We left the marriage counselor’s office feeling a bit overwhelmed with the realization that sometimes marriage is really hard. Our nearly 30 years of marriage had experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We knew for better and for worse. This season...
Easter is a very special day for us. It’s special first because of Christ’s resurrection and what that did for our faith, and second, because of Mark’s resurrection and what that did for our marriage. There are three parts to Easter: Friday, Saturday, and...
Mark: I’m an extrovert. I’m refueled by being with people Jill: I’m an introvert. I’m refueled by being alone. Mark: This has caused more than a few challenges in our nearly 35 years of marriage. Jill: Initially, we were drawn to our differences. I loved how Mark was...
Mark: I’m the dreamer in our marriage. I’m the one who has visions of romance dancing in my head. I’m the one who wants to splurge on occasion. I’m the one who has creativity and ideas flowing out of me all the time. Jill: And I’m the...
It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And he lived in a time where comparison wasn’t nearly as easy as it is in our world of social media! Moms are particularly vulnerable to the Perfection Infection (PI) I first wrote...
Mark: Jill and I have had our share of conflict over the years. In our 34 years of marriage, we know the realities of conflict and for many years we would clash with one another and it would be a flash point in our marriage. A flash point happens when we have...
A couple of weeks ago my friend Amy lost her husband. This makes the sixth friend in my life who has become a widow. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of losing the love of your life. It’s a club each of us hope we’ll never have membership...
When Dr. Kathy Koch and I wrote our No More Perfect Kids book, we talked about how important it is to love the kids we have, not the ones we wish we had. Sometimes we imagine what life will look like as a parent, but then we find ourselves face to face with parenting...
Mark: When I walked away from our marriage seven years ago, I was absolutely convinced Jill was the problem. In fact, I had a well-rehearsed list in my head of all the things she did wrong and all the ways we were wrong together. I was tired of dealing with the same...
Jill: One of the parts of our marriage seminars that Mark and I enjoy the most is the Q&A sessions. This is where we get to hear stories of how the content and conversations are making a difference. It’s where attendees ask questions. It’s also where...
Do you know you can attend a mini-marriage seminar every week? If you’re wanting less conflict… if you’re seeking to move the needle on your marriage… if you want to be more loving and patient with your spouse… if you want to become a better spouse or a stronger...
Mark: For today’s Marriage Monday, we thought we’d share one of our videos from the No More Perfect Marriages Curriculum. This is a set of videos available for free for individuals, couples, small groups, or marriage ministries. It’s available at...
Mark: Jill and I aren’t big sports fans but we did watch some of the Super Bowl yesterday. It was quite a game! Jill: After the game, we were talking about the fact that there’s no marriage Super Bowl, although many times we approach marriage as if...
It was today, February 2, six years ago, that Mark left. Disillusioned with life, God, people, the world, and marriage, he was determined to ride off in the sunset with another relationship. It was today, February 2, four years ago that we both shaved our...
Mark: Well it was bound to happen at some time. We’ve both been different people since putting back the pieces of our broken relationship six years ago. We interact differently, we respond differently, we work to think differently. But Friday night we went back...
