Mark: Last week I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Emotionally that is. I just woke up irritable, short-tempered, and easily frustrated. I was just a little bit off.

Jill: I noticed Mark seemed to be just a little sensitive, so I wasn’t surprised when he said to me, “Just so you know, I’m just a little off today.”

Mark: I felt like Jill needed to know that if she felt anything from me, it was about me and not about her, so I decided to get ahead of things and let her know my emotional state.

Jill: We’ve talked in the past about the importance of pushing info to our spouse rather than making them pull it from you. This is a perfect example of doing that.

Mark: Letting Jill know what was going on did three things:

I was honest and real with her.

By letting her know I was struggling a bit emotionally, I deepened our intimacy. Honestly, I have no idea why I was off that day but I decided to not hide it and instead I was honest and real with her about what was going on.

I reassured her my moodiness was about me and not about her.

This filled a communication gap she could have easily misread. It also kept unnecessary conflict at bay.

I tuned her in to how she could pray for me.

We need to support each other in prayer. Doing so requires vulnerability and a willingness to admit we’re not perfect or that we’re struggling.

Jill: I was so appreciative of Mark letting me know what was going on. This helped me not take his moodiness personally.

Mark: The entire day was hard but the next morning I woke up in a much better state of mind. I can’t help but think that being honest and knowing Jill was praying for me made a huge difference!

What about you? Where do you need to push info to your spouse so they don’t misread a situation?