Category Archives for "OYF Marriage Podcast"

alone for Christmas

How Jesus Almost Grew Up With A Single Mom

Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and cheer with everybody bubbling over with joy. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it just plain hurts. It’s the time of year when there is so much stress and tension. Maybe you’re alone this year, and there is a lot of grief and pain involved. No matter what we’re going through, God has a story of redemption for our lives.

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repair after a fight

How To Repair After A Fight

After a fight, you basically have four options: you can exit the relationship, you can be patient and loyal by waiting for your spouse to change, you can neglect your spouse, or you can repair. (Branau-Browna & Ragsdale, 2008)

We’ve discussed fighting in the last few topics: why fighting for your marriage is good, different fighting styles couples use, and basic ground rules for use in a fight. This last topic in our series, about how to repair after a fight, is definitely the most important of these four topics!

Really, thinking that the repair comes after the fight isn’t really accurate. To set your marriage up for success, Continue reading

rules for a good fight

Ground Rules For A Good Fight

Most of us have the wrong idea about conflict in marriage.

We fear the conflict could lead to the disintegration of our marriage.

That’s a reasonable fear, in many ways. But we paint with too broad a brush. You see, it’s not the conflict itself that puts the marriage at risk but rather the behaviours within the conflict.

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fighting for marriage

Why Fighting is Good For Your Marriage

Fighting is something I am passionate about. Probably because I was so bad at it when we first got married…

I would get mad and come across as hostile, crying and flinging words that I didn’t always even mean.

Caleb would try to apologize, calm me down and say whatever it took to get himself out of the situation.

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guilt in marriage

If You Really Loved Me, You Would…

Guilt is an effective motivator.

It’s also a great way to make you an unbearable spouse.

If you’ve ever had someone lay the, “If you really loved me you would…” guilt trip on you then you know exactly how that makes you feel. Loathing. Disgust. Nothing like, “I love you! I’d love to do that for you!”

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triangles in marriage

Triangles — How Trigonometry Impacts Your Marriage!

I found the topic of triangles in marriage to be fascinating. How often do I get my nose out of joint by something my husband does? And then try to get my support from someone else? THAT is creating a triangle!

What Is A Triangle?

Triangles are three-way relationships. Usually, this looks like mom-dad-child, or an unpopular variant: husband-wife-mistress. Sometimes the husband’s work can be his mistress…

They usually consist of two close parties and one distant one. For example, Dad is angry and abusive (distant) so Mom and oldest daughter are close and allied against Dad. Or, husband and work are close and wife is distant.

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