Mark: I have been working on changing my view of the conflicts within marriage. To be honest, I am not someone who likes conflict at all. There was too much of it when I was growing up so I wanted my own family to be conflict free (can you say “unrealistic...
Jill: It was 2011 and proving to be the darkest year of our then 27 years of marriage. Mark: The slow fades of unrealistic expectations, avoiding emotion, defensiveness, and minimizing had been eroding the foundation of our marriage for years, but we didn’t know it. ...
Mark: We recently did a Dive Deep Interview with Beth and Jeff McCord for our No More Perfect Date Night members. It was such a fabulous interview that we decided to ask Beth if she would provide a Marriage Monday blog post about the enneagram and how it can help your...
Today’s #MarriageMonday is brought to us by Sharon Jaynes, author of the new book Lovestruck: Discovering God’s Design for Romance, Marriage, and Sexual Intimacy. Not only that but we’re giving away a copy of one of her books! Want to enter the giveaway,...
I lifted the phone out of my husband’s hands. He was so tired lately and had fallen asleep in bed while texting. I’d been out of town for the day and had come home late to find him already in bed. As I went to plug it in for the night, I saw a conversation on the...
It doesn’t take much effort at all to destroy a relationship. In fact, it’s quite easy. Just follow your feelings and give energy to every little negative thought in your head and you won’t just be sauntering down the road of destruction, you’ll be running down it....
Mark: Last Tuesday, June 25, was our 36th wedding anniversary. If you’ve been hanging around her for very long, you KNOW that’s a BIG DEAL! (If you haven’t been hanging around here very long, you can read our story here.) Jill: We had plans for...
Jill: The last two Saturdays were the first Saturdays we’ve had home in months. Our speaking schedule keeps us traveling on the weekends in the spring and the fall. However, summer brings a change of pace and we’re home more on the weekends. Mark: Jill...
Our #MarriageMonday posts are written to help couples dig deeper, connect intentionally, and to become more tuned into the everyday challenges and realities of marriage. But what if you’re dealing with something more? What if you’re in a toxic...
Jill: One of the things we love doing is helping couples in crisis find the hope and help they need. However, many times by the time they reach out for help, one spouse has either left, engaged in an affair, or shut their heart down to their spouse. Mark: Their...
Mark: You’ve had one of those days, I’m sure. The days where you can’t seem to make your spouse happy. Everything you do is wrong. They’re impatient, easily frustrated, and just plain old fussy. Jill: It’s easy to think that their mood has something to do with you....
Mark: Last week I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Emotionally that is. I just woke up irritable, short-tempered, and easily frustrated. I was just a little bit off. Jill: I noticed Mark seemed to be just a little sensitive, so I wasn’t surprised when he said to...
Mark: Jill and I hear it all the time: “I’m not so sure I love my spouse anymore.” It’s entirely possible that thought has entered your mind at some point. If it hasn’t, it’s entirely possible it might someday. Jill: Honestly, it’s bound to happen to most of us...
Mark: Jill and I and our daughters Anne and Erica spent the weekend with hundreds of moms at Jill’s Mom Getaway Day in Rochester, Minnesota. It was a full weekend of fabulous music, teaching, and getting to hear the stories of so many wonderful moms. Jill: The...
Mark: I am an extrovert and Jill is an introvert. As an introvert, Jill needs her space. You see, introverts refuel by being alone. Extroverts refuel by being with people. In general, I want to be with her–and others–to refuel my tank. Jill: In the early...
