Nuggets

Do you remember when you struggled to buy and wrap the absolutely most outstanding gift for your spouse or your children for birthdays or Christmas? I don’t either. Stuff gets forgotten and rather quickly. Do you remember what you got for Christmas three years ago? I don’t either. So, then, what really lasts? Isn’t it […]

Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.” Job 12:12 An elderly lady says, “One benefit of living so long is sharing what I’ve learned. So make my day by letting me share three secrets that can make your life better.” Then she offers us some great counsel: (1) “Time is precious; don’t waste

Perhaps the hardest thing for couples to do is to rid themselves of the notion they need to be served to be happy. Such inward focus always focuses on taking and not giving. There was only one time in the life of Jesus Christ on earth when He told his guys to do what He

As though your life depends on it, you do not listen to understand…only to respond. What if you could find a way to be heard, understood, cared about and get something in your life changed every time you had a conversation? It is possible, but it not a naturally occurring skillset. What if you could

Taking a break from that good marriage…and how to achieve it stuff today. For more than 30 years now, a red toy poodle has been part of the Ivey household. It began when our friends Fred and Susan asked us to babysit theirs. Opie came for the weekend while they were on a trip. I

Do you remember the lessons you were taught in school about how to listen constructively and to do so with a willingness to understand and not just to respond? NO?? Well, neither do I. It didn’t happen. See if this looks about right for you. For whatever reason you begin a discussion on any difficult

(Part 1 of several One thing for sure, you cannot wiggle your nose and hope your marriage is just going to get better on its own. It does not work that way, no matter how much you wish it would. Since our society doesn’t teach you how to ‘get it right,’ you MUST take deliberate

I left you last week in the uncomfortable position of what to do when the new wears off in marriage. All too often the decision is to quit and start over or just stay together and make each other miserable. Fortunately there are other options. Wise couples take deep breaths and a step back to

Yes! In a perfect world your soul mate would come toward you in slow motion across a field of daisies with background music from the King and I, “Some Enchanted Evening…” Theologically, I embrace the idea there is ONE someone to whom and with whom you would be perfectly suited for life and love and

I left you last week with the proposition that how you were raised colors your choice of mate. Here’s how. In some more anecdotal rather than science observations, over an over again we have seen how couples tend to draw into relationship the best and worst characteristics of the people who raised them. Now here