Marriage

The One Thing No Spouse Wants To Deal With

March 25, 2021

No one wants them. We try to avoid them. But if you’re married, you can’t avoid them. So we skirt them and try to spend as little time as possible with them. I am not talking about in-laws. I’m talking about hard conversations. If you’re married, there are going to be some hard conversations. You […]

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The Pandemic of Pornography

March 18, 2021

A Pandemic Problem. We have seen a lot of loss in recent days due to a worldwide pandemic, but we have been suffering from a virus that is much more devastating than COVID-19. Since the birth of Playboy magazine in 1953 and the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the entertainment industry has constantly pushed the […]

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Watching the Titanic Sink…Over and Over Again

March 11, 2021

  No matter how many times I see Jame Cameron’s movie “Titanic,” I am always uneasy each time I watch that ship slowly submerge, violently break apart, and then disappear to the dark depths. The fear, the panic, the finality…with each viewing, it’s unnerving. Not long ago, I counseled 6 people who were either divorcing […]

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How to Lose a Fight

March 4, 2021

  When it comes to marital fights, I know two things… FIRST – EVERY COUPLE FIGHTS. Some spouses fight like a hurricane, while some spouses fight like a gentle spring storm. Some are heated and loud, while others are icy and quiet. Some spouses are measured and careful with their words, while others are vicious […]

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The Pandemic Marriage

February 25, 2021

You may think this post on marriage in a pandemic is a little late. But, when the pandemic first broke, I like many others, expected it to be a fleeting thing. Then, when it continued to dominate life, there were so many people writing about marriage in a pandemic I didn’t see the need to […]

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Minding the Gaps: Dealing with the Differences Between Spouses

February 18, 2021

Dealing with the differences between you and your spouse is one of the most common frustrations in marriage. It’s funny how the differences we found so attractive when we were dating can become so irritating later. In this week’s Normal Marriage post, I’m going to point you to one of my Quick Counsel podcast episodes […]

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Are You A Good Kisser?

February 11, 2021

Are you a good kisser? Probably not a question you’re asked a lot – if at all! And how do you answer such a question? If you answer “no,” you sound incompetent and inept. And if you answer “yes,” you sound arrogant and narcissistic. Besides, how do you judge a kiss? Is there a preferred […]

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Are You a Doer or a Waiter?

February 4, 2021

When your car needs serviced, do you take initiative to get it serviced, or do you wait, hoping your spouse will do it? Or, when there are dirty dishes in the sink, do you take initiative to put them in the dishwasher, or do you wait to see if your spouse will do it? If […]

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Firing Up Your Marriage the Right Kindling

January 28, 2021

Sometimes, my wife and I will meet our kids and grandkids out on a wooded piece of property they own. There, the kids fish in the pond and play in the woods, while the adults take it easy and visit. As evening falls, the task turns to building a fire, and the kids are sent […]

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What are the Glory Days of Your Marriage?

January 21, 2021

Glory days. If you’re a Bruce Springsteen fan, those words will automatically bring a great song to mind. But the concept of glory days has been around much longer than Springsteen. GLORY DAYS. The Cambridge Dictionary defines glory days as a period of time when someone was very successful. You might hear someone talk about […]

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