I watched a video a while back that completely wrecked me. It’s a message delivered by Francis Chan where he talks about the parable of the sower. As he explained Jesus’ words, one phrase hit me like a ton of bricks: “Don’t assume you are the good soil.” If you spend any time online, you’ll read dozens of Christian pick-me-up phrases daily; bite-size sermons condensed to…
Video: How to Fight Familiarity in Your Marriage
When you spend your life getting to know the same person, you get the awesome privilege to know them more deeply than anyone else on the planet – and they you. However, familiarity in your marriage is a double edged sword. If we’re not careful we can become too familiar with each other which can cause problems. These issues can range from forgetting to extend small common…
Devotion: The 3 Proximities of Intimacy
Intimacy builds with every interaction. It happens with each glance, small touch, kind word, and inside joke you quietly laugh about when you’re around others. If you’re only intimate before and during sex, you’re missing out…There’s so much more! True intimacy is extreme closeness, and closeness only happens with proximity. About this Article This post is an excerpt from our 30 day couple’s devotional, Two…
The 4 Clear Priorities for Love in Marriage
Priorities are and will continue to be one of the biggest issues in every marriage. When your priorities are out of whack, it hurts. And when they’re properly ordered, everything just feels right. We posted this simple reminder on our Facebook page recently. It seemed to resonate well: This list and its order are nothing new. But why do reminders like these continue to resonate…
Devotion: Keep the House, Toss the Bulb
We live in a “throw away” culture. If we’re not careful this attitude can permeate our lives in areas that matter most, marriage included. The quote in the image below (author unknown) is powerful because it reminds us that we mustn’t be too quick to discard our whole marriage when parts of it simply need renewal, removal, or replacement. Otherwise, the cost is too great…
Two Updates: a Baby and a Book
Ok, it’s been longer than usual between posts. My apologies for that. I promise our excuses are good… We’ve learned to accept scarcity on the blog-front for two major reasons: We’re having a baby any day now and Selena feels the full effect of being 38 weeks pregnant! We’ve been focused on finishing up our new couple’s devotional, Two as One. So, this is an update of…
Video: Maintaining a Healthy Sex Life After We’ve Had Kids
There is quite a learning curve when you get married. Lots to learn, lots to figure out. Sooner or later, kids arrive on the scene and everything changes, so you have to start re-learning how to maintain a healthy marriage in new, wonderful ways. One of the biggest challenges most couples face (and we’ve gotten this question quite a bit) is how to maintain a…
Video: 4 Important Things to Remember When Talking To Your Spouse
Communication is perhaps one of the most important aspects of your marriage. Many (like us) don’t realize that communication is a true skill: it must be practiced with mindfulness and diligence; otherwise you won’t grow. This all sounds painfully obvious, so I do apologize, but it’s still a huge problem area for most couples! Selena and I have definitely had our share of communication issues! However,…
Their Story: Dealing with Hardship When All Hope Seems Lost
My friend has a story that may change your life forever. About 6 months ago I asked Nathan and his wife, Anna, to consider writing this guest blog post. I did so knowing that their story, while incredibly difficult, needed to be told. Why? Primarily, to show God’s grace and faithfulness, even amidst suffering. But also to help others who may be facing, or will face,…
The True Beauty of Marriage
Everyone wants a happy marriage, and happy marriages are very good! However, happiness is not what makes marriage most beautiful. This may come as a shock, or you may know exactly where I’m going with this. Either way, I hope you learn something as you read on. Selena and I have been through plenty… plenty good and plenty bad. We’ve experienced both because of things we did (we’ve…