Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married Gary Chapman

Marriage, between a man and woman, is the foundation of all human societies. The reality is that when children become adults, most of them will get married. In the United States, each year there are over two million marriages; that is four million people who are saying “I do” to the question, “Will you have this man to be your wedded husband?” or “Will you have this woman to be your wedded wife?” Almost all these couples anticipate “living happily ever after.” No one gets married hoping to be miserable or to make their spouse miserable. Yet we all know that the divorce rate in Western cultures continues to hover around fifty percent, and the highest percentage of divorces occur within the first seven years of marriage. People do not get married planning to divorce. Divorce is the result of a lack of preparation for marriage and the failure to learn the skills of working together as teammates in an intimate relationship.