It’s time for your checkup! Not a checkup for your body, your teeth, or your car, but for your marriage.

According to research, only 19% of couples take part in pre-marital counseling. Of those who get married, only a third seek counseling before getting divorced. And of those couples, many limp into a pastor or a counselor’s office for help only after ignoring their problems for years. Counseling is their last resort, a last ditch effort to rescue a marriage that, by that point, could be beyond saving.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage March 12, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Successful marriages don’t thrive because of so-called “chemistry,” good luck, or wishful thinking. They thrive because the couple sacrifice their own interests for the sake of each other.

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Embracing Your Role as a Spouse,” our guest, author Kevin Thompson, describes three roles of a spouse:

As friends, spouses play and laugh together.

As partners, spouses handle conflict and communicate well.

As lovers, spouses put sizzle into their relationship.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage March 4, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why did you get married?

To work a job?

To do laundry?

To pay bills?

Of course not. Yet, many couples wind up with marriages in exactly that kind of “ho-hum” condition.

After the euphoria of the wedding ceremony fades, life settles into a daily routine of often-mundane activity. Careers are chased, children are born, and ever-larger homes are purchased requiring greater amounts of time and money to maintain. Before long, a relationship once nourished by hours on the phone together becomes two people who only talk when they’re discussing something practical, like finances or the kids’ schedules.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage February 13, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How big is your marriage’s “joy gap”?

Dr. Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey, authors of the book The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages, describe a “joy gap” as the length of time between moments of joy. If you apply that unit of measurement to your marriage, how long has it been? Days? Weeks? Months?

Your joy gap can be especially lengthy if you’re waiting for your circumstances to change on their own, for your spouse to make you joyful, or for God to zap you with joy.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage January 8, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

And just like that, the new year is off and running! It’s hard to believe we’ve already turned the calendar over to January, and another year is before us. But time marches on. And that’s why we need to make every moment count.

Of course, that’s what new year’s resolutions are all about, right? This is traditionally the time when we think about areas of our lives that need changing over the next twelve months, like losing weight or saving money.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage January 3, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Did you know that the tallest sand castle ever built was as high as a six story building? In 2021, an international team of sculptors spent three and a half weeks shaping 5,000 tons of sand into a castle 70 feet high.

Some of the bystanders wondered, “Why invest all of that time, money, and hard work into something that the wind and the waves will eventually sweep away?”

That’s a good question for you and me to answer as well.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage December 27, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

As the old saying goes, “You can choose your friends but not your family.” You discover how true that is during the holidays. Spending time with family members who see the world differently than you do can be stressful.

To fill this season with joy and peace instead of frustration and conflict, here are a few ideas to keep in mind:

First, try these three magical words: “Tell me more.” Argumentative people are less likely to escalate if they feel heard.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage December 21, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura