There are plenty of aggressive attacks on marriages today—pride, porn, promiscuity, power, prestige—and quite a bit written on who to address these enemies of marriage. But there’s another threat to your marriage that settles in to relationships with such a quiet presence we aren’t even aware of it until the damage is done. Can you guess what it is?
Have you ever felt lonely in your marriage? Unless you’ve experienced it, being married and lonely can sound impossible. How can two people live under the same roof in the intimacy and vulnerability of marriage and still be lonely? And if we do feel lonely, how do we break out of it and reconnect with our spouse?
Mount of Beatitudes
Is a trip to Israel right for you? Most of us consider traveling to Israel at some point in our lives. Ask yourself these 10 questions to determine if 2018 is the time for you:
This is a rare opportunity to check it off together. Our trip is November 27 – December 4.
In 2017 there were 3.6 million tourists to Israel from around the world—an increase of 25% from the year before. Being part of a group with experienced tour guides assures your added safety and comfort.
Traveling in November is the perfect time to travel in Israel as the average temperature is in the 50’s.
Going with a group means your arrangements are taken care of for you. You get a buffet breakfast each morning and dinner each evening (included!). The bus takes you to each site and all you have to do is soak in the experience.
You will experience the places Jesus did. Your reading of the Bible and perspective at key holidays will forever be redefined and enhanced. You’ll see Bethlehem (days before Christmas!), the Church of the Nativity, Jericho, Qumran, the Dead Sea, the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, and you’ll cross the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb and more will be visited during your visit.
You will grow in your Biblical knowledge and understanding.
You’ll make new friends, enjoy great food, you can float in the Dead Sea, and renew your wedding vows in the Chapel at Cana. (We also hear the ice cream is amazing! 🙂 )
Yes! Some of the evenings include Build Your Marriage sessions with Brad & Heidi Mitchell.
Until August 14ththe price is under $5,000 per couple. That includes airfare for two from New York, hotel, meals, admission fees, hotel gratuities, bus and more! Singles can come as well! Click the link below for additional details.
Just click this link for more information and to sign up online: http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/hl18-mitchell-56373
We hope you can join us in Israel in 2018 as you build your marriage!
Brad & Heidi celebrating their 35th anniversary in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Most couples love to get away on a vacation with their children or just alone. The challenge, however, is the sheer expense of traveling. Vacations do cost money, but we have some simple ideas that you can put into practice that will help stretch your dollars and make your dreams a reality.
We love to travel. Together we’ve been to 38 countries. Heidi has been to all fifty states (Brad’s close). In fact, Heidi has almost 100,000 reads of her reviews on TripAdvisor, making her a senior advisor with them. We write this simply to lend some credibility to the suggestions we list below.
In our marriage we continually have working “resolutions” on things we want to improve. In order to lead Build Your Marriage we are on a quest to build OUR marriage! 🙂 Pastor and author Bill Hybels says, every leader has a “holy discontent” with the status quo and we believe the same should be true for our marriages, too!
As you look toward 2018 here are five resolutions we believe every couple can make that will dramatically improve and build YOUR marriage:
Holiday stress can weigh heavily on a marriage. Here’s our little “Christmas” list on keeping your season filled with joy and peace:
Generous??? We had been homeless for nearly 10 months and during that time being generous seemed impossible. We lost 90% of our income overnight. We couldn’t afford to get into another place to live. A kind couple gave us the upstairs of their home to live in.
That was our story just a few years ago. How could we practice generosity? But looking back we can see how God not only provided for us in miraculous ways, he honored our efforts at being generous.
Like any other couple, we have seen our share of change in almost 35 years of marriage. And so have you. There are all kinds of things that can change in our lives: health, job, career, having children, moving, financial (up or down), deaths, accidents, church, friendships, and the list goes on. And even if only one of you is facing a change of some kind, it affects both of you…and your marriage.
