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Communication Struggles

9 Questions to Ask Your Spouse That Can Reduce Conflict

People often adopt a reaction to stress when they’re kids, and the patterns continue into adulthood. But couples can learn to discuss nine points to deepen their understanding of each other.

A couple embraces tenderly in a peaceful outdoor setting, reflecting the emotional journey of being diagnosed with cancer and finding strength together.

Prioritizing Faith and Family After Being Diagnosed With Cancer

Each day Steve was able to give his cancer diagnosis to God and experience a genuine peace in acceptance. This allowed him to come together with his wife, Pat, emotionally and spiritually.

Connecting With Your Spouse During Military Deployment

Couples with military training often show composure in tough times. But that strength can mask the needs of real people who long to be open with each other. Marriages suffer if these needs aren’t met.

A young boy looks sad and frustrated while sitting apart from his parents, who are engaged in a tense discussion, illustrating challenges in disciplining kids in blended families.

Blended Families: Finding Common Ground in Disciplining Your Children

In blended families, conflicts often run deeper than the surface issues. Letting go of the past and establishing trust through open communication is vital to building a healthy marriage and family.

Featured image that says "What is Dialogue? How to Talk About Abortion."

What is Dialogue? How to Talk About Abortion

During my freshman year of college, I experienced for the first time the intense emotions provoked by saying the words, “pro-life.” While walking to class, I told my classmate about my new coworker, saying, “I don’t know much about him, but I know we’re both pro-life.” This innocent, perceptive statement opened the floodgates of emotion in …

A woman gently holds the hands of an elderly parent, symbolizing the compassion and dedication involved in caring for elderly parents.

Nurturing Your Marriage When Caring for Elderly Parents

When caring for an aging loved one, whose needs come first: the aging person or your spouse? Keeping your marriage a priority is vital to the long-term success of your relationship, and even your caregiving patience.

Happy man showing off newly purchased stuff while upset wife looks at the receipt

How to End Conflicts with Money in Your Marriage

A practical way to communicate about your finances is to create a “money huddle.” It’s not a budget-planning session; it’s a time to address the emotional side of money.

How does a parent respond when their teen daughter is having sex

What to Do if Your Teenage Daughter is Having Sex

Learning that your teenage daughter is having sex can likely leave you with more questions than answers. Following the initial wave of emotions and panic, you might ask yourself: How did I not know about this? What do I do now?

Healthy Conflict in Marriage Is Beneficial

If we avoid conflict or pretend it doesn’t exist, the greater the problem will become.

Interethnic couple smiling at the camera

Marriage in the Melting Pot

As inter-ethnic marriages continue to increase, this trend holds tremendous promise for marriages that can transform differences into assets rather than succumb to them as liabilities.

The Power of Healthy Conflict

Healthy conflict can actually take your marriage to deeper levels of intimacy.

The Hidden Value of Conflict

Rather than making it our goal to resolve arguments, we must learn how to manage our conflicts.

The Doorway to Intimacy

Conflict doesn’t guarantee intimacy, but it is an open door to discover our spouse’s most important feelings and needs.

silhouette of couples sitting by a tree

A Spoken Message/Attaching High Value to a Spouse

When we decide to place high value on our spouse, and then back that up with spoken words, it can do wonders for a relationship.

Back view of a couple silhouette hugging and watching sun on the beach

Back to the Future

If cherishing is to be pushed to an even higher level in a couple’s present experience of marriage, it will happen because they find ways not only to keep in touch with the past, but to project the past into the future.

A young wife and husband sit in their dim restaurant after hours, looking at a report of their business that they are running together. Running a business requires humility, wisdom, and compromise. Could marriage partners also be business partners?

Can Spouses Work Together As Business Partners?

Running a business, just like marriage, requires humility, wisdom, and compromise. Here some key principles to guide you if you and your spouse run a small business together.

A man and woman sit on a couch facing each other in deep communication. A man and woman sit on a couch facing each other in deep communication. Most couples need help learning to communicate in marriage in a productive way. Understanding the needs of a spouse requires sacrifice.

Learning to Communicate in a Relationship

Learning to communicate with your spouse in a productive way takes time and sacrifice. Here are some tips to communicate with your less communicative or overly communicative spouse.

A woman sits across the room in front of her husband, sad with her head on her hand. Recognizing when unmet expectations are the source of anger in your marriage can help you can create an environment for reconciliation.

How to Deal with Unmet Expectations in Marriage

Recognizing when unmet expectations are the source of anger in your marriage can help you can create an environment that allows for apology and restoration of the relationship.

A man sits on an airport bench, slumped over in stress. Here are some tips to keep business travel from killing your marriage.

How to Keep Business Travel From Killing Your Marriage

Kim and Randy learned to live independently while Randy was traveling for work, but they lost the sense of unity that’s critical for a marriage. Here are tips to fix the troubles caused by travels.

A distressed couple sitting apart on a couch, both with their heads in their hands, illustrating the challenges and need to learn how to handle stress in marriage.

How To Handle Stress in Marriage

Most people struggle to manage their stresses in marriage effectively. And unmanaged stress in one spouse usually escalates stress in the other. But reactions can be complex.