Pains and Rewards of the Humble Route

The humble route is hardly the desirable route to take in any situation, let alone marriage, but why? Why do we fight it? Often times we lean on ourselves; taking pride in our own ability to handle things, instead of leaning into Jesus during the challenging times with our spouse. Learning to trust him and take him at his Word is no small task, but it is

20 Simple Axioms for Marriage

Sometimes the simplest epiphanies have the most profound impact. I’ve found these tiny axioms to be helpful in keeping us on point in our marriage. We’ve written a few posts that reinforce some of these (linked below), but in every case they’ve helped us keep the important things first.

Video: What does selfless love look like?

UPDATE: Ian and Larissa have recently written a book about their remarkable story. It’s called “Eight Twenty Eight”, and you can check it out on their website. We talk about selfless love quite a bit. It truly is the ultimate goal for married couples to understand and live out selfless love: both in how we love each other and in how we experience Christ’s love.

7 Habits to Maintain Your Integrity When Traveling

Traveling is risky business. While it’s physically safe to travel, being away from home poses unique risks to your marriage if your character and integrity are weak. In fact, you’ll face the temptations and integrity-compromising situations I’ll be discussing in everyday life, but during solo travel they’re much more apparent. Traveling is an escape of sorts. You’re whisked away on a plane to a faraway…

Video: What Does 50 Years of Marriage Look Like?

So what does 50 years of marriage and friendship look like? Bill & Glad show us a glimpse. I simply had to share their story. As Selena will attest, I’m not really a cryer. It’s not that I don’t feel, I think I’m just pretty even-keel about things. I think she can count on one hand the times she’s seen me cry…our wedding day, the death…

3 Ps That Can Poison Your Marriage (Part 2)

In my last post I discussed our ‘propensity for poison’ and covered the first P that can poison your marriage. If you haven’t, I encourage you to read it first, as it prefaces this post and sets a solid foundation. With that said, let’s dive right in to the second and third Ps that can poison your marriage. The Three Ps That Can Poison Your…

3 Ps That Can Poison Your Marriage (Part 1)

Pennies, perversion, and pride. Selena and I have experienced each ‘poison’ for sure; there’s no getting around it. In fact, each poison tries to rear its ugly head and we’re often engaged in full blown warfare to keep them at bay.  They are truly poisonous, they will kill your marriage unless addressed with God’s help. In this post, I’ll discuss our ‘propensity for poison’ and cover the first…

Christ’s Love Compels Us: Are we loving our spouses the way God intended?

This past weekend I was challenged to rediscover the love of Christ in my life. Why? Because I was feeling slightly burnt out from ministry; a little overwhelmed by life (being pregnant is NO JOKE) and my patience was wearing thin – blame the tiredness of pregnancy or my inability to deal with the daily challenges of life…I was depending on myself and failing miserably. 

Planted

I enjoy trees immensely. They’re beautiful, complex, and essential for life on earth. I find them interesting biologically (just ask Selena.. she’s had to endure many of my nerdy observations) and I find them revealing when we view them as an analogy for our lives with God. This morning for my devotional, I broke my current pattern of working through John and decided to do…

The Importance of God’s Word For Your Marriage (Part 2)

God’s Word is oxygen for your soul and brings life to areas that are seemingly dead in your marriage. God’s Word: What it means to me and Ryan Like the air we breathe, God’s Word has become something Ryan and I CANNOT live without. Yes, we are human and miss a few days of bible reading…AND WE NOTICE IT!