Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesIf there's one thing to keep in mind when it comes to maintaining a happy marriage, Michelle Duggar says it's sex.
The 49-year-old reality TV star took to the family website to dish on her three pieces of marriage advice, kicking things off with what she calls catering to a man's "special need."
Michelle says she was first given "the best piece of advice" she's ever received by a dear friend before marrying Jim Bob Duggar 31 years ago.
"She told me: 'Michelle, I know you're so excited. You're a bride-to-be, but some day you'll be at this point. I've been married three years and I'm still happily married. You've got to remember this,'" Michelle wrote. "'Anyone can iron Jim Bob's shirt, anybody can make lunch for him. He can get his lunch somewhere else. But you are the only one who can meet that special need that he has in his life for intimacy. You're it. You're the only one.'"
She continues, recapping her friend's words, "'So don't forget that, that he needs you. So when you are exhausted at the end of the day, maybe from dealing with little ones, and you fall into bed so exhausted at night, don't forget about him because you and he are the only ones who can have that time together. No one else in the world can meet that need.'"
But it's not just a matter of being there for him and simply meeting his desires. "Be joyfully available for him," she writes. "Smile and be willing to say, 'Yes, sweetie I am here for you,' no matter what, even though you may be exhausted and big and pregnant and you may not feel like he feels. ‘I'm still here for you and I'm going to meet that need because I know it's a need for you.'"
The Duggar family matriarch says that, in turn, her husband lays down "his life in any way" for her, too.
"He will sit there and listen to everything I need to tell him because he knows that I'm there for him, too," she explains. "I'm meeting his needs, he's meeting my needs. We're willing to be there for each other. And each one of us has different needs in a marriage relationship and that's what's so precious."
Sex aside, Michelle also notes that talking out disagreements privately and seeking marriage counseling—either professionally or even through friends—can be helpful in gaining a clearer perspective.
Michelle and Jim Bob recently went through a difficult time together after their eldest child, Josh Duggar, entered a faith-based rehabilitation program for his addiction to pornography and being unfaithful to his wife, Anna.
In the wake of the scandal, TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting.