When a loved one hurts, it can be hard to know how to respond and support them through the crisis or pain they feel. Our first response is often to jump straight into “fix it” mode or lighten the mood by offering platitudes. However, the key to true comfort lies in a...
If you know my husband Mark and I, then you know we are passionate about moving people from a 1.0 version of themselves to a new-and-improved 2.0 version. We’ve taken this journey ourselves and know the difference it can make in your relationships, as well as how you...
Everyone has baggage. We carry it around with us everywhere–into marriage, adulthood, and every aspect of our lives. It’s part of being human, and while there’s no shame in having baggage, it’s important to take the time to consider how the behaviors we’ve...
Have you ever had a conversation where it seemed like you and the other person kept misunderstanding one another? At some point, it may have even felt like you were speaking two different languages. This is a challenge that pops up in many marriages—after all, there’s...
Dear Mark & Jill, I listen to your podcast every week and I love it. It seems like when you are talking together, we hear a lot more about what Mark did wrong before and during your marriage crisis. I identify more with Jill’s personality before your marriage...
As a coach, one of the things I do most often is help people learn how to manage their emotions in a healthy way. The human capacity to feel is God-given. However, when our feelings go unchecked, that’s when emotional ups and downs can start to steal our peace,...
Mark and I are excited to bring you another special episode with just the two of us! In this conversation, we are talking about confirmation bias. It’s something we have experienced in our own relationship and we see it time and time again in the couples we coach....
The topic of this episode was inspired by a question submitted by one of our listeners: What does it take to heal a family after trust has been broken? How do you acknowledge the wider influence of pain, and where do you go from there? As marriage coaches, we often...
One of the things we say time and time again is that the “perfection infection” happens when we compare our insides to other people’s outsides. When we do this, we often come up with inaccurate conclusions about ourselves AND others. Falling into the trap...
What is a “Midlife Marriage”? It’s the season of life that begins after the whirlwind of kids’ soccer practices, dance recitals, and endless extracurriculars comes to an end—when the nest is empty, and it’s just you and your spouse, rediscovering life together. As...
After 20 years of youth ministry, my son-in-law recently completed a much-needed, four-month sabbatical. It’s encouraging to see that, more and more, both employees and their employers are valuing the soul-satisfying, replenishing healing that comes with taking...
What role does prayer play in your marriage? For us, prayer has been a profoundly positive force in our lives—both as individuals and as a couple. When it comes to strengthening your marriage, there are many tools and strategies to explore, but prayer is one you...
When was your last conflict? Whether it was a spat with your spouse or a clash with a close friend, odds are it felt pretty intense. Most likely, it made you feel disconnected from a person you really care about. Most of us don’t think of conflict as a way of...
Has your life been turned upside down? Are you walking through hardship? Do your future plans feel completely shaken up? If so, you may be in the midst of what I like to call a “life quake”. A life quake is what happens when our circumstances change drastically, and...
How do you respond when someone else’s choices wreak havoc on your life? Sometimes, someone else’s choices can turn the lives of those closest to them upside down. I’ve certainly experienced that in my own life, and yet, even in the most unfair...
