Role Models for Marriage

By Francine & Byron Pirola | June 13, 2025

  How can we inspire young people to embrace stable, loving marriages when so many grow up without seeing them?  We’ve all heard stories that…

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The BS Detector

By Francine & Byron Pirola | June 6, 2025

  Mind Over Matter ‘Mind Reading’ is one of those clairvoyant arts that seems to elude us when it comes to marriage. Too often we…

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Leaving and Cleaving is Complicated!

By Francine & Byron Pirola | May 30, 2025

Origin Families and their Impact  “A man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24) …

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Positive Thinking

By Francine & Byron Pirola | May 23, 2025

  Capitalise on the Positive Most marriage counselling and education focuses on conflict and incompatibility. It seeks to help couples find constructive ways of dealing…

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Understanding Compound Wounds

By Francine & Byron Pirola | May 16, 2025

    Who would have thought espresso cups could cause such drama? Byron had discarded the unused ‘free’ cups a year earlier, without Francine even…

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A Habit of Thanks

By Francine & Byron Pirola | May 9, 2025

Think Positive I was very pessimistic as a teenager. I tended to see everything negatively, and even when something good happened, I always noted how…

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Going the distance is easier together

By Francine & Byron Pirola | May 2, 2025

  We’ve all heard marriage is a journey, but what happens when it feels like a marathon with no finish line?   Every couple faces trials…

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War and Peace on the Home Front

By Francine & Byron Pirola | April 25, 2025

Every nation remembers the sacrifice of their war veterans with a Memorial Day. Thinking about your marriage: is it more of a battlefield than the…

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Calling Volunteer Feet

By Francine & Byron Pirola | April 18, 2025

It’s that time of year when parishioners scatter like startled sheep. The call goes out for volunteers to have their feet washed on Holy Thursday,…

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Soulful Communication

By Francine & Byron Pirola | April 11, 2025

Communication has long been seen as the key to a healthy marriage. Modern experts call into question this wisdom, suggesting that it is not communication,…

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Long Live the Ten-Second Kiss

By Francine & Byron Pirola | April 4, 2025

In a world that pulls couples apart, a simple ten-second kiss IS a small act of love with big rewards.  Regular readers of SmartLoving will…

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Resilience Of The Marital Kind

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 28, 2025

Let’s face it – marriage can be a tough gig these days. Living in a culture that almost expects marriage to fail, couples wonder what…

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Editing Ourselves

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 21, 2025

Balancing honesty with kindness & Effectiveness  We live in a culture that champions unfiltered self-expression. We’re told that honesty is the ultimate virtue in relationships…

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When I am winning, WE are usually losing

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 14, 2025

  “You can either be right, or you can be one, but you can’t be both”. Our mentors were talking to us about a frustrating…

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Our Way or God’s Way?

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 7, 2025

 Finding Harmony in the Catholic Wedding Vows We often find ourselves chatting with engaged couples who want to write their own wedding vows. They…

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