Dec 19
Love0

Spender or Saver? How to Compromise With Your Spouse This Holiday Season

By Communication, Conflict 3 Comments

Holiday season is upon us and gift giving is in full swing. But what happens when you and your spouse disagree on how much is too much? Perhaps you’d like to give your kids or a loved one a gift that your spouse finds is over the top. Or vise-versa, your spouse prefers to spend but you prefer you stick to a strict budget. Everyone expresses love in their own unique way, and for some people gift giving is the best way they know how to give and receive love. In fact, did you know that most relationships have a…

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Dec 12
Love4

3 Ways to Make Loving Like Jesus a Habit

By Scripture, Self Reflection No Comments

Let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality – Jesus Over the past few months, we’ve talked about ways to love more like Jesus did. But how do we turn these actions into a habit? There’s a difference between deciding and actually doing, and in order to make loving like Jesus a habit we need to cultivate the discipline to actually do it. In other words, the key to loving like Jesus should be more than a decision, the key is to make it…

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Dec 05
Love1

Planning Your Wedding Part 3: Constructively Resolving Conflict

By Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family 7 Comments

It’s common for family members to clash with the engaged couple (or one another) during a busy season of wedding planning. Weddings seem to provide endless opportunities for families to squabble about traditions, decor, music, and other minutiae down to the smallest details. Unfortunately, family members do this to the detriment of peace, and the bride and groom’s happiness. Last week in part 2, we talked about the importance of boundaries–and how having strong boundaries can make your wedding planning process more enjoyable. But even with the healthiest of boundaries in place, conflict can still arise. It’s incredibly uncomfortable and…

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Nov 28
Love4

Planning Your Wedding Part 2: Establishing Healthy Boundaries with Family

By Communication, In-laws & Family 2 Comments

Boundaries are critically important in marriage. They protect you as a couple from negative outside influences, helping you to strengthen and maintain a healthy relationship from within. If you don’t have boundaries yet, you need to have a discussion with your fiance about what those boundaries need to entail. The wedding planning season isn’t the easiest time to enact boundaries, but if you don’t already have them as a couple, it’s a good time to establish them. That’s because planning your wedding is one of your first big opportunities to exercise boundaries. While the two of you attempt to plan…

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Nov 21
Love3

Planning Your Wedding Part 1: Working Together to Plan Your Big Day

By Communication, In-laws & Family, Time No Comments

Wedding planning is one of the busiest seasons in your life. (We remember; it was a busy time for us, too!) While it tends to be stressful and time-consuming, there are ways to enjoy yourselves and alleviate some of the pressure that can come along with planning for one of the most important days of your life. Planning your wedding together can make this season fun and memorable. Even better, it gives you a chance to infuse the essence of who you are as a couple into every part of your celebration. Here are a few ways you can plan…

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Nov 14
Love1

4 Ways to Be a Better Truth-Teller: Part 2

By Communication No Comments

“When in doubt, tell the truth.” – Mark Twain In part one of this series based on my new book, Love Like That, we talked about how truly loving like Jesus requires us to stop fearing vulnerability and start being willing to risk rejection. To that end, we must… 3. Care less about what others think You won’t successfully achieve vulnerability, authenticity, and truth if you’re too concerned about what people think of you. Jesus held such powerful convictions that when he spoke out against injustice or hypocrisy, he couldn’t care less what others thought of him. He didn’t dwell…

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Nov 07
Love9

4 Ways to Be a Better Truth-Teller: Part 1

By Scripture, Self Reflection One Comment

“Peace if possible, truth at all costs.” – Martin Luther Part of loving like Jesus is being truthful. Jesus had a way of being relentlessly honest, while still extending tenderness and grace toward those he came in contact with. He was completely authentic, and expected the same of others. But radical honesty isn’t so easy for most of us. In fact, we’re often more content to remain–at least, in part–unseen and unheard in favor of avoiding the difficulties that can come with complete honesty. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we understand that real love can’t fully manifest without complete…

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Oct 31
Love4

Waiting Out a Painful Season With Your Spouse

By Communication, Time 13 Comments

Remember the long wait between the day you got engaged and the day you got married? Mistakenly, many of us think that once we’re married, the waiting is over and our life can really begin. But then life throws a wrench in the works and we find ourselves stuck in a holding pattern we can’t seem to shake. So how do we handle waiting for something we really want–possibly for a long time? Long waiting periods can put a significant strain on your marriage relationship. When couples are focused on what they don’t have, it can create stress and sadness….

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Oct 24
Love0

What to Do If Your Spouse’s Friend Betrays Them

By Communication, Conflict One Comment

When we get married, we don’t often think much about how each of our respective circle of friends will continue to change and evolve over time. That’s because we’re focused on our spouse–and rightly so. But the truth is, friendships will come and go like they always have. Betrayal is an incredibly painful experience, and it’s something all of us experience at different times, in different relationships, throughout our lives. So if your spouse has been betrayed by a friend, how do you support them through it? Trust your spouse’s judgment Sometimes, a betrayal can blindside us. But other times,…

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Oct 17
Love9

4 Reasons Why Biting Your Tongue Can Be Healthy in Marriage

By Communication 16 Comments

In every healthy marriage, you’ll find that there are times when you need to bite your tongue. (The same is true for your spouse!) Maybe you and your spouse don’t agree on a topic you both hold close to your hearts. Perhaps you’re working through a difficult time and you’re both feeling stressed. Maybe you’re angry, and you need to cool down before you open your mouth. Or perhaps you hold a strong opinion or expectation that your spouse doesn’t share. Whatever the case, there will come a time when you have to choose between speaking up, or keeping silent…

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