Category

Conflict

Jun 08
Love34

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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Jun 03
Love20

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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May 27
Love21

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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May 20
Love23

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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May 13
Love18

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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May 11
Love26

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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May 04
Love37

9 Things to Consider Before Saying “I Do”

By Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family, Scripture, Self Reflection, Time 2 Comments

The dating and engagement periods of your relationship are a beautiful time for both of you. Romance is blossoming, you’re building dreams together, and anything seems possible. Often, when we’re dating or engaged, we overlook some important areas of our lives that we need to consider before we walk down the aisle. In the haze of falling in love and promising happily-ever-afters, these 9 things (that you seriously need to consider!) often fall by the wayside. Goals Before you take the leap into the lifelong covenant of marriage, it’s important to consider the goals and dreams that both of you…

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Apr 29
Love23

How to Make Your Husband Feel Genuinely Loved

By Communication, Conflict, Self Reflection, Time No Comments

What is the most effective way a wife can communicate love to her husband? If you want to make your husband (or wife) feel genuinely loved, where do you begin? All of us receive love in different ways; this is widely known as the concept of “love languages.” If you learn to speak your spouse’s love language, you can connect with them on a much deeper level. Connecting with your spouse and making them feel truly, deeply loved involves carefully considering what would be most effective. Take some time to recall things you’ve done for your husband or wife that…

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Apr 27
Love38

How to Stop Controlling Your Spouse

By Communication, Conflict, Self Reflection, Time 70 Comments

Why do we try to stay in control? Often, when we’re trying to control others (in this case, our spouse), we’re acting out of fear. Perhaps it’s fear of the unknown, or just the simple fear of not getting something that we deeply desire. Whatever the case, the primary motivating factor in controlling behavior is often fear. Fear itself can have many different triggers. If you’ve been betrayed by your spouse in the past (in the case of infidelity–or any other breach of trust, for that matter), you might resort to control in order to alleviate your fear of further…

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Apr 20
Love26

Why you should eliminate the word “Always” from your marriage

By Communication, Conflict, Self Reflection, Time 5 Comments

Do these phrases sound familiar? “You always interrupt me.” “You always put __________ before me.” “You always forget.” Making absolute accusations to or about your spouse will get you nowhere fast. We have all done it (probably more than once!), but “always” is a word we throw around that must, without a doubt, be eliminated from our relationship vocabulary–especially when it comes to communicating with our spouse. Words can be both building blocks and bulldozers. You can spend days, months, and years using positive and encouraging words toward your spouse, only to shake your solid foundation with a careless phrase…

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