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Challenge Yourself to Celebrate Mistakes in Mid-Marriage
Celebrate mistakes in the middle of marriage – because if you’re making mistakes then you’re growing! Here’s our second mid-marriage encouragement video!
How to Make the Most from your Couple Friendships
How to make the most from your couple friendships? We’ve found a well-researched book with valuable concepts and great stories. Take a look at our review.
Make New Connections – Break out. Reach out.
Make new connections in the middle of marriage, and your marriage will grow. Invite new people into your life - even if it's only for a moment or so. Reach out and make new friends. You and your spouse still have lots to learn and other people are great resources. In...
How to Plan your Evening to Experience a Remarkable Day
Plan your evening – then wake up and have a remarkable day. Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Here’s a resource to make it happen!
Open Your Heart to Understand
Your challenge? Arrange a time to listen to those you love. Open your heart. Hold your spouse’s hand… and listen. Listen without an agenda.
When You Both Need to be Pampered – 11 Self-Care Dates
Date ideas when you both need to be pampered, get out of a rut and enjoy each other. Self care can be a double blessing for both husband and wife.
How to Encourage Your Spouse to Stop Worrying
The five ingredients of encouragement can encourage your spouse to stop worrying. Taking action will make all the difference. Do you know how?
Encouraging Your Spouse When Everything is Too Much
Encouraging your spouse when everything is too much might seem daunting, but there are three simple actions you can take – together.
Making Date Night Memories
What 3 things have you dreamt of doing on a date night? Make some date night memories by planning ahead and taking action! (Free downloadable worksheet!)
Unique Gifts for Uncommon People
Unique. That describes your spouse, right? What about a gift that’s as unique & special as your spouse? Take a look at a site I’ve found: UncommonGoods.
How do you DO Encouragement?
What is encouragement and where do you find it? How do you DO encouragement? Encouragement is so much more than “rah-rah” or a pat on the back. Consider the word that’s found inside “encouragement”. Courage. [Tweet "Encouragement is so much more than "rah-rah" or a...
Failure into Fun – Echo Prayer App
How do you turn failure into fun? -> You need to take action. I've been focusing on prayer the last few weeks. Like... really focusing. Reading. Learning. And reaching out to talk with people. I wrote about 23 Easy Ways to Remember to Pray on my research journey,...
Take Action to Encourage
You don’t need to know everything to do one thing. Something. Here are two actions to take to encourage your spouse even when you’re overwhelmed.
23 Easy Ways to Remember to Pray
Prayer is important, right? Here are 23 easy ways to remember to pray for you and your spouse. They’re practical and actionable. And there’s a free PDF.
Fall Porch Decorations to Make Your Spouse Smile
Fall porch decorations don’t need to be elaborate to make everyone smile. Here are a few fall ideas to spark your imagination and might make you smile!
Ideas Lift Conversations
Ideas lift conversations – but where do you go to start those kinds of conversational highs? First learn about the 5 levels of conversation then…
Happy Friday – Start a new tradition!
Happy Friday! How often do you speak about the good things in your life? Do you work to focus on the positive. That’s a great way to lead…
Fight? Argument? Spat? What do you call it?
It’s a new book by a husband and wife team – Love at First Fight. What you do call it when you and your spouse disagree? And what happens after the fight?
Fall Movie Nights for Everyone – What are you going to watch and eat?
Fall movie nights - the weather is crisp with a bite in the air. A brisk walk to view the vibrant colored leaves is good, but once the sun sets, you're happy to snuggle under a blanket. What are you doing together - both as husband and wife and as a family with...
If you could say thank you to your spouse…
If you could say “thank you” to your spouse start by focusing on Character Qualities. Want an easy way to make a very long list? Use this resource!
Refocus on Gratitude – A Challenge for 30 Days
Refocus on Gratitude – a collection of 30 prompts to ask yourself and your spouse. Here’s day 1 – Why we feel good at home. What would you say?
How to pray together – even if it’s been awhile. Or Never.
Pray together? How? You’re crazy busy – or struggling – or life is pretty good… lots of reasons you’ve missed praying together. Here’s how to start.
Enrich Your Marriage and Encourage Others
Enrich your marriage AND encourage others… Here are 12 dates that will do both. Leverage your “just fine” marriage and kick it “up a notch”!
Simple Appetizer Pleases Everyone
A simple appetizer is my go-to choice when we visit friends. Here’s one we love. Also included is a link to a pesto recipe if you want to make your own.
How to Challenge Yourself to Be Gentle
Be Gentle. Gentleness isn’t a weak value – rather it’s strength under control. Here are 10 ways to challenge yourself to be gentle with your spouse.
Busy Couples Can Encourage Together – 10 Quick Ways
Busy couples who want to enrich their marriages can encourage others using these 10 quick ideas. Take your next “date night” to do these!
Learning at a Blog Conference
Learning is part of one of our differentiating Values – so going to a conference about blogging made sense. It was an unexpected trek, but very rewarding.
Two Into One – You’re Not Alone
Two into One. Two people joined together, living life in a marriage. How can you make this two into one work? What does it look like?
Zeal for Something Greater Than You
Zeal - excessive fervor; strong eagerness; and readiness. It's kind of an old-fashioned (maybe even Biblical) word. Maybe today we'd refer to this Value word as "filled with passion". Consider the many men and women celebrated for accomplishing something great, for...
Youthful Love in Life
Youthful love in life is all about action. Taking action and not waiting. We know couples married decades who have this youthful love and it’s inspiring. How can you nurture that kind of youthful love in your life?
eXhilaration in Marriage
Exhilaration is the combination of fear and fun – doesn’t that describe marriage? Just make sure you use this 5-point buckling system and enjoy the ride.
Warmhearted Like A Friend
This value isn’t about grand gestures – rather it’s demonstrated in small ways.Being warmhearted in marriage takes thought and effort – consistently. Here are some suggestions on how to be warmhearted…
Vitality in Marriage
What can you do to have a marriage filled with vitality. First understand and acknowledge where you are – then use these ideas to move forward.
Unselfish Couples Lead Well
Unselfish couples inspire us. Here are three examples of this kind of couple – all a with different focus… But they are leading a meaningful life!
Teamwork – From Dream to Celebration
Teamwork makes the dream work! And this statement is especially true in marriage. As I write this post, Rob and I are driving toward Atlanta, Georgia - and we followed the steps you'll read later in this post to get there as a team - from dream to celebration....
Hands Tell the Story of Solidarity
Holding hands is an outward sign of solidarity in marriage. It’s a comfort and promise to your spouse as you do life together.
Reliability is a Weighty Value
Reliability has four serious qualities as part of its definition. Here are 3 suggestions on how to make it part of your marriage.
Quietness and a Bit of Calm
Quietness, stillness, calm… do these qualities have a place in your life together? Here are three ways to cultivate quietness.
Playfulness Adds Fun to Life
The Value of Playfulness might renew your relationship, and add some spark, or even a touch of gentleness. Smile. Have fun working together. Here are some ideas on adding playfulness into your relationship.
Optimism as a Theme in Marriage
Optimism - The concept of the word optimism is found in the Latin word “optimum” meaning best. Those who are optimistic expect the best possible outcome from a situation. It’s about looking forward. Optimism - a general disposition to expect the best in all things....
Neatness – Is it about Control or Caring?
Are you driven by control – or caring – in your neatness. Be careful. The Value of Neatness in marriage might be about you and not your spouse.
Motivation to Make Your Marriage A Priority
Do you have the motivation to make your marriage a priority? Your healthy relationship with your spouse will impact many more than you believe.
Loyalty Instead of Commitment in Marriage
Loyalty is a word which seems to resonate with millenials... but not the word "commitment". At least that's been our experience as we speak with those who are 28 and younger - or those born after 1980 according to the Pew researchers. For some reason, when we replace...
Kindness in Marriage
Kindness might be easier with strangers than it is with your spouse. What would it look like inside a marriage. Remember – love is kind!
Joyfulness Shows Up
Joyfulness. I wonder if the vision you have when you hear those words, are of a guy in a suit and girl in a white dress, holding flowers... Oh, the wedding day. What joy. I'm not sure most couples married a few decades would use the word "joyful" to describe their...
