Category: Confessional Culture

• 3 Ways to Handle a Failed Confession or Apology

  

  Sometimes you do everything you can to prepare your heart and mind for a moment of confession and/or apology with your spouse, and end up failing miserably! But how does this even happen? Typically, for me, this happens in the heat of the moment and for a variety of reasons. Consider this scenario: I’ve prayed […]

  BethSteffaniak

  August 13, 2020

  Anger, Apologies, Attitude, Christ-Centered, Communication, Confession, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Humility, Jesus’ Sacrifice, Perseverance, Prayer, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Apologies, Apology, Confession, Failure, Humility, Perseverance, Prayer, Vulnerability

• Finding Healing for Your Wounds And Linkup

  

  Today I’m continuing the series on the wounds of our past by focusing on how to bring healing to those wounds through a new spiritual and relational focus. This means delving a bit deeper into what must be done in tandem with any ongoing prayer/processing of wounds (that I’ve shared in past posts). I believe […]

  BethSteffaniak

  March 15, 2016

  About Me, Acceptance, Authenticity, Choices, Christ-Centered, Comfort, Confession, Confessional Culture, Denial, Empathy, Encouragement, Faith in God, God’s Redemption, Guilt, Identity, Love, Love of God, Pain, Perspective, Prayer, Redemption, Self-awareness, Self-deception, Self-Image, Self-Reflection, Shame, Surrender, Toxic Baggage, Truth, Unity, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday, Wounds

  Acceptance, Christ’s Wounds, Comfort, God’s Redemption, Healing, Wounds

• What Men Fear about Opening Up And Linkup

  

  Today I want to continue to unpack the results of the “Men and Openness” survey by looking at question #5 … What do you feel you need to overcome in order to be better able to identify and share your feelings? (I allowed the men to choose all that applied) 70.49% – My fear of […]

  BethSteffaniak

  February 2, 2016

  Alienation, Anger, Authenticity, Avoidance, Balance, Blaming, Bonding, Boundaries, Choices, Christ-Centered, Communication, Confession, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Confrontation, Control, Criticism, Discouragement, Emotions, Empathy, Encouragement, Fear, Gender Differences, Humility, Listening Skills, Marriage, Openness, Pain, Perseverance, Positive Focus, Prayer, Pride, Respect, Security, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday, Withdrawal

  Affirmation, Communication, Conflict, Empathy, Fear, Listening Skills. Active Listening, Openness, Prayer, Vulnerability

• Healthy Boundaries and Expectations for a Heart-to-Heart And Linkup!

  

  Today I’m continuing in the series that was born out of the results from my Men and Openness survey by unpacking a bit more what a wife (or any spouse for that matter) needs to keep in mind in a heart-to-heart. [Tweet “If you want to encourage openness, establish healthy boundaries and realistic expectations.”] Since […]

  BethSteffaniak

  December 15, 2015

  Acceptance, Authenticity, Boundaries, Change, Codependency, Comfort, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Control, Emotions, Expectations, Listening Skills, Marriage, Perseverance, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Active Listening, Boundaries, Communication, Emotions, Perseverance, Realistic Expectations, Reflective Listening, Respect

• 3 Steps to Avoid a Parenting Power Struggle

  

  It’s easy to think that when your spouse does something that bugs you and you react, that you are making a conscious choice born out of your freewill to resist. But more times than not, you are allowing yourself to be controlled by your spouse’s actions or words. Today I want to continue the series […]

  BethSteffaniak

  December 12, 2015

  Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Apologies, Attitude, Authenticity, Balance, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Control, Discouragement, Enabling, False Beliefs, Forgiveness, Messy Mom’s and Dad’s, Motherhood, Negotiation, Parenthood, Proactive, Responsibility, Self-awareness, Toxic Baggage, Victim Mentality, Vulnerability, Wounds

  Apologizing, Baggage, Codependency, Confession, Negotiating, Parenting, Power Struggles, Responsibility, Wounds

• 8 Things to Avoid When Your Husband Opens Up And Linkup

  

  Today we’re continuing to focus on the answers that I gleaned from my “Men and Openness” survey, in an effort to address some of the hindrances that are present in attempts to communicate between a husband and wife, as well as to point out what encourages better communication. Today I want to focus on the […]

  BethSteffaniak

  December 1, 2015

  Acceptance, Attitude, Avoidance, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Comfort, Communication, Confessional Culture, Control, Differences, Gender Differences, Grace, Listening Skills, Men and Openness Series, Nagging, Negotiation, Realistic Expectations, Respect, Support, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Acceptance, Active Listening, Communication, Control, Listening, Openness, Respect

• 5 Steps for a Successful Heart-to-Heart with Your Wife And Linkup

  

  Today, we’re going one step further in our discussion on “Men and Openness” by talking about … “talking about our feelings.” Based upon the Men and Openness survey I conducted recently, 53.45% of the men chose – “I don’t know how to articulate my feelings” as their second highest response to why opening up with […]

  BethSteffaniak

  November 24, 2015

  Authenticity, Bonding, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Communication, Confession, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Confrontation, Emotions, Listening Skills, Marriage, Oneness, Perseverance, Perspective, Positive Focus, Prayer, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Communication, Confrontation, Emotions, Openness, Processing, Reflective Listening, Respect, Vulnerability

• 5 Important Ways to Identify Your Emotions And WW Linkup!

  

  We’re continuing to unpack the “Men and Openness” survey responses, focusing today upon the second most popular response (53.45%) from the men: “I don’t know how to articulate my feelings.” However, I would like to focus today on one key aspect of articulating feelings—becoming more self-aware about our feelings. (Wives listen up, because this is […]

  BethSteffaniak

  November 17, 2015

  Authenticity, Communication, Confessional Culture, Counseling, Emotions, Men and Openness Series, Perspective, Self-awareness, Self-Reflection, Toxic Baggage, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday, Wounds

  Counselor, Emotions, Self-awareness, Self-Disclosure, Self-examination, Self-Reflection

• Picking Hubby’s Brain on Openness

  Today I’m excited to kick-off a new video series called, “Picking Hubby’s Brain” where I will be exploring what my man thinks on topics that are a mystery to many of us women and wives—in particular to me! 😉 Today’s topic for exploration is on “Men and Openness.”  There’s so much wisdom and clarity on this […]

  BethSteffaniak

  November 15, 2015

  Acceptance, Anger, Authenticity, Blaming, Christ-Centered, Comfort, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Emotions, Empathy, Encouragement, Gender Differences, Listening Skills, Love, Men and Openness Series, Positive Focus, Prayer, Safety, Self-sacrifice, Support, Validation, Video, Vulnerability

  Active Listening, Communication, Empathy, Listening, Men and Openness, Video, Vulnerability

• What Men Say About Opening Up And WW Linkup!

  

  Today we are diving into the first of the responses from the “Men and Openness” survey. The first question I posed to men was: What makes opening up and disclosing your feelings to your wife difficult? Here are the results … 65.52% – I am afraid my wife will become upset by my disclosures. 53.45% […]

  BethSteffaniak

  November 10, 2015

  Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Attitude, Authenticity, Avoidance, Blaming, Choices, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Criticism, Discouragement, Encouragement, Fear, Listening Skills, Marriage, Men and Openness Series, Positive Focus, Prayer, Respect, Safety, Support, Trust, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Communication, Confession, Conflict, Emotional Safety, Emotions, Openness, Safety, Vulnerability