Don’t Force Your Spouse into Gender Stereotypes, at Relevant Magazine
My husband and I sometimes fail to comply with the gender stereotypes presented to us by society. For example, one evening a few years back, he practiced the piano while I installed our new dishwasher. He didn’t offer to help and I didn’t ask. He deeply appreciates my...
How Do You Make Marriage Beautiful? By Recognizing ‘Very British Problems’ by Anna Gissing
As a way to celebrate my new book, Making Marriage Beautiful, I have asked some of my writer friends to share how they make their marriages beautiful. One of the factors that motivated me to write this book was the reality that marriage can be more challenging than...
The Question of Extra Sauce: Dealing with Expectations in Marriage, at The Well
It’s November and my husband Christopher and I have made it through the first six months of marriage. The many storms predicted by our well-meaning friends have blown north of us. We successfully dodge the “Where do we spend our first holiday?” conflict with the flip...
How Do You Make Your Marriage Beautiful? By Staying Together Until We Are Parted by Death
As a way to celebrate my new book, Making Marriage Beautiful, I have asked some of my writer friends to share how they make their marriages beautiful. One of the factors that motivated me to write this book was the reality that marriage can be more challenging...
It’s Not the Ice Cubes: Discerning the Deeper Issues in Marital Conflict
In marriage, as in life, conflict is unavoidable. Though few of us enjoy it, conflict can actually become a powerful tool to help us grow, IF we learn the lessons it’s trying to teach us. Most of the time, we fight about ice cubes. In reality, it’s not about the ice...
Why Sex Is Worth the Work
In the course of my twenty-five year marriage, we’ve made good sex a priority. That doesn’t mean it’s been effortless. Anything in marriage that’s good takes effort and intentionality. In all regards, we’re still a work in progress. We had more than a few vulnerable...
How Do You Make Marriage Beautiful? Through Community, by Ilona Hadinger
One of the key lessons my husband Christopher and I have learned is that if we want our marriage to thrive, we need to be "stitched into a healthy community. For though we each vow to love, honor, and cherish one person, being sewn into a relational patchwork of many...
How Do You Make Your Marriage Beautiful? Through Mutual Sacrifice, by Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
As part of the launch for my new book, I invited some friends to share how they make their marriages beautiful. The road to beauty is not always pretty or easy. We often find ourselves in dark and difficult places and don’t know where to turn for help or...
How Do You Make Your Marriage Beautiful? For Better and for Worse: Keeping Vows, by Meadow Rue Merrill
As part of the launch for my new book, I invited some friends to share how they make their marriages beautiful. The road to beauty is not always pretty or easy. We often find ourselves in dark and difficult places and don’t know where to turn for help or...
How Disappointment Can Lead Us to Love, on Elisa Morgan’s site
Months before my tenth anniversary, I began to daydream about our upcoming celebratory getaway. My husband and I would eat dinners by candlelight, give each other extravagant presents, walk along the beach, and of course make love each night. As Christopher has...