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…
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.…
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…
Video: The Pressure of Perfection
It’s funny how we get married with sort of this unspoken “vow” to be the perfect spouse and to have the perfect marriage. This pressure of perfection can come from many different places. In my opinion, social media probably takes the cake in terms of defining what the world sees as the perfect marriage. Which, if you looked outside the frame of that seemingly effortless, thumb-stopper image…
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,…
Video: Blind Devotion
My wife shared this video with me late last night as I was preparing for bed. She simply texted it to me with a message, “you need to watch this right now”. Selena doesn’t share much in the way of interesting or inspiration articles she finds on the web. So when she insisted I watch, I knew it must be very good. Turns out, she…
Video: Look Up
I’m always leery of viral videos and can usually determine if they are worth a watch depending on who posted it (you know it’s true). Needless to say, we (Ryan and I) felt like this video is somewhat timely with summer on the way. It really struck a chord in us about this never ending battle with technology and its affect on our marriage.
Video: John Piper, Tim Keller, and D.A. Carson on Sustaining the Marriage Covenant
“Sustaining the marriage covenant” is flowery language for simply “sticking together”. Selena and I have a saying: “There is no Plan B in our marriage.” We have no backup plan or escape clause. This mentality has helped us stick together in simple but profound ways. In the absence of a backup plan, each spouse seeks reconciliation instead of relief. We both understand that we have…