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Don’t Lust After Your Husband

“Lusting after your spouse is a sin,” our pastor claimed, paraphrasing actually from something he once heard Pope John Paul II once said. My husband and I looked at each other. Uh oh, I immediately thought. I have a healthy appreciation for my husband in that way, and was afraid of what was coming next. I thought that out of all of the people in the world, well, it was okay to be sexually attracted to my husband. But you know, the pastor, and consequently the pope were right. Once I heard the explanation, I had to completely agree that … Continue reading →

Marriage Essentials

Do you want to know four essentials for a good marriage? Here they are: Encouragement This quality cannot be stressed enough. One of our adult offspring once said, ‘you and Dad always encouraged me in whatever I did. You made me believe I could do anything I set my mind to.’ While I was pleased to hear that, I also thought that’s the sort of encouragement each of us needs to be for our spouse. We need to be behind them in whatever they do encouraging them every step of the way, whether it’s changing jobs or learning a new … Continue reading →

Why You Need to Build a Hedge Around Your Marriage

If you have read my previous posts about building a hedge around your marriage, then forgive me. I think it is just such an important subject in this day and age that more needs to be said. Our marriages can be made vulnerable by outside influences. Building a hedge around your marriage means that although you can look over and see what is going on in the world, you still maintain an active form of protection that keeps those negative influences and temptations away. The hedge encompasses yourself and your spouse. Think of this hedge as an investment that will … Continue reading →

Should You Google Your Ex?

We all do it more than we would like to admit, google people from the past out of curiosity. We want to know how they are doing, Did they get married and have children? Are their parents doing well? I recently got back in touch with pretty much my entire elementary school class, and it was wonderful to reconnect and see how most of us are thriving in our adult lives. But when it comes to ex loves, is reconnecting really a good idea? I think the answer to this question is: it depends. It all depends on where you … Continue reading →

Protecting Your Marriage

Most people don’t think twice about insuring their home or car or things that are valuable. They don’t think twice about installing security measures like screens and alarms. But what about protecting your marriage? What can you and I do to protect our marriages? Here are some suggestions. And no, these aren’t all mine. Many came from families.com members. Respect and being careful about the way we talk to our spouse. It was interesting to see how many of you mentioned this as essential. No marriage is great absolutely great all the time. Your spouse isn’t perfect and neither are … Continue reading →

How Facebook Could be Bad for Your Marriage

Facebook can be a great networking tool to keep in touch with current friends and re-establish contact with old ones. But there are several ways that Facebook could actually be bad for your marriage. Here are some examples. You Spend Too Much Time on It Facebook can be addicting. There are so many messages, status updates, photos, videos, games, quizzes and applications (what is a sea garden anyway?) to occupy your time. But if you would rather stay up with Facebook instead of go to bed with your spouse, it might be a problem. You Air Your Grievances It is … Continue reading →

Why You Should Take Your Spouse for Granted

Marriage advice across the board says that you should never take your spouse for granted. Taking your spouse for granted is like shooting your marriage in the foot, they say. You know what? I disagree. I think taking your spouse for granted is one of the best things you could possibly do in your marriage. Keep reading and I’ll explain. If you can’t your spouse for granted then who can you take for granted? Who else in this world can you expect to be by your side no matter what? Who else can you rely on to always have your … Continue reading →

Secrets of Long Lasting Marriages

I love finding stories of long lasting marriages. Most of them are young marriages but they have to been married young to be able to rack up that many years. One recently was Norm and Ona Leffler. He was 20 and she was 19 when they married. This year they received among their congratulatory messages, one from Queen Elizabeth, one from the Governor General and one from the Prime Minister of Australia. I wonder if Mick and I will ever get to 70 years married. Another couple, Gordon and Roma Adams, first met as children at school. As teenagers it … Continue reading →

Building a Hedge Around Your Marriage

You may have heard the terminology of building a hedge around your marriage. I first became familiar with this term while listening to a pastor at church preach on the subject. But even if you aren’t religious, you can use this advice to help protect your marriage. Did you know that 70 percent of all married men and 60 percent of all married women have had affairs? This information comes from Dr. Holly Hein, author of the book, Sexual Detours. That translates roughly into only one out of three marriages where the husband and the wife are completely faithful to … Continue reading →

What Do Men and Women Look for in an Affair?

If you want to protect your marriage from outside affairs, it might be helpful to understand what men and women look for when it comes to an affair. Usually (although not always!) there is something lacking in a relationship that prompts an affair. Affairs can be complicated things, so I don’t want to suggest that things are black and white or that any of these reasons justify having an affair. But numerous studies have suggested that men and women generally are looking for different things, depending on gender, when they are ready to become involved in an affair. I don’t … Continue reading →