It never ceases to amaze me how different Sharon and I are in personality. We look at life in very different ways. We recently had another "discussion" about how different we are. And yet, despite those differences, we choose to love each other and strive for a more intimate, God-honoring relationship. There's no denying that most marriages are made up [...]
This month we have an excerpt from one of Dr. John Gottman's books, "The Relationship Cure: A 5-Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships." In it we will discover what Dr. Gottman believes is the building block of connecting in relationships. As we learn what goes into creating meaningful connections, we can be more intentional about preventing emotional [...]
You're never through dealing with conflict. If you have any passion—any preference about anything, you will have conflicts with someone. And since you spend so much time with your spouse, they are often times the one you have the most conflicts with. And the more intimate you are with your spouse, the more painful these conflicts can be. The good [...]
This month's post is an excerpt from Rick Johnson's new book, Becoming Your Spouse's Better Half: Why Differences Make a Marriage Great. Johnson addresses a couple popular myths about marriage: 1. We all have a perfect soulmate that will complete us and make us happy for the rest of our lives—if we could only find them. 2. A great marriage [...]
Wow. Another year has passed. Can you believe its been a decade since we were stressing about Y2K? Well, the world didn't come to an end and ten years later we have a whole new set of challenges. For some of you, one of those challenges may be your marriage relationship. As it turned out, all we had to do [...]
The Christmas season is upon us—like it or not. For some, Christmas brings warm memories of happy times with family and friends. For others, its a reminder of painful events or past experiences they would rather not think about. Whatever side you're on, the reality is if you are a child of God, if you were purchased with the precious [...]
Last month we looked at the role of friendship in marriage. This month we look at how we can maintain and deepen that friendship thus providing a bond that can withstand life's storms and unexpected difficulties. Its usually the hard times that test a relationship. How well you do as a couple when you're going through difficult times is a [...]
Are you friends with your spouse? Someone once said "a friend is someone who knows you and likes you anyway". Do we really know our spouses and do we like them? We sometimes get so caught up in the “love” aspect of marriage we forget about the “like” part of it. It takes time and attention to really know our [...]
Last month we discussed the importance of maintaining a clean slate in your relationships, especially your marriage relationship. Without the expression of forgiveness and grace on a regular basis we develop resentment, bitterness and negative attitudes toward each other. This month we are looking at one of the culprits that sabotage our efforts at keeping a clean slate. Anger. But [...]
Have you ever found yourself in an endless cycle of arguing about an issue until one, or more likely, both of you ended up hurt and wounded with no resolution to the issue? Whether this has this been a pattern for your relationship, or just an ocassional occurance, there is a better way. God gives us the blueprint for God-honoring [...]
