Blog
Parenting is truly one of the most amazing and difficult endeavors in the world. Bearing the responsibility to care for and shape a life is no small task, especially considering a major element of it centers on managing conflict with our children. My experience as a Marriage & Family Therapist is that handling those conflicts well requires the establishment of a relationship directed approach with our children.
Healthy marriages don’t just happen. They’re the outcome of principles spouses have consistently put in place over time. One of these essential principles is making time to communicate and explore what is taking place in their respective hearts and minds. This principle may seem overly simplistic, nevertheless its impact in helping build a vibrant marriage is profound.
“When we feel lost, and like our way is uncertain, we can find rest in the Lord. When our hearts are heavy, and we’re unsure how to move forward, we can find rest in the Lord. When it would be easy to sink into our frailty, we can find rest in the Lord. When decisions are required, and risks abound, we can proceed with courage and find rest in the Lord.”
Marriage is a beautiful endeavor when built upon the proper foundation. Premarital counseling is fundamental to properly building that foundation, and couples who invest their time, money and energy into the process will continuously reap the benefits of that decision over the course of time. This article outlines five essential benefits of premarital counseling.
“One of the greatest gifts we will ever be able to offer our children is spending time with them. When we slow the pace of our lives to listen to their imaginative stories, play in the sandbox, read their favorite books, run together in the park and enjoy the power and simplicity of their prayers we offer them something priceless...our time, our presence and our love.” - Eric Gomez
Contrary to the popular notion, time doesn't heal all wounds. Rose Kennedy put it this way: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens, but it is never gone." Her statement precisely illustrates what I see married couples experience when the trust between them is lost.
Today, in the field of psychology, we know that what we believe, shapes how we feel, which in turn influences how we act. In other words, our perceptions matter. This applies to the pervasive nature of common symptoms common in our society including depression, anxiety and stress. But it also applies to larger cultural issues that I want to focus on with you. The first of these relates to sexism, women and pornography in America.
Love is choosing to be other-centered for the benefit of our spouse, so that what is important to them becomes important to us. This article expands upon this definition of love within a marriage, explores how it can help us develop a stronger marital bond, and challenges us to see our Christian faith transform from a simple belief into something that is expressed daily in our relationship with our spouse.
Healthy marital communication doesn't simply happen. It takes the use of certain skill sets, such as curiosity, to help us begin experiencing a more fulfilled marriage. This post takes a closer look into the application of curiosity, its impact on the development of healthy communication that serves to build trust and intimacy within a marriage, and it's relevance to the application our Christian faith on a daily basis with our spouse.
Fulfilled Christian Counseling has officially launched! Read more about how this exciting adventure started, while exploring the calling behind Fulfilled Christian Counseling that fuels who we are as an organization. We look forward to joining with you in the days ahead as we aim to build families, strengthen marriages, and help others break free of the bonds of pornography in their lives.
