I am co-hosting the Love Blog Challenge today. The prompt is “Strength.” I’ve shared the prompt list for the rest of the month below but also feel free to head over to Brita’s Introduction Post for more details and ideas for each prompt. We’d love to have you join us!

Just like any couple that every existed, Pearson and I certainly have strengths and weaknesses within our marriage. And of course, those strengths and weaknesses have changed over time.

Today I want to share with you our current strengths and weaknesses in an effort to be open and honest with my readers. I’m admittedly proud of our strengths but I don’t want to minimize our weaknesses.

Side note: I have kept some things out of this post because some things are just a little private, you know. But I’m being as open and honest as Pearson and I feel comfortable with here.

Strengths:

Supporting each other’s mental health journeys.

This is something we haven’t always been good at but in the last couple years we’ve really stepped it up. We both had our fair share of depression while Pearson was in grad school and we’ve learned from that. I think it also helps that our society seems to be slowly losing the stigma behind mental health issues. Because of that, I’ve learned to cope with my anxiety a little better (or at least I’ve learned to recognize it for what it is) and Pearson has learned how to help me with it. Read all about how we support each other in this way here.

Compromising.

Pearson and I have been a couple for almost 13 years, and we’re about as different as two people can be. We’ve pretty much mastered the whole compromising thing. I am so lucky that Pearson doesn’t expect me to sacrifice everything for the sake of our marriage and I don’t expect that of him either. We’re pretty good at compromising on the little things like where to eat as well as the big things like where to live. I think we’ve gotten pretty good at balancing each other’s priorities over the years.

Money.

We’ve been super lucky in that we’ve never really fought much over money. Sure there are thing we disagree on about how to spend/save our money, but for the most part we’re either on the same page or we are able to compromise and come to an agreement pretty easily.

Weaknesses:

Communicating.

As I said, Pearson and I have been a couple for 13 years. We started dating at 16 years old! Yeah we were pretty immature back then and terrible at communicating. While we’ve grown a lot in this area, we still struggle sometimes. I still sometimes have trouble telling Pearson what’s wrong when I’m upset and I also often assume that I know exactly what he’s feeling and thinking so I don’t even bother trying to find out. It’s bad.

Being comfortable.

Have I mentioned that we’ve been together for 13 years? After that much time you start to get comfortable, the romance seems to fade away and there have been times we’ve sort of felt more like roommates than spouses. It’s not that we don’t love each other anymore. And I actually love that we’re so comfortable with each other. That kind of love is super special. But we just need to put in a little effort to be romantic every now and then.

Money.

I put this in both sections because while we are usually on the same page with money, we’ve both sort of gotten lazy with how we steward our money. To put it simply, we’re united in the decisions we make about money, but those are often poor decisions. This year we’re trying to be better about it. We have a budget that we will put in place after we get our tax return and Pearson’s yearly bonus. And we have big goals in place like wanting to buy a house in the next few years. Plus, our motto for this year is “Less Stuff, More Adventure,” so we’re working toward being a lot less materialistic!

What are some of your strengths and weaknesses? What are you doing to better your weaknesses? Have your strengths changed over time?

Thanks for reading! And be sure to link up any “Strength” posts below!

Meet Your Hosts:

Brita Long is the pink and sparkly personality behind the Christian feminist lifestyle blog, Belle Brita. On her blog and social media, you’ll discover more than authentic storytelling–she’s brutally honest about pursuing a fulfilling and joyful life even with Crohn’s Disease and depression.

Kayla Whitter is a 20-something INFJ and Hufflepuff. She works full-time at a local university, goes to graduate school, and runs the lifestyle blog A Paper Arrow. Her favorite things include reading, drinking coffee, eating Chick-fil-A and Mexican food, and hanging out with her hubby and cat (Courage).

Charlene is a 20 something wife and fur-mama living in Portland, Oregon. She’s a follower of Christ, watcher of SciFi, reader of fantasy, singer of show tunes, and lover of her husband! She uses her blog, Enduring All Things to help couples build a marriage that will endure whatever comes their way.

Finally, the Link Up: