The Surprising Starting Point for Happy Marriages

The enemy of marital happiness is contention. We fight and misunderstand each other. We develop resentments. We can become estranged.

So, the intuitively obvious recommendation is to get people to talk in fair ways about their differences … Read more

Jesus, the Samaritan Woman, and Your Marriage

When Jesus chose to whom He would make the first official declaration of His divinity, it was to the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well. What a surprise! His choice defied expectations for several reasons.

She was a … Read more

The Key to Happy Marriages

At one time or another, most married people have felt stuck. They cared about their partner and found many blessings in their marriages, but something wasn’t working right and the harder they tried to deal with it, … Read more

Dealing with Differences in Marriage

We humans are odd creations! We all think we’re rational and sensible, yet at the same time, it’s pretty clear to us that most other people are held hostage by bad logic and imperfect objectives. We wish … Read more

Dealing with Irritation in Your Marriage

Marriage is a strange state. Almost all people enter marriage expecting companionship, happiness and fulfillment. Yet almost half divorce. Among the rest, many relationships are packed with conflict. Some are bored and distant. Some partners live parallel … Read more

Understanding Differences in Our Marriages

It is surprising how different we can be in our marriages. Here are some differences we have seen in couples we know and love.

He is married to his job and she wants more family time.

She … Read more

Looking at Our Marriages from God’s Perspective

How would you define the purposes of marriage? Love and companionship? Stability? Building a family? Social expectations? There are a lot of reasons people marry and, more often than not, we haven’t thought about them very much … Read more

Simple Miracles and Big Blessings in my Journey with Meridian Magazine

Most miracles are subtle. They can only be discerned with the eye of faith.

I sat down at a World Family Policy Forum on January 15, 1999. I am always interested in the latest thinking about families. … Read more

Worried About the Wrong Things

Jesus was different. While most of us are impressed by a person’s prominence, Jesus was impressed by their humility and compassion.

While most of us fret about our social standing, Jesus ignored the social rules by talking … Read more

A Change of Heart in Relationships

When we suffer distress in relationships—especially marriage—we instinctively search for the problems that cause our distress. Almost always we discover defects in the other person. Then we create a story in which that person has some lifelong … Read more