul Check TV.

　　Related Resource: 4 Truths About Marriage Every Couple Needs to RememberNo matter how long you’ve been married, reminding yourself of fundamental marriage truths is helpful. In this episode of the Team Us Podcast, Ted and Ashleigh share four truths about marriage every couple needs to remember. If you like what you hear, head over toApple or Spotify and subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!