Dianne Barker INVESTS her live in women, encouraging them in their lives and families and teaching them how to live an abundant life. In this Marriage UPGRADE, she points out some nasty "thugs" trying
to destroy our marriages!
"Watch out!" she says. "Snares, Tares, and Tumbleweeds are out to kill your marriage!"
Snares, tares and tumbleweeds? I (Dawn) wonder what she means? She certainly got my attention.
Dianne continues . . .
Who ARE those thugs?
Stress ... wearing many disguises.
And if you’re not careful, they’ll bludgeon your marriage to death.
Let’s remove the masks and see who’s there.
1. SNARES
Snares are things that entangle us or impede our progress—daily-living stuff that keeps us distracted.
(1) Job pressures.
When both husband and wife have high-stress careers, the pressure doubles—project overload and deadlines, continued training, personality conflicts in the office, irresponsibility or jealousy of co-workers, irritability when overlooked for promotion, indecision about changing jobs, hassles of a job search and moving to a new location. And don’t forget the stress of getting fired or laid off due to downsizing.
Physical and mental exhaustion come home from work with you, sit at your dinner table, and accompany you to bed.
(2) Financial pressure.
Living within our means may be an out-of-date concept. We don’t have to do that anymore, thanks to the availability of credit cards.
Overspending catapults us into deep water before we can say “credit score.”
When that bulging budget cannot be balanced, distress and dissension cast a permeating gloom over your home and family.
(3) Outside relationships.
Relationships with other people affect the marriage. When we’re angry or distracted over a disagreement or misunderstanding with someone else—boss, co-worker, neighbor, relative, child’s teacher, friend—we become preoccupied and irritable. And if your mother-in-law provokes you, those feelings of annoyance can spill over to your husband. He’s just like his mother!
Anger and resentment, like a contagious disease, infect all who come in contact with you.
(4) Special circumstances.
Care-giving is inevitable in the later years of marriage. Elderly parents decline in health. Couples are stretched to the limit, trying to maintain normal life with added responsibility, possibly while dealing with health issues themselves. Many also find themselves rearing grandchildren.
There isn’t enough energy to go around…and the marriage becomes the sacrifice.
2. TARES
Tares are the work of our unseen Enemy whose goal is to destroy us, using every tactic he can come up with.
His favorite tools include misunderstanding, weariness, and negative thinking.
3. TUMBLEWEEDS
Tumbleweeds are children, rooted in our family briefly then whisked by the wind to distant places. With immeasurable love, we pour out our lives for them.
Stress during their young years—teaching obedience and refereeing sibling spats—doesn’t compare with the stress of parenting teenagers. Be aware of the power of peer influence.
Stand firm, parents, or the kids will divide you.
Are snares, tares, and tumbleweeds weakening your marriage foundation and boosting your stress load to infinity-plus?
Don’t give up on the marriage. Evaluate. Eliminate the stress you can eliminate. Simplify. Do less. Say no.
Begin paring down your stress to what seems a manageable level. And then hand it to Jesus because you’re not able to manage it at any level.
He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for our souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
He can handle those thugs!
A final question: How are you dealing with stress in all its disguises?
Dianne Barker is a speaker, radio host and author of 11 books, including the best-selling Twice 
Pardoned and award-winning I Don’t Chase the Garbage TruckDown the Street in 
My Bathrobe Anymore! Organizing for the Maximum Life. She’s a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, and Christian Women in Media.
(Post adapted from Help! I’m Stuck and I Can’t Get Out! The Maximum Marriage Maintenance and Repair Kit, available soon at www.diannebarker.com.)
Graphic adapted, courtesy of Pixabay.com.