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How Insights From the Enneagram Turned Conflict on Its Head For These Couples
How Insights From the Enneagram Turned Conflict on Its Head For These Couples Would you say most of your couple conflict is healthy conflict? Are you offering your partner the benefit of the doubt or are you doubting your partner’s benefits? Or, maybe your marriage is okay but you have an ongoing impasse that threatens …
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What’s Your Sweet Spot?
What’s Your Sweet Spot? by Shauna Pilgreen Here’s my created definition of sweet spot: that moment in time when you are most happy, most alive, and most satisfied. When you daily give so much of yourself away, it’s hard to make time for this. Plus, right now, it’s taking us a few minutes to clear …
Staying Strong In Your Relationship As You Face Infertility
Staying Strong in Your Relationship As You Face Infertility When my husband and I said ‘yes’, we never thought we’d face infertility. If you’re married, I’m guessing you didn’t talk about embryo quality, sperm count, or injections as part of your wedding planning. It certainly wasn’t a part of mine. I’ve never felt more alone …
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20 Honest Insights on Making it to 30 Years of Marriage
20 Honest Insights on Making it to 30 Years of Marriage My husband Carey Nieuwhof originally wrote this post after our 25th anniversary, and revised it after we hit 30 years. As a succinct summary of a lot of wisdom, I suspect you’ll find something that helps you today. Here goes… In 2020, my wife …
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How to Combat Hidden Soundtracks Before They Derail Your Relationship
How to Combat Hidden Soundtracks Before They Derail Your Relationship “Ta daaa!!!” My husband Carey swept his arm toward something never spotted before in our humble garage. It was a brand new kayak, all gleaming and baby blue. “Yay!! Thanks, hon!”, I said. As I looked over the small plastic vessel, I noticed one thing …
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Try a criticism fast to disrupt the critical spirit in your marriage.
Try a criticism fast to disrupt the critical spirit in your marriage. Criticism creeps its way into almost every couple’s relationship at some point. I heard Jim Gaffigan recently quip about veiled criticism. Try gifting your spouse an unasked-for bathroom scale for Christmas. What about this statement: “You’re just like your mother!”? I’m not going …
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Are you tired of the conflict and looking for more peace and joy in your marriage?
Are you tired of the conflict and looking for more peace and joy in your marriage? Deep down in your heart of hearts, you probably don’t love a mess. Even if you typically live with more mess than you’re naturally wired for. Perhaps like me, when you surface from whatever really captivates you, you don’t …
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Regaining Self-Control When Stress Leaks Out
Regaining Self-Control When Stress Leaks Out I’ve had people ask me, “How can I stop yelling at and nagging my husband and kids?” If your frustration level is high and you’re trying to contain it rather than share it, your effort at self-control will only last so long. Sooner or later, those emotions you’re …
Why debriefing a heated argument with your spouse is essential and how to do it
Why debriefing a heated argument with your spouse is essential and how to do it Perhaps heated arguments with your spouse leave a bad taste in your mouth. Maybe not all the time, but sometimes. You find your way through it and everyone survives, but beneath the surface there’s a part of what went down …
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How to avoid a relational nightmare when you’re ‘living the dream’
How to avoid a relational nightmare when you’re ‘living the dream’ I know an elderly couple, Jack and Olive, who’ve lived in a lake house in northern Quebec for years. The property was a homestead for Olive’s family, which she eventually inherited. Although it was out of the way in a sparsely populated area, its …
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