When it comes to changing or improving any area of our lives, some people erroneously think that there's some magic wand or silver bullet that will quickly fix things. But the truth and good news is that it is much simpler than this: the answer is small steps forward and small seeds being planted.
The reformer Martin Luther stated, "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today." What does this mean? For one, it means that the way to keep living in hope and moving forward is to take small steps like planting an apple seed or seedling.
Those who never see the progressive change and development they desire try to take one large, bounding leap and often fail in the process. But the methodical prodders plan a small step at a time and plant one small seed at a time. Then over time they see consistent good results.
In our marriages we should take the same approach. Instead of trying a quick fix like a one "crash course" on resolving marital conflict, or having one appointment with a marriage counselor, or reading one article on marriage, we should take small, continual steps (none of the mentioned are bad, but very lacking if only done once). We can consistently plant good seeds like reading a blog or chapter of a marriage book together every week, praying a few minutes together every day, having a date night every week, or scheduling "couch time" to talk without distractions for a few minutes at night. It's amazing how these small steps and small seeds add up over time!
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