I want you to imagine that you just won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. Ok – before you decide how to spend it all, keep imagining with me. So the Sweepstakes people show up to your house in an armored truck and deliver your winnings to you not in a check but in $100 bills. …
There is hardly any subject that is potentially more contentious for couples than the topic of money. Often this is related to a difference in financial management styles. For example, it may be that you are a “saver” who plans ahead for purchases, while your spouse is more likely to be motivated by a “sale”…
In the beginning of our marriage, we probably said, as a part of our wedding vows, “For better for worse.” Very simply, we declare these words to our spouse because we will have “better” times and we will certainly have “worse” times as well. But when the more difficult times come, how do we respond?…
“We used to hide and sneak up on each other and say ‘Boo.” “I’ll never forget the time she accidently got me wet with the hose out in the backyard. I went and grabbed the super-soaker – and the battle was on.” “I loved it when he would call me each day at lunchtime and…
Who does the dishes in your house? It may be you, your spouse, the kids, or even the dog I suppose if you leave the dishes on floor. For lots of families this can be a point of contention. As kids I remember we would do anything we could to get out of doing the…
I was recently watching a sitcom rerun in which the husband and wife were talking about something they wanted to do to get back at some friends of theirs. The wife tested the waters by saying something like, “We should not show up for their party – that would show them.” Not being sure how…
Marriages struggle. Ok – not a profound statement in a world where marriages are falling apart all around us. But it is still a true statement. Whether I am at a Men’s Bible Study or running into friends at the store, a common question that I get asked is, “How can I make my marriage…
We began last week to look at the importance of intimacy in a marriage as well as how easily it can slip away. It is not uncommon for a couple to begin to experience a decrease in their intimate connections, but if left unaddressed, it can develop into an extended period of distance. For some,…
Time and again I hear from couples who talk about their lost intimacy. It seemed to develop easily in the beginning of their marriage, but now . . . they are uncertain, intimidated, and even afraid of intimacy. But what happened? King Solomon, in writing the book “Song of Songs” in the Bible, was composing…
Albert Einstein said, “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” While I feel certain that we don’t want to think of ourselves as dead, we also know how prone we are to lose our sense of wonder. Ask yourself –…