5 Principles for Healthier, Happier Relationships with In-Laws

This episode can be summarized with one word: boundaries. As a married couple bound by covenant, you are charged with upholding your commitment with diligence and wisdom. Sometimes in-laws aren’t on board with that vision, especially if they don’t understand the complete dynamics of your marriage or season in life. This can create stressful, unenjoyable relationships. In this episode, we propose 5 principles we believe to…

Husband in Pursuit: Into the Wild

Having a morning routine is like an anchor for my day. But all too often I’m content skipping what matters most: time with God. If I oversleep or grab my phone too quickly, I’ll lose track of time and get caught up with whatever tasks are on my plate for the day. I may read a verse somewhere online or say a half-hearted prayer, but…

Video: 3 Bulletproof Ways to Build Unstoppable Unity

We’ve been through quite a bit in our 13 years of marriage. We’ve suffered loss together, faced life-threatening sickness, fought and argued countless times, and enjoyed a bounty of joyful seasons. It seems that most enter marriage expecting to experience the latter (joy) most if not all the time, but they forget to prepare for the difficult seasons. Every married couple struggles at some point.…

My 3 New Goals for Pursuing My Wife

I’m not a natural romantic; but I think I can change that. I’m realizing that my ability to love my wife well greatly depends on my intentional, ongoing pursuit of who she is and what she’s feeling. That’s the essence of romance: intentional pursuit. I’m not just talking about covering the bed with rose petals and lighting a few candles. That might be part of it……

Staying Connected to your Spouse with Littles in the House

We are in the season of having young children in our house: two sweet daughters, Adelaide (age 3) and Clementine (6 months). This, sometimes chaotic, new reality we find ourselves in is one we have waited and prayed for (yes, we prayed for chaos, somewhat unknowingly LOL). And as beautiful and wonderful as having little ones is, it has without a doubt affected and challenged our marriage…

Irritating Car Rides & My Subtle Holiday Pride

Around the holidays my pride flares up in nuanced ways. It’s subtle, and you could even say it’s harmless but I assure you it’s not. As I’ve thought about it more, I’ve realized that I’m trying to be better than others — and it’s exhausting. Yep, I’m talking about the ugly kind of pride.

Me, My Anger, & My Marriage

On our drive home from a pretty fun evening out with the kiddos, Ryan and I got into it. After sifting through my feelings of him being a jerk to me in front of our friends while he was thinking he was “helping” me he asked me, “Over the past few years, it seems like your default response to things, (situations, relationships, etc.) that you don’t like or…

Identifying & Ending Cycles of Harmful Behavior in Marriage

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…

Reflections On Hardship in Marriage

Over the years (particularly on social media) I’ve seen arguments back and forth about a wealth and prosperity “gospel” and how it aligns (or doesn’t align) with the message of Christ. As I read through some of the articles, I started thinking about how these conflicting messages affect marriage. In John 10:10, Jesus talks about “life to the full” or “abundant life.” What exactly does that mean for…

3 Big Fears Most Couples Face and the Only Way to Shut ’em Down

How many times have we allowed fear to dictate our decisions in marriage? Ryan and I are somewhat opposites in the fact that he is more of a daredevil; ready to summit that next mountain; ride that next wave or simply try a new (somewhat risky) experience without much hesitation. This is one reason why I fell in love with him! On the other hand, I’m…