Marriage & Family: Marriage: Communication
Helping couples grow their marriage through biblical principles
while living in the real world with real issues.
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Recalibrating Your Marriage
Every marriage hits its rough patches. Here's how even the busiest people can get it back on track.Sort By:
Compromise and the Piece of Furniture
I was right. Not just a little bit, but 100 percent right, just like I am with all the disagreements between my wife and me.
And yet, somehow my wife could not see the flawlessness of my logic. Despite knowing that I'm rarely proven wrong (if the word rarely means about 97 percent of the time), she still had the audacity to suggest that I was wrong about where to put our new television in the living ...
Related Topics: Compromise, Conflict resolution, Confrontation, creative ideas, Disagreements
Fueled to Run
Running has always been, if not a passion, a deeply felt need of my husband's. Along with keeping in shape, it is his way to unwind, de-stress, and get alone with God. He had explained his joy of running very clearly to me, several times, but all I could hear was some form of gobbledygook. Really. It was beyond my ability to fathom that anyone not being chased by a starving lion would choose to ...
Related Topics: Encouragement, Praise, Words
Silent Arguments
My husband, Alvin, and I have been married so long that we no longer argue. What's the point when I can recite both parts in my head and eliminate the aggravation? Twenty-two years into our marriage, when we boil down an argument, the simmering essence remains the same: my tone of voice.
My dearly beloved fails to appreciate the self-discipline I muster to snarl, "Okay, fine." I choke back shrill replies ...
Related Topics: Arguing, Conflict, Conflict resolution
The No-Kid Zone
Couple together time had become family together time.
My husband, Lonny, and I were busy. Our Suburban yo-yoed in and out of the driveway as directed by the loaded calendar on the kitchen wall. We shuttled our five sons through five weekdays and didn't pause for breath on the weekends. Piano lessons. Middle school track. Bible league. Pee Wee baseball.
We bolted from activity to activity and stopped ...
Related Topics: Dating, parenting, Partnership
My Husband and Mrs. Quidd
We have a new friend in the family. With her charming British accent, helpful demeanor, and knack for perfect timing, Mrs. Quidd, as we fondly call her, has changed the way we do things around here. No, we haven't hired a housekeeper. My husband purchased a portable GPS (global positioning system). And the ramifications are staggering.
On its first day out of the box, my husband and I headed out the ...
Timing Is Everything
People used to feel sorry for Rich and me because of our work schedules. Now they're envious.
If only they knew.
While we dated and when we were first married, I was working a normal eight-to-five office job. Meanwhile, Rich worked 4 p.m. until midnight or later, but with Saturdays and Sundays off, although our weekends didn't start until he awoke around noon. And that was the extent of our time together: ...
Related Topics: Companionship, Compromise, Conflict resolution, Time management
Communication Mis-match
A few weeks ago my friends and I had a chick-chat lunch (you know the kind—salads and iced tea all around, plus a healthy helping of husband tattling). Five of us were pouring on our dressings (served on the side, of course) when Cindy, a petite blond seated across from me, said, "Scott had me all excited about our anniversary last week. He kept telling me about these 'secret plans' for the ...
Why Does My Spouse Make Me So Angry?
I muttered to myself, "If only Larry would be the man I expected, I wouldn't be so angry. It's his fault." We'd been married seven years and I feared our marriage wouldn't survive. I pleaded with God to change Larry—to make him work less and not be so interested in his flying hobby. Every time he flew without me, my anger increased. I repeated over and over, "It's all his fault!"
But then God ...
Needless Needling
We have friends, a married couple named Don and Lee Ann, who are notorious for ruining most any event to which they're invited—and even the ones they host. In fact, my husband, Rich, and I refer to them privately as "The Needlers" because their behavior is so much like the characters in that recurring Saturday Night Live sketch.
If you haven't seen it, SNL's Needlers are a couple who constantly ...
Healthy Conflict?
"I don't get why you're pressuring me to go to that stupid meeting," Chip told his wife, Cheryl.
Cheryl stared at him. "Pressuring you? I just asked if you'd be willing to go with me. It'll only take an hour. Why is that such a problem for you?"
"Because you 'asked' me in that tone of voice that says I'll be in real trouble if I say no."
"What?" Cheryl said. "Why do you always make such a big deal about ...
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