Video: Breaking Through

By Francine & Byron Pirola | April 14, 2016 |

When you feel stuck in your marriage, unable to move forward, we call it relationship gridlock. Accumulated hurts keep you both stuck in resentment and defensive. Sometimes it feels like your only choice is to stay and be miserable or leave and start again. But there is another way… Find out about the BreakThrough Online…

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Making the Connection…with Arguments

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 31, 2016 |

Neither of us likes it when we disagree, yet we’ve had more than a few in our 28 years of marriage – some of them leading to horrible arguments. When disagreements descend into arguments, they usually become hurtful and unproductive, leaving us feeling bitter and exhausted. But are arguments all bad, or always harmful? Many…

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Mercy Gospel Reflection: Apr 3

By Derek & Karen Boylen | March 30, 2016 |

Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 3 April – 2nd  Sunday of Easter In this week’s Gospel, we hear those famous words spoken each week at Mass during the sign of peace, “Peace be with you.” Can you speak these words authentically to your spouse today? Is there anything in your marriage that needs work in order to restore peace…

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Couples on probation!

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 17, 2016 |

Why cohabitation doesn’t work Don’t get us started…there are SO many reasons why cohabitation is a bad idea, we could go on for pages! In this post– we want to focus on one: the probation factor. In case you’re wondering, the evidence is quite clear: cohabitation doesn’t ‘divorce-proof’ a subsequent marriage – it actually increases…

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The Marriage Kit: Why Marry?

By Francine & Byron Pirola | March 17, 2016 |
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Couples marry for all sorts of reasons, but one of the almost universal expectations of couples is that marriage will make them happy. It is after all a dominant emotion of the romance experience. But is this really what marriage is for? In this short video we explore happiness and the true purpose of marriage.…

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Engaged Online Goes Live

By Francine & Byron Pirola | February 25, 2016 |

There’s great excitement here as we activate SmartLoving Engaged Online for public access. We’ve been working on the platform for three months and are very pleased with the result. There are still a few things for us sort out and no doubt lots of troubleshooting challenges in the days ahead, which is why we are…

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Three Ways to Do Lent

By Francine & Byron Pirola | February 17, 2016 |

Lent is one of our favourite seasons in the Church calendar; for a decent period (but not an interminable one), we get to do a bit of spiritual spring cleaning. It’s the perfect prompt to give the boot to bad habits and pick up better ones. And it comes with some spiritual superpower assistance. Here…

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Be My Valen-time!

By Francine & Byron Pirola | February 10, 2016 |

Insufficient time together is one of the biggest contributors to relationship breakdown. Whether our relationship is flying or sinking, time together is like a balm, healing the bumps and bruises of life and stimulating our feelings of affection and tenderness. And with Valentines’ Day approaching, it’s the perfect opportunity to give the gift of time.…

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