Priority
We minister to over 100 struggling couples a year in our marriage hub intensives. People often ask me, what’s the number one problem you see in marriages? Many think it’s communication or the inability to resolve conflicts or the lack of forgiveness. And those are some real biggies. But I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the most common and deepest hurts […]
Will Love Keep Us Together?
I’m sure you’ve heard the iconic Beatles song “All We Need is Love.” And there have been literally millions of love songs written all proclaiming the same message…the only thing you need to make a relationship last forever is love. And unfortunately, our culture has bought hook, line and sinker into what I believe is the biggest relationship lie of all. And […]
How to Bless Your Spouse
Do you feel blessed? I’m not talking about only being the beneficiary of something that has brought you a tangible happiness. Let’s take a minute and talk about what a blessing is. You know, it’s easy to confuse a blessing with an affirmation, but they are different. An affirmation is positive feedback for something that we have done. It focuses on an outward, visible […]
Contempt
Dr. John Gottman is one of America’s most prominent marriage researchers, and he spent decades studying marital relationships and what makes them thrive and what causes them to die. He has identified what he calls the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, saying that these four attitudes, when allowed to ride roughshod in our marriages, can prove to be fatal to […]
Building Safe Spaces
Over the years of doing marriage intensives for couples in crisis, we’ve seen many husbands and wives who don’t feel safe. I’m not just talking about being physically safe. There are lots of ways we can feel unsafe in our marriages. So here are four safe spaces we want to work on creating in our marriages. Number one is physical safety. Your spouse needs […]
Mother’s Day Thoughts
It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, and we should all take some time to think about the profound and transforming influence our moms (or other significant mother figures) have had or are having on our lives. I want to challenge you to not only think of the little things she’s done, but to focus more on the bigger impact she’s made […]
A Note for the Wives (Part 3)
It’s always good to hear from readers and to those who receive these thoughts via our email devotionals. Here’s one we got from a men’s ministry leader, “I read your online article to Wives today, and it was very good. You can quote me in saying that “wives have no idea how much their husbands need encouragement from them.. […]
A Note for the Wives (Part 2)
Last week we began discussing spiritual leadership in the home and our desires as wives for our husbands are to take the lead. We first looked at the importance of guarding our heart by having a heart of gratitude. One way you can do that is by journaling all the things you appreciate about him. Having a hard copy will give you […]
A Note for the Wives (Part 1)
For the next few weeks, I’ve asked Karen, my wife of 50+ years to share something with us… Many wives feel disappointed, angry, resentful, resigned and confused about what to do with a husband who seems spiritually absent or is unwilling to lead his family toward Christ. If this is true in your marriage, the answer isn’t to nag or […]
4 Ways to Stop the Marriage Death Spiral
Today’s marriages can be extremely challenging to maintain. Slammed schedules, parenting problems and the tribulations of technology all erode the loving connection between spouses. It’s not malicious. It’s apathy that’s leading our marriages into a potential death spiral. When we fail to keep our marriages our highest priority, intruders will invade and widen the gap between spouses. Here are some ways you can stop the marriage death spiral from affecting your […]