Recently we were speaking at a Build Your Marriage conference and an attendee engaged one of us in a conversation about why marriage mattered. “Isn’t marriage just a little piece of paper–an unnecessary formality?”
Growing Together Spiritually at Home
Five Practices You Can Start Today
How do you and your spouse plan to grow together spiritually? For most couples, it is trying to get to church every week, or at least somewhat regularly. But just having a Sunday to Sunday plan isn’t enough for the most important aspect of your marital health.
- An athlete doesn’t train one day a week.
- A student for med school doesn’t study one day a week.
- A diet doesn’t work if you’re on it only one day a week.
- You don’t talk to each other only one day a week.
- You get the idea….
Actively cultivating your spiritual growth as a couple throughout the week will draw you closer together relationally, bring deeper understanding, infuse your marriage with more grace, and increase your satisfaction at every level. Here are five spiritual practices you can bring into your marriage to grow together spiritually at home:
Growing Together Spiritually At Church
Five reasons church matters to your marriage
“Church is optional. If church fits in our schedule, if it’s convenient, and we feel like going—-we will try to get to church.” While couples may not actually say those words, their actions and choices reveal their values. This seems to be the growing belief held by couples and families today.
Connecting When Your Kids Are Little
Five ways couples can stay close as parents
At almost every Build Your Marriage conference, parents of young children often ask, “We love our kids, but how do you find time in marriage for each other when raising little children?”
Finding A Church Home Together
11 steps to guide you in your search for a church
If you’ve ever been through the apartment hunting or house shopping process, you know what it’s like to walk into a place and just know it isn’t the right spot to call home. Our neighbors told us that they had walked through over fifty homes before they chose the one near us! Eventually you either settle for a place that has most of the things on your wish list, or you find the home that made you go, “Ahhhhhhh!” the first time you walked through it.
That’s not unlike like the search for the church you will both call home. We’ve known couples who have tried numerous churches before landing on the “Ahhhhhhh!” church. Others found their home church on the first visit.
So how does a couple find a church home together? Here are a few guiding suggestions:
Five New Year’s Resolutions for Your Marriage
Choosing not to settle for the status quo
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:
Beat Holiday Stress with “Christmas”
9 Practices for you and your spouse this holiday
Holiday stress can weigh heavily on a marriage. Here’s our little “Christmas” list on keeping your season filled with joy and peace:
Building a Generous Marriage
Practical ways to give more than money
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.