By Encompass Outreach Group Most marriages have difficulties, arguments, and even fights that can lead to you and your partner feeling disconnected from each other. Marriage strengthening exercises help you reconnect and find your love again by focusing on areas like team-building, intimacy, and communication. Here’s how to strengthen your marriage using exercises that will have an immediate impact, some of which you can even do at home.
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By Cindee Johnson Have you ever run out of gas? It was just a year ago when my husband Dave and I did. We had a lot of life happening. Between buying a house during a worldwide pandemic, caring for critical needs of an aging parent, and managing my own health concerns, we failed one day to notice just how low our gas tank had dropped. Once we did, it was too late. As we pulled to the side of the Interstate, realizing our mistake, we had a good laugh. So did our daughter and son in law when they came to rescue the parents.
But, that wasn’t the first time in our relationship we dangerously were running on empty. And, then, it was no laughing matter. By Encompass Outreach Group Marriage is the combination of two individuals into one union, so why not combine your finances as well? While it may seem like an insignificant aspect of your marriage, combining finances can be very beneficial. In addition to making it easier to access your money and pay for things, combining your finances after marriage builds trust, promotes honesty, and shows your commitment to the life you have started together. You also display that you agree on your goals and how to achieve them. Here are some actions to take to combine your finances after marriage.
By Encompass Outreach Group Every relationship has difficulties like arguments, disagreements, and fights. Marriage is no different. When conflict arises in a marriage, the most important thing to remember is that the conflict is not the problem. How you deal with the conflict is the real issue, because you can either resolve it or magnify it. Here are some tips for resolving conflict in marriage.
By Malcolm & Kristen Davis How many times have you messed up in relationships and wanted to just shut down and shut off? What do you do when you are working hard, and things are going well, and you mess it up? How we respond or react will change everything.
By Kermit Rowe A recent daily email for married couples from legendary marriage ministry FamilyLife called “I Do Every Day” posed a question that caught my attention. It asked: “How good are you at listening to your spouse?”
Huh? (just kidding, LOL) Seriously, if we’re honest, most of us would answer that question by grading how good we think we are at listening to our other half. And our answer would probably be more favorable than the actual truth. The truth is that listening to our spouse is hard work, and the more we put into it the more we will get back. Getting in the way is our overbearing desire to be heard, to a point where it drowns out what our spouse is saying while we are focused on formulating what we are going to say next. The fix? The power of the extra question! By Lavern Nissley Practical jokes and pranks are what April 1 is known for. Kinda fun to lure people into thinking something unbelievable is true, and then exclaiming, "April Fools!" One comes to expect good-natured pranks on this day, but what if we shifted the terrain a bit? What if we could identify some pretty foolish things, and then NOT do them in April? What if we narrowed the list of foolish items to relationships? Maybe this is what would emerge . . .
By Lavern Nissley In early October of 2020 as a client couple was wrapping up the final session in the RINGS course, the husband asked an intriguing question: "Do you have a RINGS quick reference guide to help us remember all of the skills and insights we've learned. We don't want to forget what we've just completed."
"What a great idea!" I responded. Since its launch in May, 2007, RINGS has been experienced by thousands of couples. And this was the first time such a request had ever been voiced. What could we develop for completing couples to post on their refrigerators or bathroom mirrors? What you'll see below is the final outcome - with much appreciation to Joe Candio for the initial idea. By Lavern Nissley
(Danny Meyer is a former pastor and overseer in the Association of Vineyard Churches) If you are married, please stop and take 2 minutes to read some super marriage advice from a May 18, 2018 Facebook post by Danny Meyer, a personal friend and acquaintance. In this brief post he offers incredibly humble and transparent reflections on his 44 year marriage to Penny. No self-promoting heroism at all! Seriously . . . This. Is. Good. Stuff! By Lavern Nissley
Whenever two or more people come together for any purpose, goal or objective, there is potential for things going horribly wrong or incredibly well, with plenty of intermediate options. Most of us have experienced both ends of this social emotionally laden continuum. What is it that influences one outcome or the other? Mathematician and relationship researcher John Gottman has developed 4 predictors of marriage failure and 4 predictors of marriage success based upon his observation of hundreds of couples. Want to know what they are? |
HostsLavern & Ronda Nissley are co-directors of Encompass. Married since 1978, both enjoy coffee, riding their tandem bicycle and working together to build strong relationships. TOPICS
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