When Expectations Meet Reality

^{by Focus on the Family}

Before Cynthia said her marriage vows, she joked with her mother that she could leave out the phrase "for better for worse." She was confident there wouldn't be any "worse." Sam was the perfect man for her. He was emotionally attentive, a dynamo at fixing things around the house, ambitious, funny and caring. He even laughed at her jokes.

Now, five years into marriage, Sam is emotionally distant and says he doesn't have the energy to help with anything around the house, let alone chat with his wife about how she feels. Cynthia sometimes jokes that aliens snuck into her home while Sam was sleeping, took out his brain and replaced it with someone else's. "He's not the man I married!" she quips. However, it's no laughing matter. Her heart is breaking.

There are many things that newlyweds experience and one of them is disillusionment. We know it can be painful and we hope this series of articles can instruct and encourage you to reconnect with the one you married.