Healthy boundaries will protect you from overextending yourself in life. They will also protect the health of your marriage when they’re clearly defined. Every season of frustration in our own marriage (“season” = many months) can usually be traced back to some issue with boundaries. Usually I’m overworking, or we’re making poor decisions in areas where we haven’t clearly defined our “walls”. Boundaries are important, so…
10 Big Questions: Sex, Compatibility, Kids, and More
Every once in a while we go through our inboxes, voicemails, and texts to gather common questions from readers and listeners. In our years of writing for and ministering to couples, we’ve found that certain themes exist in questions we receive. That’s why we dedicated a full podcast episode to exploring (and hopefully answering) those questions! Below is the list of questions we addressed in…
5 Reasons Why Your Family of Origin Matters… a Lot
To put it plainly, “Family of Origin” refers to the environment in which you grew up. It’s not a new concept by any means, but it’s one Selena and I hadn’t explored at length. Until recently. I love thinking about family of origin in tree terms (hence the image for this post). How a tree grows doesn’t only depend on its species; it’s the net…
The Biggest Battle Every Couple Will Ever Face
Before I get started, I didn’t intend the title of this article to feel like clickbait (vis-à-vis alluding to a huge battle without actually saying what it is). Sorry about that, sort of. To be honest, this issue is so important to your marriage—so foundational—that I’m fine with sharing this message however possible (plus we have very little to gain monetarily by having you land…
Recovering After a Bad Fight
Fighting is inevitable in marriage. The key is learning the arts of fighting well and recovering in healthy ways. God’s Word calls us to a lifestyle of reconciliation, which of course applies to marriage. In today’s episode, we’ll share a few of our worst fights and explore biblical ways forward that every couple can apply. We’d love your help! If our ministry has helped…
5 Specific Ways to Pray for Your Spouse
Prayer is one of the most tangible and powerful ways you can love your spouse. For Christians, the importance of prayer is readily acknowledged but often forgotten. This tendency to forget is probably because we haven’t had a deep revelation of what prayer is and why we do it. NOTE: Our NEW prayer devotionals will be here in September, 2018! Make sure to visit 40Prayers.com…
8 Characteristics of a Healthy (and Happy) Sex-Life
One of the most prevalent topics we get questions about is sex and intimacy. And for good reason: sexual intimacy is an important part of marriage, but it also tends to be one of the most misunderstood. For starters, here are some biblical truths about sex: Sex is a good, gracious gift from God. He designed it. Sex is created exclusively for the marriage covenant.…
How is Your Phone Hurting Your Marriage? (Part 1)
You’re probably using your smartphone to read this. Truth is, your phone is a great tool, but it can also create problems in life and marriage. Don’t believe me? Take a moment to ask yourself a few diagnostic questions: Do you consistently check your phone first thing in the morning? Do you spend many of your idle moments checking it compulsively? What is the longest…
4 Ways to Build Lasting Unity
Unity. Deep, true unity is unmistakable and irreplaceable in a healthy marriage. God’s word says “they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Not two people with a common goal, but one flesh. Combined. Unified. God created us for deeper unity with our spouses than any other human. There are profound reasons for this, like the necessity of strong families for flourishing churches and societies. There…
7 Reasons Why ‘Getting Away’ is Good for Your Marriage (and 10 tools we use for affordable travel)
Getting away with your spouse is a vital part of keeping things renewed and fresh. There’s just something special that happens when you leave your normal routines in favor of deepening your friendship with each other. This means taking time to intentionally disconnect from your everyday world and reconnect with your life partner. I strongly believe that getting away should be a regular (at least…