Twelve Ways of Christmas

By Francine & Byron Pirola | December 20, 2024

Christmas is more than a day – it’s a season!  It’s easy to overlook the birthday boy in the festivities of Christmas Day. When our…

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More than “I’m Sorry”

By Francine & Byron Pirola | December 13, 2024

Saying sorry and asking for forgiveness are two very different factors in resolving arguments. Saying Sorry is Simple We were in the midst of yet…

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Going From Good To Better

By Francine & Byron Pirola | December 6, 2024

Marital health is about more than minimizing conflict. If we want to go from ‘good’ to ‘better’ we need to capitalise on the positives. Most…

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Three Ways to a Better Advent

By Francine & Byron Pirola | November 29, 2024

The Church New Year begins with Advent and is a season of preparation ahead of the birthday of Jesus. Beginning four Sundays before Christmas Day,…

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Knowing what to love

By Francine & Byron Pirola | November 22, 2024

You can’t love what you don’t know. This saying has profoundly influenced our marriage and our faith. About once a decade we book tickets to…

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Attachment Style and Marriage

By Francine & Byron Pirola | November 15, 2024

Our earliest experiences of love and care profoundly influence what we each bring into our marriage. Attachment Theory illuminates how.  As infants, we are completely…

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The Growth Mindset

By Francine & Byron Pirola | November 8, 2024

At our daughter’s recent award assembly, the school Principal addressed the topic of ‘Growth Mindset’. She noted how education was more than merely preparing students…

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Together again… for stronger and better

By Francine & Byron Pirola | November 1, 2024

Contrary to popular belief, separation does not always end in divorce. Well supported, the process of separation can help a couple address their problems and…

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Power of Prayer

By Francine & Byron Pirola | October 25, 2024

Prayer does not change God, it does not always change the situation, but it does change the heart of the person praying. Many people do…

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Sexual Integrity in a Messed-up World

By Francine & Byron Pirola | October 18, 2024

Last month we convened a national symposium to explore how we, as a church community, might pastorally respond more effectively to those impacted by pornography.…

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Three Tips for Trust

By Francine & Byron Pirola | October 11, 2024

Relationships thrive when trust is strong. But how do we build it in the first instance, and then recover it if we’ve lost it? Here…

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Marriage or Matrimony?

By Francine & Byron Pirola | October 4, 2024

People call a lot of relationships ‘marriage’. Everything from cohabitation (common law marriage) to civil contracts (secular marriage) to the Judeo-Christian concept of covenant. In…

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Making marriage last is all in the Intention

By Francine & Byron Pirola | September 27, 2024

No matter how easy it may seem to fall in love, staying in love requires attention and effort. We all start out in marriage bright…

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The Ecology of the Body

By Francine & Byron Pirola | September 20, 2024

When we were preparing for marriage some decades ago, we undertook training in Fertility Awareness Methods (FAMs). As graduates in biological science, we got right…

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Deep Impact Conversations

By Francine & Byron Pirola | September 13, 2024

“How was your day?” It’s one of the most common questions couples ask each other and either leads to a dead-end response like, “fine” or…

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