You can have a marriage that is mutually satisfying while being honoring to God. You really can! Accepting who you are, resting in who God is, and living as he calls you to live will produce a harvest that is far better than the small-vision dreams that you are able to come up with on your own. We continue this [...]
Every marriage has nagging problems calling for our attention. Some of us may come to the conclusion that our difficulties are because we married the wrong person. Those who decide to divorce and marry someone else soon find that the same issues keep popping up no matter who they are with. We seem to have the same chronic irritations [...]
This month we will begin examining the daily commitments to live a lifestyle of reconciliation. When practiced, these commitments become daily habits that form the kind of marriage that God's design intended and His grace can make possible. Commitment 1: We will give ourselves to a regular lifestyle of confession and forgiveness. This month, we will be looking at having [...]
Last month we started sharing excerpts and principles from Milan & Kay Yerkovich's book titled, "How We Love", which examines the connection between our childhood experiences and how we give and receive love as adults. We talked about why every marriage gets stuck sometimes and asked a pivotal question—"Can you recall being comforted as a child after a time [...]
This month we continue to look at Commitment 1: We will give ourselves to a regular lifestyle of confession and forgiveness. Last month we talked about confession. This month we will focus on forgiveness. There is perhaps no other ingredient as essential to a healthy marriage than forgiveness. Yet forgiveness is not always attractive. Forgiveness is difficult and costly. It [...]
We took a month off for Summer break and enjoyed a bit of what Colorado has to offer. This month, we're starting a new topic that I'm sure many married couples can relate to—how to maintain a healthy, growing marriage relationship in the midst of raising a family. We will spend the next few posts on this topic. It [...]
This month we begin to look at Commitment 2: We will make growth and change our daily agenda. Marriage really is just a long-term exercise in gardening. If you’ve done any gardening you know there simply aren’t any shortcuts. Gardens begin with hard work. Clearing and tilling the land isn’t fun, but it’s essential. Digging holes for the seeds isn’t [...]
This month we continue looking at building and maintaining a healthy, connected marriage relationship when raising a family as we examine the topic of priorities. One of the most common enemies of marital harmony—especially when we are parents—is misaligned priorities. It’s so easy to spend so much time and energy raising our kids that we don’t even [...]
This month we finish our examination of Commitment 2: We will make growth and change our daily agenda. Last time, we examined our marriages, searching for those little thoughts, attitudes, and actions that you must say no to. We will now consider the things we must say yes to, and in so doing give them room to shape our marriage. [...]
As we continue looking at building and maintaining a healthy, connected marriage relationship when raising a family, this month we look at developing and maintaining healthy communication with our spouse. You often hear people saying “having good communication is important in your marriage relationship”. But what does that mean exactly? After all, there are many aspects to [...]
