Category

Marriage

Jul 07
Love0

3 Things You Need to Know About the First Year of Marriage

By Engagement, Marriage One Comment

Are you prepared for your first year of marriage? Living in the thick of it right now? The first year of marriage is often described as a difficult time in a couple’s life, and for many, that’s true. The good news is, there are some things you and your partner can do to pave the way toward a happy first year of marriage (and beyond). Here are three things you need to know about your first year of marriage. 1. Cultivating friendship and sacrificial love should be at the top of your priority list. Building a lasting and fulfilling marriage…

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Jun 16
Love0

5 Reasons to Enjoy More Meals With Your Spouse

By Marriage, Time No Comments

When it comes to nurturing a happy, healthy, lifelong marriage, spending time with one another must be a non-negotiable priority. In the absence of dedicated time, marriages suffer and families drift apart. One way to encourage more togetherness between spouses and among families is to enjoy more meals with one another. Meal time equals together time. And in a time-starved world, it’s crucial to take hold of every opportunity to spend that valuable time together. While it’s all too easy for the busyness of life to take over, there are many reasons why dedicating more time to meals is a…

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Jun 09
Love0

How to Grow Together In Your Marriage

By Marriage One Comment

Growth is something we all experience as we go through the seasons of our lives. It’s not unusual to hear married couples talk about how they have changed and evolved as individuals over the years. Allowing ourselves to grow and change as people, in turn, can enrich our marriages. Healthy growth generally involves becoming more mature adults with greater wisdom and life experience. Our growth helps us to step confidently into each phase of life, with valuable lessons we’ve learned in the past. Growing throughout our lives also gives us the chance to impart those lessons to younger generations, including…

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May 26
Love0

Why Personality Makes Every Marriage Unique

By Marriage, Relationships One Comment

In marriage as in life, our personalities come through in our behaviors. By observing how someone behaves, we can get a fairly accurate idea of what their personality is like. Our behaviors are particularly revealing in marriage, when we spend a lot of time together, one-on-one. What’s interesting, though, is that spouses don’t always accurately perceive one another’s personalities, despite the amount of time they spend with each other. Much of our personality plays itself out internally, in ways our spouse will never see. That’s why relationship assessments such as SYMBIS are so incredibly useful in counseling couples. SYMBIS results…

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May 19
Love0

How Better Awareness Builds a Better Marriage

By Marriage, Relationships One Comment

As a professional who counsels couples, you have likely seen the positive effects self-awareness has on relationships. You also understand the pitfalls of couples who are unaware of how they relate to each other, and how they operate as individuals. Often, spouses who are wounded will perpetuate a cycle of hurt, seemingly unable to take an objective view of the situation. For engaged and married couples, becoming more self-aware leads to a better relationship outcome. That’s because self-awareness cultivates deeper empathy. Let’s dig a little deeper into why this is so important. Marriage Assessments Cultivate Self-Awareness Self-awareness gives couples the…

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May 12
Love0

4 Romance Myths Couples Should Bust Right Now

By Marriage, Relationships No Comments

Modern marriages typically begin with a romantic relationship. Unlike marriages of the past, which were often arranged for political purposes or financial stability, marriages in the Twenty-First Century revolve around the initial rush a couple experiences while falling in love. Unfortunately, as so many licensed counselors and therapists already know, romance isn’t enough to sustain a marriage. There are many factors at play in a successful marriage besides romance, but today’s engaged and married couples may not understand how prominent those factors are. As the butterflies of engagement and early marriage give way to broken expectations and disillusionment, couples often…

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May 05
Love2

Help! We Need to Raise Our Income

By Careers, Communication, Marriage, Relationships 2 Comments

There are many reasons why you and your spouse might want to raise your income. Maybe you’ve recently taken on a new expense, suffered a pay cut or job loss, or you need to save toward a big goal, such as a vacation or a down payment on a house. Whatever the case, you’ve determined that you need more available money. Luckily, there are a number of ways to free up extra money and raise the amount you’re bringing in. It takes teamwork and shared goals, but the two of you can absolutely work together to make more money for…

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Apr 28
Love1

5 Affirmations to Empower Your Spouse

By Communication, Intimacy, Marriage, Relationships 4 Comments

Gifting one another with regular affirmations is a wonderful way for spouses to stay close and remind each other of their affection. If you’re not regularly making an effort to affirm your spouse, then it’s time to start now–and it’s never too late. Affirmations can be simple. The key is to be heartfelt and genuine, and to let your spouse know how much you love and admire them. How well you love your spouse, and the effort you invest in them, will make a tremendous impact on the quality of your marriage. Today, we’ve gathered five simple affirmations to help…

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Apr 21
Love0

5 Skills to Improve Communication With Your Spouse

By Communication, Marriage 10 Comments

Communication breakdowns are a common issue in many marriages. Some couples struggle with communication more than others do, and this can be due to differences in personality and communication style. However, working to establish clear and effective communication is key to enjoying a happy marriage in the long term. In order to improve communication in your marriage, there are five realms of communication you must each work to strengthen. Let’s jump right in. 1. Information sharing Sharing information involves the ability to clearly and accurately state your thoughts and feelings without losing yourself in emotion or getting off track. Being…

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Apr 14
Love0

How to Make Your Marriage Stronger Than Ever

By Marriage, Relationships No Comments

Strengthening your marriage is a goal you and your spouse must focus on for the entirety of your relationship. Over time, making your marriage stronger will take different forms. Your needs as a couple will shift from one season to the next, and many of those needs will be based on your individual personalities and the way you interact with one another. There’s no one-size-fits-all secret to building a strong marriage. The ingredients to success really depend on you, your spouse, and how you approach life as individuals and as a couple. But, that means you must both invest time…

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