5 Phrases Wives Can Say to Deeply Encourage Their Husbands

As a husband, I realize my primary role is to serve my family with Christ-like love and tenderness. I’m called to love sacrificially–and that means seeking Selena’s and Dela’s needs before my own. I don’t always succeed, but by God’s grace, sometimes I do (hopefully more than not). How do I serve my family with Christ-like love and tenderness? Most days, half the battle is figuring that…

5 Habits for a Healthy Marriage

A little while ago I wrote about the first thing we’d discuss with you if we could have coffee together. Feel free to read that post if you haven’t, but basically we’d talk about your beliefs. Namely, your belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ and what that means for your marriage. This blog post would be the second conversation we’d have with you.

5 Principles for Creating a Purpose Driven Sex Life

Sex. A word that used to be taboo is now so commonplace you probably won’t go a day without hearing it at least a few times. Everything seems to have something to do with sex. It’s funny really, that such a relatively small portion of anyone’s life is given such a heavy emphasis. Why does sex take up so much of society’s conversational bandwidth? Why are we…

Pursuing Deep Intimacy

We’ve all had those moments in our marriage where it seems like everything is perfectly synchronized. It’s like a beautiful song; everyone is on the same wavelength; hubby understands everything we’re saying, both of you are on the same page about everything; intimacy is amazing and you’re marriage feels like it’s thriving on every level. And then the inevitable conflict happens.

Young couple: if we could have coffee together, here’s the one thing I’d tell you

Someone asked me the other day, “If you could have coffee with every young couple who reads your blog, what would you say to them?” The question caught me off guard and I didn’t know how to answer them right away. After a few days of hashing through quick responses, I kept coming up short. I even asked our Facebook family what they’d say (below); the comments are awesome, but…

10 Resolutions for a Better Marriage This Year

This is my favorite time of year: the time between Christmas and New Year’s day. It’s a perfect blend of the rest of and reassurance of Advent and the anticipation of a new start. We can reflect on the past year and be refreshed as we prepare for the next. It’s a time to feel ambitious. Some start new diets or exercise regimes, others make career and financial goals. In all…

5 Phrases I Tell My Wife, and I Hope She Believes Me

Words can be so unbelievable. They’re cheap, right? All you have to do is utter a few syllables in a semi-coherent manner and voila! – speech. We hear and read words all the time. You’re reading words now, and you followed words to arrive here. Just spend a few minutes acutely aware of words and you’ll quickly see what I mean. We’ve even learned how to subconsciously filter out untruths…

A Red Cup Lesson in Grace

Ever got into an argument with your spouse about a good decision? Post said decision, both of you come to the realization that you were both right in your motivation and approach, but you ended up butting heads anyways.

4 Reminders to Help When Your Marriage is Tough

I sometimes doubt our ability to help marriages. Even as I write this, Selena and I are having communication difficulties. This morning we had a minor, stress-induced argument about trivial things (taking out the garbage, walking the dogs, and cleaning the bedroom). I left to do some work, she’s at home doing the most important work: loving and instructing our daughter. We’re both feeling unresolved…

4 Things Every Husband Needs to Hear Daily

Men don’t often receive credit for their complexity. One of my biggest annoyances is how husbands are often portrayed in commercials and TV shows: emotionally unaware, irresponsible, wide-eyed, and well… a little dumb. Those portrayals provide for a half-hearted chuckle, but they’re caricatures. I’d like to clear the air a bit. I may not speak for every man, but I have a feeling I speak for most.