By Jason Helopoulos Marriage is hard work and can be painful. And being a Christian couple does not somehow make it easy or take away the prospect of hurt. Whether we are atheists or Christians, we are still sinners living under the same roof and that can make for tight quarters. It is a reality that those we love the [...]
Couples who had been married for at least 50 years were asked to give advice on how to make marriage last. As you can imagine, there was quite a variety of responses, but there were also some common threads in most successful marriages. Here is a brief list of advice on how to make your marriage thrive and survive the [...]
This past Sunday at our church, the speaker made a remark that he has learned more about Jesus' love for him through his relationship with his wife than any other means. I immediately concurred with that statement. My wife is God's gift to me to teach me about His love for me—and how I need to love others. Here are [...]
Last month we looked at some myths about marriage and what really makes a marriage work. This month we continue our series on Dr. John Gottman's classic book about marriage relationships, "The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work" and examine six signs that you may be having trouble in your marriage. When predicting if a couple will divorce, or stay [...]
Good. Bad. Indifferent. Loving. Critical. Close. Distant. What comes to mind when you hear the word spouse? Think about it: every year on birthdays, anniversaries, and special holidays, we find ourselves sending out cards with cookie cut lyrics and rhythmic poetry to communicate to our spouses what that word means to us. Only one thing will be required of us [...]
Last month we looked at 6 signs that you may have trouble in your marriage. This month we continue our series on Dr. John Gottman's classic book about marriage relationships, "The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work" and look at his first principle for making marriage work. How well do you know your spouse? Whether you've meen married 6 months [...]
Parents, if you are looking for a way to strengthen your family, start by focusing on your spouse. Treating your spouse like royalty – and keeping them a priority among your many relationships – is an important and intentional choice that takes work. Yet, this is a most important work that will serve to keep your family healthy and stable. [...]
Just in case anyone noticed, we skipped our August newsletter last month. It's been a little crazy in our house lately. We had one daughter get married and another have her first baby—which makes us first-time grandparents! With all the craziness that goes with those events, we decided to take a month off and relax. Now that we're rested and [...]
A few days ago I was talking with someone about the importance of friendship with our spouse and remarked that I believed having a deep friendship with your spouse is at the core of a healthy and happy marriage. It made me think about this article from Doctors Leslie & Les Parrott. They have some good things to say about [...]
This month we continue looking at Commitment 6: We will work to protect our marriage. If it is true that all the horizontal skirmishes a husband and wife have are rooted in a deeper war for the heart, and if it is true that a marriage must be fixed vertically before it is ever fixed horizontally, then the place where [...]
