Julie and Clay’s first baby was due any time. To celebrate and to enjoy one last date night before the baby’s birth, Julie planned a romantic dinner. That evening, Julie was first to arrive at their favorite restaurant, and waited.

And waited.

Clay was supposed to come there straight from work, but after twenty minutes he was still a no-show.

Julie called his phone. No answer.

Thirty minutes passed.

Then an hour.

Clay and Julie eventually lost their reservation, and Julie’s expectations for the night were ruined.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage January 3, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Most couples don’t realize how simple it can be to make a good marriage great. Or to infuse a struggling marriage with new life. To make your marriage better, give these three ideas a try.

The first idea is to avoid sarcasm. The word “sarcasm” means “to tear flesh.” Sarcasm strips a joke of its humor and replaces it with anger, resentment, and jealousy. There’s a thorn beneath the laugh that cuts people. Instead of sarcasm, season your words with love and respect.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 27, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A lot of women enter marriage expecting connection, conversation, and intimacy with their husbands. But when the intensity of that initial romance fades – as it always does – some wives begin to wonder, “Did I marry the wrong man?”

Dr. Juli Slattery’s answer to that question is: “The secret of intimacy in marriage is not finding a hero to be your husband but finding the hero in your husband.”

To achieve that, Dr. Slattery encourages women to understand a dynamic woven into every human relationship: relational power.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 20, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Have you ever felt like disagreements with your spouse end up covering the same ground over and over again?

The reason is that marital conflict is rarely only about the specific issue itself. There’s an iceberg of insecurity, negative assumptions, and hot buttons beneath the surface that are also at work. Hidden issues from your past can sabotage your marriage today.

Dr. Bob Paul and his wife, Jenni, are with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Understanding the Hot Buttons in Your Marriage” to describe what they consider to be a married person’s guide to a “fair fight.”

Dr.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 12, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

“Last week’s passage of the misnamed “Respect for Marriage Act” in the House of Representatives represents a tipping point in the American story, and a grave turn that should concern all those who cherish and value religious freedom. 

“Enshrining into law a destructive definition of marriage that undermines and expresses hostility towards God’s sacred design of a multi-millennia old institution invites the inevitability of unintended consequences. It also threatens to criminalize people of faith and jeopardize organizations that have done so much good for so long. 

“History has demonstrated that empires end when attributes like virtue, honor and honesty are no longer valued.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 9, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

News broke yesterday that an amendment designed to protect religious freedom in the deceptively titled “Respect for Marriage Act” currently pending a vote in the House of Representatives was blocked by House Democrats.

This is one more example why Christians should vote their convictions. Elections have consequences.

Apparently, there’s also discussions about the possibility of folding the legislation into the defense authorization bill in order to garner more votes.

Nevertheless, your voice matters. Please consider calling or contacting your House Representative and ask them to Vote “NO” on HR 8404, the “Respect for Marriage Act.” 

You can either call their House offices directly through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or you can use the House website directory found here. 

Here is some additional information put out by Focus on the Family’s Daily Citizen about the troubling legislation:

HR 8404 is extreme and poses a substantial threat to religious freedom nationwide. 

The bill: 

Further embeds a false definition of marriage into American law. 

Opens the door to federal recognition of polygamous relationships. 

Jeopardizes the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that affirm that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. 

Endangers faith-based social service organizations by threatening litigation and liability risk if they follow their views on marriage when working with the government. 

The U.S.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 7, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The wear and tear of everyday life can take a toll on your marriage. On any given day you may face challenges in your faith, church, extended family relationships, recreation, sexual intimacy, friendships, household responsibilities, finances, hectic schedules, and a never-ending stream of parenting decisions.

Whew!

Is it any wonder that most relationships could use a little maintenance? The question is, how do you fill your marriage with good things without it all becoming just more things to juggle?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 7, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

I remember a few years ago when my family and I were about to hit the road for a vacation. The night before we were to leave, I double-checked our van to make sure it was road worthy. Everything looked ready to go … until I started the engine, and an indicator light came on. I tried to troubleshoot the issue, but there were no obvious problems. The worst part was I had to tell my family that we couldn’t leave for vacation until we got the van to a mechanic.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 2, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What kind of “sex-pectations” do you and your spouse have?

In the book Married Sex: A Christian Couple’s Guide to Reimagining Your Love Life, co-authors Gary Thomas and Debra Fileta define “sex-pectations” as beliefs about sex that couples have going into marriage.

Those expectations are often unhealthy. Aligning them with reality can be challenging. A great place to start is adopting a biblical perspective of sex, which will promote a healthy sex life in your relationship.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 1, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura