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Wash War I
Michelle: One evening after dinner was over and the dishes had been washed; I went to the sink to get a glass of water. I was shocked to find that the sink had not been rinsed out, and food particles were beginning to form small islands. I very intentionally and very breezily said, “Hey, next time you do the dishes, can you make sure to rinse the sink?” Chris: What I heard, “Hey, you did the dishes wrong.” How I responded, “Next time, I will leave the dishes for you to do since you always do them perfectly and therefore, we know the task will be completed to perfection.” As…
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Sleeping with the Loser
Jen – I used to think that every fight had a winner and a loser. When you think about this in the context of marriage, it means that after a fight, someone has to sleep with the loser. We propose that there is a better way to fight so that both spouses win.
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Behaviors, Communication, Conflict, Decision to Love, Forgiveness, Growth, Happiness, Perseverance, Resilience
Marriage – the Olympics of Relationships
Julie: John and I have really enjoyed watching the Olympics these past couple of weeks. Medals are won by fractions of a second. Partnerships are tested under pressure. Expectations run high. There is disappointment and elation. Marriage is the Olympics of Relationships. Both require preparation, endurance, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to something bigger than yourself.
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Ready for a Marriage Check-up?
If someone asks, “How’s your marriage?” how would you answer? It’s hard to give an objective answer. This week, we offer a short quiz you can take to evaluate how things are going in your marriage. Before we can move toward the goal of a better marriage, we need to know where we are currently. Doing this Marriage Check-up exercise helped us take stock of how we were doing. Here’s what we learned… We had a couple areas where Ken’s scores were higher than Janine’s (or vice-versa) – Parenting and Spirituality. We agreed the area where we struggle the most as a couple was Conflict Resolution. This all led to some…
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After the Thrill is Gone . . . How Do We Make Love Stay?
We recently heard the songs After the Thrill is Gone (Eagles) and Make Love Stay (Dan Fogelberg) and they have been an ear-worm, and source of reminiscing for us. Youth never imagines the thrill being gone, but it happens to all of us.
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Emotional Baggage
Chris: Recently, while returning home from a trip, the wheel of our suitcase broke. It was the last leg of the trip and both of us looked at our suitcase like it had failed us in some way. We were tired from traveling all day and the last thing we wanted to do was have to switch back and forth, carrying a broken suitcase through the airport. So, in that moment, the easiest thing to do was to blame the suitcase for being faulty. We both had convinced ourselves that it was a bad suitcase and how could the company put out something so awful. Never mind that we had…
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Stages
Having kids comes with stages. There’s the infant-baby stage, the toddler stage, the school-age stage, the teenage stage, and the adult stage. Each of these stages presents its own set of challenges in our married relationship.
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Time-out!
Julie: Let’s be honest—life gets busy. Between work, kids, errands, and the never-ending to-do list, it’s so easy for your marriage to slip down your list of priorities. You’re not alone if you’ve ever looked at your spouse at the end of a long day and realized you haven’t really connected, maybe not even had a real conversation, in days or even weeks. But here’s the thing – taking a time-out for your marriage isn’t just something that’s nice to do. It’s the foundation that keeps everything else in your life running smoothly.
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We’re Broken
Your marriage is broken… or at least that’s how it seems. Here’s a secret… we’re ALL broken. Both as individuals and as couples, we’re all broken in some way. We’re in constant need of repair and healing. From our past and in the present. And… just acknowledging this is huge. Although so many couples may seem perfect (or in a state of perpetual bliss), we all experience brokenness in marriage. We all cycle through stages of romance, disappointment, and disillusionment. But there’s hope and strength in knowing that we don’t have to be perfect. We just need to be willing to work on growing together rather than apart. ROMANCE KEN: This is the phase of our relationship I remember best: dating, honeymoon, and newlywed times. Boy-o-boy, were those good times. I spent a lot of time just yearning for those exact times to return. DISAPPOINTMENT JANINE: Shakespeare said, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” When…
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The Kindness Challenge
Kindness 'makes the world go round.' Welcome 2026 with a 30-Day Kindness Challenge. Pass it on!
