Gimme My Space: The Importance of Respecting Your Spouse’s Individuality

By Communication, Self Reflection, Time 7 Comments

“Don’t smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.” – Leo Buscaglia When you’re in the early years of your relationship–namely, dating and the “honeymoon period” of your marriage–it’s easy to lose yourself in one another. Many couples want to spend every possible moment together, and are even willing to lay aside their individual interests or activities during that time. The differences between you and your spouse tend to be glossed over, too, and those differences don’t feel like a big deal at first. Eventually, you might find that once you’ve settled into marriage, your spouse might not…

Read More

10 Ways to Show Gratitude to Your Spouse

By Communication 36 Comments

“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – Les Parrott Showing gratitude to your spouse is an important daily practice; it’s essential to nurturing a healthy marriage. There are many ways to express your thanks to your husband or wife, so today, we’re sharing 10 ideas for showing him or her your appreciation. 1.  Say it out loud…and more often! Intentionally saying thank you to your spouse more often is the simplest, most obvious way to show him or her your gratitude. It can be easy to neglect to…

Read More

3 Reasons to Praise Your Spouse Every Day

By Communication 14 Comments

Praise is an essential ingredient to a healthy, happy marriage. Building one another up on a daily basis is a surefire way to build intimacy and keep your love alive for years to come. Couples who praise each other feed the positive energy in their marriages. They’re happier, more secure, and more unified in their relationship. On the other hand, couples who don’t bother to give one another praise are less likely to have a successful relationship. Today we’re going to share 3 reasons why praise is so critical to your marriage. 1. Praise Makes Us Feel Loved It feels…

Read More

Teamwork in Marriage: Essential Ingredients for Success

By Communication, Time 11 Comments

The beauty of a strong marriage is in the details. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the most successful marriage relationships have something major in common: in the big adventures as well as the day-to-day grind, the happiest, healthiest couples do life together as a team. We love this quote about how the best marriages have teamwork as their foundation: “The greatest marriages are built on teamwork. A mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.” – Fawn Weaver Today we’re going to dig into the three major components of teamwork outlined…

Read More

3 Questions to Ask Before You Have Kids

By Communication, Self Reflection, Time 12 Comments

Being married is a wonderful adventure, and it’s so much fun to dream of the future with the person you love most in the world. At some point early in your marriage, you and your spouse will probably tackle the big question of whether you want to have children. A common snag many couples hit during this conversation is the question of when. To help you navigate this monumental life decision, we’ve got a few questions we’d like for you to ask yourselves (and discuss together) before making the leap. 1. What timelines do you have in mind? It’s a…

Read More

Caution! Slow: 3 Ways to Handle Critical Premarital Counseling

By Communication, Self Reflection 15 Comments

The engagement period in your relationship is one of the most exciting times in your life–and one of the longest waits you’ll ever experience. You’re anticipating a beautiful wedding, a romantic honeymoon, and seeing all the dreams you’ve created together finally come to life. You feel like you’ve finally found “the one”…until a pastor, family member, friend, or counselor speaks out against your relationship. You’re thrown for a loop! What’s going on? It’s very upsetting to hear someone you respect say that you shouldn’t get married yet. Most likely, your first response was emotional. But if you’re facing this situation…

Read More

Dicey Dealings: How to Handle Invasive In-Laws

By Communication, Conflict, In-laws & Family 24 Comments

One of the most difficult situations married couples face is dealing with invasive or controlling in-laws. Maybe they’re critical, nosy, or they monopolize your (or your spouse’s) time. Perhaps they don’t think you can take care of their “baby” as well as they did. Whatever the case, these situations can get dicey in a hurry. In today’s blog post, we’re going to focus on how to deal with invasive in-laws who are making your life as a couple harder than it should be. Have a Heart-to-Heart…With Your Spouse Is your mother-in-law rifling through your things when you’re not home? Has…

Read More

Help! My Spouse Has a Successful Career (And I Don’t)

By Careers, Communication, Self Reflection 15 Comments

Developing your careers—at any time in your marriage—is hard work for both of you. While it would be nice if both spouses could progress toward their career goals at the same pace, that’s not realistic, and it’s very unlikely. That means, at some point, one of you will be arguably more successful in your career than the other. If your wife or husband has a more successful career than you during this season, it’s normal to feel left behind, inadequate, and maybe even a little jealous. While you should definitely acknowledge your feelings, it’s dangerous to let them take root…

Read More

How to Thrive When One Spouse is Traveling Solo

By Communication, Self Reflection, Time 17 Comments

For many couples, it’s difficult to fathom either of you traveling on your own after you get married. Especially during the early years of marriage, it feels almost painfully essential to remain in one another’s presence at all times. And while it’s ideal for you to be able to travel together as often as possible, there will be times when one of you travels alone, and the other stays home. Some couples are perfectly comfortable with this idea; others are not. Today, we’re going to give you some tips for helping your relationship thrive when one of you is on…

Read More

What to Do When Hobbies Steal Your Spouse

By Communication, Conflict, Time 108 Comments

Last week, we talked about the importance of sharing hobbies and activities with your spouse. It’s great when the two of you can find common ground and cultivate shared activities, but what happens when your spouse is completely consumed by his or her own hobbies? While it can make life interesting to be married to someone who is so deeply engaged with an activity they love, it can quickly become difficult. Once the honeymoon period has passed, you might find that your spouse begins to gradually move toward his or her favorite pastime–eventually favoring it over spending time together. There…

Read More