Intentional Relationship
No matter how easy it is to fall in love, staying in love requires attention and effort. Most people drift into love, marriage and family without a whole lot of conscious
Habit Makers, Habit Breakers
Lately, we’ve slipped into a not-so-good habit. After dinner, and after all the normal stuff is done, we collapse onto the couch in front of the TV. We settle into our
Burn the Boats
A recent analysis of modern day wedding vows reveal around a third of couples shunning the traditional commitment for life. According to the results, 34% dumped the phrase ‘until death do
Knowing what to love
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 the opera in the expectation of
Change Reaction
It’s easy to see how couples get stuck when ‘being right’ has become a habit. Clinging to our ‘right to be right’ is like gangrene in a relationship....
Wedding Stress Tamed!
Planning a wedding is busy and stressful. There’s lots to think about and lots of factors to consider in every decision: the budget, the aesthetic, and the cost-benefit. The practical reality of organising the many details is complicated
Commitment
In his book, 'The Power of Commitment', Scott Stanley (USA) provides some very useful insights into the nature of commitment. He identifies two types of relationship commitment: constraints and dedication. Constraint
Pandemic Weddings – Keeping our Eye on What Matters
For those who had a wedding planned this year, the disruption imposed by Covid19 has created all sorts of complications, frustration and additional expense. Last week, a young man from New Zealand called us. His fiancé lives
SmartLoving Keys
On a mission to love… Every couple wants to avoid divorce and get along without too many fights. A successful marriage however, is much more than just this; it is a
The Nature of Love
We all 'know' what love is: it's that feeling of affection and attachment we experience for another person. But is love just a feeling? Or is there more to it?