Begin with the Prayer of Abandonment.

April fools. Seriously.

One of the most dangerous things you can do is to look too closely at the minutiae of your marriage. If every time you sit down to tea with your girlfriend, you find yourself rolling off a long litany of all the many faults and flaws of your beloved, of all the ways you are enduring with patience and long-suffering . . . the problem might be yours.

Now, some kinds of self-examination are good and uplifting. If you are asking yourself how you could be a better wife, a better lover, a better mother, how you could give yourself just a little more . . . by all means, list away.

But the next time you find yourself writing down the pros and cons of the person God gave you to help each other to heaven, nit-picking is the quickest path I know to hell on earth. So set aside your list and make a new one: 100 Reasons I Am Thankful for You.

Can’t think of 100? Start with 10, and pray for inspiration. Start looking for more, actively seeking out the good things, the small blessings that come your way simply because you are a wife and mother.

You can do this. and when you do, you will be glad you did!