Search Results: lent

Two of Us: Planning and Working Together

By Two of Us Series / June 17, 2013

What is our plan? How are we achieving it together? 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 are so good to me, Father, and have been right from the first moment of my life.  I…

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Is Cohabitation Different to Marriage?

By Francine & Byron Pirola / April 24, 2013

Is cohabitation different to marriage? Lots of cohabitors will say ‘no’. We regularly hear comments to the effect: “We’ve been living together for 5 years – we’re just as committed as any married couple!” They seem offended by the suggestion that couples in marriage would be seen as more committed than they are. We recall…

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Two of Us: Personality Type

By Two of Us Series / March 25, 2013

Personality influencing relationships 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 am a very unique type of person. You had a lot to do with that, Father. After all, you made me in You image and…

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The Search for Meaning

By Francine & Byron Pirola / January 25, 2013

Recently, we came across this video of Viktor Frankl giving a lecture on the Search for Meaning. In it he makes the point, that “if we take man as he is, we make him worse, but if we take him as he should be we make him capable of becoming what he can be”. Pointing…

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The Sleep Deprived Marriage

By Francine & Byron Pirola / January 17, 2013

I remember my parents once advising us as newlyweds: ‘Don’t go cheap on your bed! One of the best things you can do for your marriage is make sure you get good sleep.’ At the time, we were rather bemused. However, nineteen years of marriage and five children later let there be no doubt, this…

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Success Breeds Success

By Francine & Byron Pirola / January 1, 2013

You Don’t Need to Fail in Order to Succeed A lot of people think that having a few failed relationships is helpful in preparing them for marriage. Some even go as so far as seeing the first marriage itself as a ‘training ground’ for the grand love that is expected to follow. They reason: now…

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|Wedding Stress: Dealing with in-laws||

Wedding Stress: Dealing with In-laws

By Francine & Byron Pirola / October 30, 2012

When you marry, you marry into a family. And your fiancé gets more than just a new spouse, he/she gets another branch of the family – your family! Read on for tips on handling tension with in-laws. This is how it has always been, but in recent decades, the reality of extended family has come…

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Stop the Train I want to get off

Stop the Train…I Want to Get Off!

By Francine & Byron Pirola / October 23, 2012

How the divorce superhighway fails couples. Speaking recently with one of America’s foremost family therapists, Dr Bill Doherty, we had a lively discussion on the divorce process. He noted that there are a significant proportion of couples who are ambivalent about their divorce, but once they file, it’s like they are on a superhighway with no…

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Couple Prayer

By Francine & Byron Pirola / September 12, 2012

Based in the Sacrament of Matrimony, couple prayer is different to community prayer; it recognises that our intimacy and trust as a couple is directly related to our marital holiness. So the purpose of couple prayer is to not only bring you closer to God, but to also bring you closer to each other. Couple…

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Take the Quiz - have you got a smart relationship?

Have you got a Smart Relationship?

By Francine & Byron Pirola / September 8, 2012

There’s more to successful relationships than just following your instincts. Do the quiz to find out how you rate     A. Love is… 1: A feeling – so I follow my feelings in my marriage 2: More than a feeling, but mostly I let my feelings tell me how to act 3: Hard work…

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