All Posts By

Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott

Building an Intimate Marriage: Grace & Forgiveness

By Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family, Self Reflection, Time 13 Comments

Marriage is hard work. The reality that we’re broken people becomes very apparent when we share our lives with someone else. We bring our unique personalities into the marriage, but we also bring our selfish nature. Frustration, friction, disagreements–they are all certain to show up, but the way we react to these issues and obstacles shapes not only our character, but the strength and the intimacy of our marriage. As much as we lead with love toward our spouse, we must also lead with grace and forgiveness. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works…

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What to Do When Your Spouse Leaves the Faith

By Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family, Scripture, Self Reflection 4 Comments

My spouse was a Christian, but just turned agnostic. My faith is important to me. What do I do? It’s devastating when your spouse leaves a faith that the two of you shared when you married. This is a totally unexpected turn of events, and it will rattle even the strongest person. You thought you had a completely wonderful spiritual match for life–what happened? More importantly, what can you do? In today’s video, we’re talking about what to do when your spouse leaves the faith. Because this revelation strikes at the core of what you value most, you need to…

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Building An Intimate Marriage : Honesty

By Communication, Scripture, Self Reflection, Time 9 Comments

The most beautiful thing about Jesus is the He knows us fully, and yet He still loves us. That was His purpose when He created man and woman. His intentions were for us to live sinless in perfect harmony with one another, but we all know that story took a rather quick turn for the worst in the garden. The Bible says that when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, they became aware of their sin and nakedness and covered themselves with fig leaves. They were ashamed. Adam and Eve quickly went from naked and unashamed to…

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Staying for the Kids: Can Your Marriage Be Saved?

By Communication, Conflict, Scripture, Self Reflection, Time One Comment

I feel lonely in my marriage, and at this point, I’m only staying for my child. Can our marriage be saved? Loneliness in marriage is a very common thing. If you’re female, you’re probably craving emotional intimacy that just isn’t there right now. And if you’re male, you might be missing activities or time that you and your wife used to share. We often crave a level of intimacy that no relationship can deliver consistently–at least, to the degree we’re expecting. Spouses want to “get” each other on the deepest level, and they want to know that, despite everything going…

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Building an Intimate Marriage: Fun

By Uncategorized 9 Comments

Marriage takes a lot of hard work, and the work pays off. There are days that are full and busy and stressful, so it’s always a good idea to be intentional about adding in the fun. We’re guessing when you first met your spouse, you had a ton of fun together: romantic dates, adventures, lots of laughing. How can we keep the fun alive during years 1, 5, 30, and 50? An intimate marriage isn’t just built in the serious conversations and the physical affection. It’s built in the fun, too. Here are some simple ideas to add some fun…

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What to Do When Your Dreams Have Come True

By Careers, Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family, Scripture, Self Reflection One Comment

I’m 27, married, bought a house, have 3 children. I feel like everything is downhill now. HELP! It’s amazing to have accomplished the dreams you set for yourself at a young age. How exciting, to have all the things in your life you’ve wanted for as long as you can remember! But now you’re in a place where you feel like there’s nothing else to look forward to. What do you do? If you don’t have any unfinished dreams or anything to look forward to, you’re not in a good place. You’ve cleared a space in your life to begin…

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Don’t Tell Your Wife She Doesn’t Cook Like Your Momma

By Uncategorized 9 Comments

The newlywed years are a blissful, wonderful time for your marriage. You’re on a high from getting married, honeymooning, dreaming, and building your new life together. At some point, that high will begin to dissipate as you ease into the rhythm of everyday life. When you’re in blissful ignorance of one another’s shortcomings, you’re not wasting time on lobbing criticism at each other. Everything the other person does is beautiful, and you make it a point to show gratitude for one another for the most seemingly mundane things…that is, until the mundane takes over, and you become critical. Tripping Over…

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Independent Woman: Making Your Unconscious Roles Conscious Choices

By Communication, Conflict, Self Reflection, Time No Comments

I was raised by a single mom. As a wife, how can I be submissive without compromising my independence? You’re a wife who was raised by a single mom. That means that growing up, you saw a really strong example of an independent, capable provider-mother who ran your household. Your mom was an exceptional role model for you. Unfortunately, being raised by one strong parent can make it challenging for you to figure out what your roles are in a marriage relationship. You may have many idealized dreams in your mind, but you don’t feel comfortable trying to live them…

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Dating Your Spouse Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

By Communication, Conflict, Self Reflection, Time 12 Comments

Many married couples–ourselves included–recommend regular date nights as a way to keep your marriage healthy and strong. Taking intentional time to connect with one another away from kids and other distractions is essential, but we often over-complicate it. Time is often the commodity that we have the most difficulty finding. Once that time is set aside, it’s important to plan how you will spend it. If you already sense yourself buckling under the pressure of creating the perfect date, remember this: dating your spouse doesn’t have to be hard! Here are 7 tips to take the pressure off of your…

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Clarifying Content: How to Stop Reading Your Spouse’s Mind

By Uncategorized No Comments

I feel that I listen to my wife, but sometimes I seem to miss what she is saying. Help! It can be too easy to find yourself in the middle of a disagreement with your spouse over something one of you did or didn’t say. Sometimes, we might think we’re listening to our husband or wife, but perhaps we’re not really getting the message. We humans are quick to mis-hear, jump to conclusions, or assume we know what the other person is saying–when maybe, we really don’t. There is a huge potential for misunderstanding, especially when it comes to the…

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