Does Marriage come with blessings?

• We are discussing the importance of proper dating practices prior to marriage. What are the blessings and benefits of courtship after marriage?

The blessings and benefits of courtship after marriage are too many to count. Each and every day that I have woken up after my wedding day has been the biggest blessing in my life so far, and I've been greatly blessed. While kneeling across the altar with my beautiful brides hand in mine, I was blessed with the knowledge that I was doing something eternal. I was, and am, blessed to have my sweetheart in my life forever and always as long as we remain faithful to the covenants that we've made. In a church manual in a chapter titled, Marriage: Covenants and Commitment, we read, "Marriage is a sacred covenant that requires love, commitment, and unity." Nothing could be more true. We need to love our spouse. 

After marriage, we grow in that love and become one as our Heavenly Father intended for us. We receive so many blessing after marriage, but my favorite, I think, has been the security and safety that I feel with my wife. We talk about everything. There are no secrets, and there's no one else in the world that I would rather have know everything about me. When you have that special someone and you make sacred vows and covenants with them, you never have to worry about who you're going to be with when you go somewhere, or who you can ask for help. As far as courtship goes, we try to have a date night at least once a week. During the events of this night, we can put away all of the troubles that we are having and work on our relationship. Doing this helps immensely as we have very busy schedules and sometimes don't get to see each other until it's time to go to sleep. It has been told to us by prophets and apostles that if we do this, then we will have a better marriage.