Category: Discouragement
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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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64 Abusive Actions That Spell Trouble for Your Marriage

We live in a culture and world racked by a rising and alarming number of sexual abuse accusations right now. But in marriage, the issue of abuse of every type can be extremely murky and convoluted. I think that’s because it’s so hard to know when your spouse is crossing a healthy and appropriate boundary…
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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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3 Ways to Cover Others with Love When Hurt or Stressed

How did you fare on getting through the stress of the Thanksgiving holiday? Did it fill you up with large helpings of turkey, as well as fun times spent with family and friends? Or were you fed up by someone’s hurtful words and/or actions? Sadly, family gatherings often come and go with heaping portions of…
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2 Important Ways to Love the ‘Turkey’ at Your Table

I don’t know about you, but I’ve both loved and hated the family gatherings that come with Thanksgiving or other holiday celebrations. Typically, this is because of the work that leaves me and so many others I love stressed. But sometimes the stress come from awkward and friction-filled, even resentment-laden, relationships that we have with…
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5 ‘Little Foxes’ that Damage a Marriage by Kelly R. Baker

Have you heard of the allegorical foxes that spoil the vine? My mother used to quote Song of Songs 2:15 to my brother and me growing up, as part of teaching us how to treat people. She continued to remind me of this verse when my husband Justin and I started butting heads early on…
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My Plan for Dealing with Stress During the Holidays

With Halloween now out of the way, we run headlong into the busiest time of year, the holiday season. And even though the season culminates in the most beloved of days—Christmas—it often ends up causing more stress than inspiring joy, peace and love in our lives. In fact, I’m often tempted to be my “worst…



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