Category: Christ-Centered
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Unfair Task of Forgiving an Unapologetic Spouse

Back in the early days of my marriage, I would shut down emotionally whenever my husband did or said something to hurt my feelings. And I wouldn’t open up to him or forgive him until he apologized. This was one of the stupidest moves I made back in the day! It fueled even greater conflict…
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8 Creative and Romantic Gift Ideas for Your Mate

With springtime flower gardens beginning to bloom, I’m reminded that every married person is something of a gardener. You may have a garden (marriage) that’s overrun by weeds, but nevertheless, you are a gardener. Every good gardener knows that intentional and wise care must be given consistently to your garden, or it will not thrive.…
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3 Practices that Can Rekindle Attraction for Your Mate

Remember those first few months and years when your attraction for your mate was white hot? You probably couldn’t keep your hands off of each other. Sadly, that might be a bit fuzzy in your memory now. You might feel like the odd ball and the only one who’s struggled with this particular problem in…
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How Suffering Can Improve Your Marriage and Life

Back when I entered marriage many years ago, I was young, naïve and totally idealistic. I thought that marriage would fulfill the longings in my heart that had been bubbling up all throughout my childhood and teen years. Naturally, I was far too familiar with the fairytale endings that Disney churned out, and was equally…
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6 Motivators for Improving Your Love Language Deficit

No one would argue that speaking our mate’s love languages can really improve the feeling of love in our marriages. But what do we do when our love languages conflict and change over time? And more importantly, what are the motivators for improving how often and how much we speak our mate’s love language in…
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8 Red Flags That Might Mean Your Spouse is Having an Affair

Here at Messy Marriage I always try to encourage spouses to persevere in their marriages with the help of the Lord, even though sometimes a major problem, like an affair, can rock a marriage to its core. If this is, or might be, your situation, my hope is that you aren’t immediately running for a…
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4 Reasons God Does NOT Want You to Marry Your Soulmate

I remember a time when I questioned almost daily whether I had married the right man or my “soulmate.” I had fallen for the perverted cultural mindset that marriage should be all about me, and making my life better … even easier. So whenever my marriage hurt more than it encouraged me, I swallowed the…
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24 Ways to Show and Grow in Grace in Your Life and Marriage

Recently I’ve been sharing about my one word for 2018—“grace!” But sharing about it versus living it out is so much easier to say than do. That’s why I really want to nail it down biblically, so that I increase my tendency to be gracious in every circumstance—including and especially in my marriage. My hope…
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Giving Grace When it’s Hard and Goes Unnoticed

One of the hardest challenges of living out grace in my marriage has and continues to be extending grace (my “one word”) when it has gone unnoticed or does not get returned. I think that’s because positives can easily go under the radar for most everyone—especially and including by me! 😉 The negatives, the bad…
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Why You Should Avoid Being the ‘Best Version of Yourself’

Have you heard the catchy slogan—be the “best version of yourself”? Author and motivational speaker Mathew Kelly was the one who came up with this motto and message. His upbeat focus has even penetrated the Christian mainstream—being encouraged in church services and between believers in the day-to-day. I also heard this mantra mentioned in the…


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