Thank you for listening to another episode of the Sister Circle podcast. I'm your host Crystal Evans

Hurst and I'm so glad that you joined me for today's episode. I'm going to be talking to Alice

Sanders. Why? Because I love to bring a sister or sometimes a brother into the circle so that we can

all hear that we're normal, that we're not the only one, and be encouraged by someone else who

has the skill, the story, the passion, the education, the experience, to give us some tips for living

life well. I'm all about living life well. And the good thing is you don't have to figure out on your

own how to live life well. You can learn from other people who can give you tips so that you can

avoid the pitfalls. One of the major pitfalls that I mean, honestly, many people have experienced,

some haven't, but many more have is the problem of living intentionally in marriage. Like we get married

because we fall in love with someone and we feel like our roads are connected that we're heading

in the same direction, that we have the same values. We may honeymoon for three months, six months,

a year, two, maybe even three. But somewhere in those first five years, many people who are married

go, wait a minute. Did I marry the right person? Was I seeing clearly? Can I be happily married? Oh my

goodness, we're two different people. How is this going to work? The reality is you probably wouldn't

have chosen your spouse if they were just like you. It's the differences that make us attracted to

each other. It's also those differences that mean you have to be intentional with your spouse in

order to continue to develop intimacy. So, Alice is all about communication, particularly

communication in marriage. Because if you can figure out how to communicate with your spouse,

not just for them to hear you, but for you to hear them. If you can get good at seeing the

diamonds and the rough, the golden nuggets that are embedded in your marriage, if you're willing

to do the work to be vulnerable, to be seen, to give your spouse the benefit of a doubt,

these are the things that can continue to bring you closer together, to continue to help you live

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