Take Five: Improve your Marriage

Do you feel trapped in a dissatisfying or troubled marriage? Do you feel powerless to ‘fix’ it because your spouse refuses to join you in counselling or a marriage enrichment course?   Take heart! There are lots of things a husband or wife can do on their own that can have a dramatic impact. Here…

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Two of Us: Man & Woman

  Reflect Separately, say the prayer and spend some time reflecting on the questions. Write some notes so that you can share more fully with your spouse.     Prayer Thank you, my God for all you do for me.  I’m always pretty quick Father, to get after You when I need something but once You…

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Two of Us: Priorities

A couple exercise to establish marriage as a priority Reflect Separately, say the prayer and spend some time reflecting on the questions. Write some notes so that you can share more fully with your spouse.     Prayer You have made it very evident to me Father, that love is what my life is all about. …

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Loving Smart

How to Love Over many years we’ve come to realise that most of our mistakes in love come from the assumption that everyone experiences love the same way. A number of authors have developed frameworks to help us understand the foolishness of this idea. For example, in ‘The Five Love Languages’ Gary Chapman recognises that…

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Two of Us: At Our Best

A couple exercise to become aware of how we can bring each other to our best Reflect Separately, say the prayer and spend some time reflecting on the questions. Write some notes so that you can share more fully with your spouse.   Prayer I know You love me, Father.  You have been so good to…

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Respect & Cherishment

What’s the Diff? While everyone experiences love uniquely, some clear gender patterns have emerged through relationship research. In one study, when given the option between the negative choices of being ‘alone and unloved in all the world’ or ‘inadequate and disrespected by everyone’, 74% of men preferred be alone and unloved, compared to only minority…

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Daily Appreciation

We all love to be appreciated. It feels good; it helps us to feel positive towards ourselves and towards the person expressing the appreciation. It is a genuinely loving gesture to express appreciation to another and, in marriage particularly, it is a positive relationship habit. Why is expressing appreciation of our spouse such a powerful…

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Two of Us: Me and You

A couple exercise to uncover our problems and move forward with hope for our relationship Reflect Separately, say the prayer and spend some time reflecting on the questions. Write some notes so that you can share more fully with your spouse.     Prayer Father, sometimes You must laugh at me and shake Your head.  You…

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