I've made a habit of reading the most recent ensign as I eat my meals at my small dining room table. This week I have been reading the article Equal Partnership in Marriage from the April 2013 ensign. Here is a direct link to it-
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/04/equal-partnership-in-marriage?lang=eng


These quotes from the article really made an impression on me- 

"Latter-day Saint theology teaches that gender difference does not superimpose a hierarchy between men and women: one gender does not have greater eternal possibilities than the other.² As Elder Earl C. Tingey, formerly of the Presidency of the Seventy, has said: “You must not misunderstand what the Lord meant when Adam was told he was to have a helpmeet. A helpmeet is a companion suited to or equal to [the other]. [They] walk side by side … not one before or behind the other. A helpmeet results in an absolute equal partnership between a husband and a wife. Eve was to be equal to Adam as a husband and wife are to be equal to each other." 


"A marriage of equal partners is also one in which the partners help one another in their stewardships, indeed, are “obligated to help one another as equal partners.” This partnership extends to housework and childcare. President Packer has said, “There is no task, however menial, connected with the care of babies, the nurturing of children, or with the maintenance of the home that is not [the husband’s] equal obligation." 


"Social science research supports the prophetic instruction that couples who have an equal partnership have happier relationships, more effective parenting practices, and better-functioning children. Scholars have consistently found that equal partners are more satisfied and have better overall marital quality than couples where one spouse dominates. Equal-partner relationships have less negative interaction and more positive interaction. Moreover, there is evidence that equal partners are more satisfied with the quality of the physical intimacy in their relationship."

"Parents with high relationship equality are more likely to work together as a team in parenting their children. These benefits of partnership to marital relationships and parenting practices create a healthier environment for children, making them less susceptible to depression, anxiety, drug abuse, and delinquency."

I was staying with my friend and her husband a few weeks ago. On a specific day, she was working, and it was his day off, so he made it a point to make us dinner, and he had it ready for when she came home. I appreciated his thoughtfulness and effort in doing that for us. Marriage means taking care of each other, and meeting our spouse's needs the best we can. We will only receive a fullness of joy in our marriages as we put our spouse's needs before our own. Meeting their needs also means meeting our own needs.