For years, any tension with my wife, Nancie, had the same steps—just different topics. They were as follows: Step 1: My wife shared something bothering her. Step 2: I tried to fix her problems with suggestions and encouragement. Step 3: She argued why all my suggestions and encouragement...
This summer I had the opportunity to speak on top of a ship in the Adriatic Sea. You know, suffering for Jesus. I spoke 30 minutes each night for six nights, the rest of the time I was free to spend with my wife and...
PEOPLE SAY MARRIAGE IS SO COMPLICATED. While I think we are all complicated people, I don’t think how we love is always as complicated; it’s just not always easy. I think the more accurate description is: marriage is so close. When we get married, everything about...
I LIKE PEOPLE. I DO. In fact, my wife, Nancie, said to me once, “I love this about you, but I think you even like people most people don’t.” But even I have my limits. There is one person who has always been in my life,...
My natural inclination is to fix things. I grew up with a Dad who could fix the car, things around the house, anything. While I’m no Larry Lowe, I consider myself pretty handy. And my wife, Nancie, has always been very thankful for my home...
As someone who has been working with married couples since 2001 and married since 1995, I try to go back often to this baseline question: Why do some couples have a great marriage and others don’t? The answer to that question may surprise you, but I’m certain it can help you…if...
Recently on vacation, I saw a young couple with two small kids leaving the beach. And as my southern grandmother used to say, “God love ‘em.” The kids looked to be around 2 and 4 and were covered in sand, as were the toys, chairs,...
“Where did you hear that word?” is a question most of us ask our children moments after they become verbal. We realize quickly we aren’t raising children; we’re raising parrots. So, most of us attempt to temper how and what we say. My wife and I decided early...
Be honest with yourself and me. This is the part of the article you don’t even read. Most of you, like me, skip straight to the parts that have a bold header. So I’ll spare you my unpacking of the tensions that are happening with the...
Men get angry. Some express their anger in different ways. Some by getting loud and frustrated. Some mumble. Some disappear. Some get sarcastic. Some get defensive. Some of us men have learned some skills to handle it better than others. But make no mistake, the anger...