Sunday, 5th February 2012.

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Every marriage goes through ups and downs. A number of marriages also go through times of severe turmoil, such as deaths in the family, chronic illnesses, unfaithfulness, or national disasters. Some marriages hold strong during any ups and downs; others begin to crumble. For any marriage in crisis, however, marital counseling can help.

Each couple’s marriage is, of course, unique. Therefore, the way in which that couple deals with problems and issues will be unique. However, there are several signs which are common to all marriages–signs which point toward trouble brewing in the relationship. The earlier a couple begins to recognize the signs, the earlier the couple can begin marriage counseling. And, the sooner the couple starts counseling, the better the couple’s chances of saving their marriage.

Here are the common warning signs of a marriage that is likely headed toward crisis:

• The couple bickers, nags, and nitpicks a great deal.

• The couple doesn’t fight fairly.

• The couple tends to spend a good deal of time apart, doing activities separately because that is more fun than spending time together.

• The couple doesn’t talk about problems together. One member of the couple may be unaware of household issues or problems with the children that the other couple member handles, for instance.

• The couple no longer agrees on long-term goals and values, either for themselves or for the family as a whole.

• The couple has a low level of intimacy–or none.

• The couple doesn’t talk much. The two members of the couple may be unaware of significant events or happenings at each other’s workplaces, for example.

Marriage counseling can help couples who are having any of the above issues. Counseling can also assist couples who are in crisis for other reasons. There is no reason for a couple to stay in an unhappy marriage; yet people who head straight for separation or divorce without trying to first make the marriage work through the use of marital counseling may be throwing in the towel without giving their marriage a fair chance.

Professional marriage counselors have experience in working with couples who have gone through all types of difficulties. Counselors can assist couples in dealing with infidelity, spending issues, problems with family and children, differences in faith, and much more.

Couples who attend marriage counseling learn the following:

• How to resolve conflict through effective listening

• How to state needs clearly and openly without anger or resentment

• How to get what is needed in the relationship without making demands

• How to work through unresolved issues in the marriage

• How to understand the needs of both members of the couple–and how to meet those needs

Marriage counseling works best if couples go as soon as they begin having problems in their marriage. A marriage in crisis can be helped with marital counseling; however, if a couple waits too long to seek counseling, their chances of saving their marriage may not be as great.

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Chess McDoogle asked:

Learning the guidelines of sexual intimacy in your Christian relationship is incredibly important. It will add to strengthening your relationship with one another, and with God. Here are important Christian sex advice tips for Christian couples:

1. Communicate Your Likes and Dislikes.

A better intimate relationship will only be had when communication is strong and healthy. That communication should include the aspects of sexual intimacy which you prefer, and the aspects that you don’t prefer.

This opens up the relationship, bringing each other closer while engaging in a much more intimately enjoyable sex life. It may be difficult at first, but once the window becomes open, communication becomes much easier and the intimate benefits even greater!

2. The Rules for Sex in a Christian Relationship.

Learn about the rules for sex within a Christian relationship. You will likely be surprised at what all is allowable within Christianity and sexual practice.

Don’t view learning about the rules as something that will limit your sexual intimacy, but rather something that will strengthen and add to it, while eliminating all the worry or guilt that Christian couples can often carry.

3. Learn Christian Sex Techniques!

There are a number of great ideas and intimate practice methods, specifically written for Christian couples. These will include positions, tips, tricks, intimate techniques, and how to set the mood for an exciting night with one another.

There are excellent Christian sex manuals available which will cover all these areas, as well as go over Christian intimacy rules, what is accepted, what is not, and ways to intimately celebrate your relationship between one another and with God.

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Scot McKay asked:

My younger brother got married a few years ago. It was a typical church wedding, which meant that the minister who was marrying them inevitably gave a sermon.

And it was a good one. By this, I mean I remember the outline of it three and a half years later. And I can’t remember that much about any sermon I’ve heard since, frankly.

The title of the sermon was, “The Three Ingredients of a Successful Marriage”. I remember my exact, admittedly cynical thoughts upon hearing that announcement. My first impression: Yawn. Then I thought, “Yeah, yeah…’Love, Trust, and Commitment’, right? Or being friends with each other. Or something else I’ve heard before.”

How wrong I was. Going through a divorce at the time, what that minister proceeded to present was a gift beyond price. The three “ingredients” turned out to be anything but the trite, usual drivel we’ve all heard before. In fact, they are all but secret to most of us.

Today, it is my pleasure to take those three secrets and impart them to you-albeit with my own spin, of course.

1) Always Think The Best Of Each Other

Basically, the concept here is that both spouses should gravitate towards the positive options when considering each other’s intentions, actions, whereabouts, etc. If s/he says something that could have two meanings, assume the positive one. If s/he says s/he is “working late”, believe it. Yeah, I realize this is all about “trust”, but it’s much deeper. It’s more like having the self-esteem to be confident in one’s choice of a spouse…enough to believe that s/he has the best interests of both partners in mind. What an amazing gift this is. And you know what, I would tend to believe this is an attitude that falls under the “self-fulfilling prophecy” department.

2) Forgive Quickly

There is absolutely, positively zero chance that a long, successful marriage is going to be 100% free of mistakes having been made over the long haul. Hell…over the short haul, either, for that matter. And when they happen, just let it go. This is disarmingly important. See, if this isn’t done, there ends up being a “cumulative effect of all the small things”. Don’t ask me why that’s in quotes-you don’t want to know. Let’s just say it leads to divorce. Let me ask you this: Assuming you have a “significant other”, has there ever been an argument where one or both partners brought up something that happened weeks, months or even YEARS ago? Yeah, well… then that’s what has to be addressed here. There wasn’t ever any true forgiveness if that’s going on.

Now, I’m not talking about forgiving major, real breaches of covenant here as covered in a previous newsletter. There’s a different concept at play here, and I think you get my drift. If you don’t, email me right away for some coaching!

3) Never Compare Your Spouse To Others

Hey, guess what? If you have a partner, and didn’t “settle”, and KNEW THAT FACT from the start, then you’ve got a GOOD ONE. After the “honeymoon” is over, and you have gotten to know your partner really well, it’s easy (but pathetic) to forget that and incredibly tempting-and oh so easy-to start with the, “Why can’t you be more like X?” stuff.

Well, resist that temptation and DON’T.

Beyond the simple fact that it betrays trust, makes both of you feel inferior to someone else (Did he say “both of you”?…uh, yeah I did.), and is just flat-out “dirty pool”, it MAKES NO SENSE.

Look, here’s the deal: Anyone you are comparing your significant other to is 1) someone you do not know as deeply, and are therefore more easily able to “idealize”, and 2) someone you likely haven’t known as long, and is therefore “novel” to you.

So, the comparisons aren’t fair at all, let alone comprehensive. If you’ve got a good partner, rejoice-and don’t make comparisons that will throw water on, if not outright kill your relationship. If you don’t feel you have a good partner, change that if you are unmarried and get to where you DESERVE WHAT YOU WANT instead; or if you are married, get the help you need to get the relationship to where it needs to be.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my brother on the phone. I asked him if he remembered what the minister preached about at his wedding. Indeed, he did. Does that somehow correlate to the fact that he and his bride are still blissfully married three and a half years later-with an excellent prognosis for the future? I think so.

In six days my brother, who has since gone on to be a minister in his own right, will be the officiant at our wedding when Emily and I get married. I’m looking forward to the sermon.

Kansieo.com

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Karl Augustine asked:

If you are in a sexless marriage and are unhappy because of it, don’t worry, it isn’t unrecoverable but it is serious cause for concern. You may even be thinking that you need a divorce because of your sexless marriage, that’s only natural. But, in order to really decide what to do, some thinking needs to be done so you feel good about your decision, regardless if you stay married or not.

Being stuck in a sexless marriage can have you feeling a wide range of feelings from loneliness, listlessness, confusion, unconfident, etc. These feelings come about for a variety of reasons and they can be overcome if you just figure out why you’re in a sexless marriage. You need to get to the root of the problem and uncover the real reasons that you and your spouse are no longer sexually active assuming of course, you once were!

To get to the heart of the causes for a sexless marriage will take some time. On the surface, you may be thinking that the cause of your sexless marriage may include one or more of the following scenarios:

Sexless Marriage: “We both work too much!”:

You both work extremely hard and there just never seems to be enough time to get together, your schedules are skewed. This is true a lot nowadays with the ‘new’ economy, lots of couples are married but just live together like roommates if both parties have ‘time-consuming’ careers. If not managed properly, it is unfortunate but common for people in this type of lifestyle to end up in a sexless marriage.

Sexless Marriage: “You work, I stay home with the kids!”:

One of you works very hard with your career and one of you stays home to raise the children (child), which is equally as hard as any career! This situation can lead to a sexless marriage in many cases because of the seemingly disparate priority base of each party. The spouse with the career may need to work after hours, travel, or attend “post work” functions and the spouse who stays home raising the children (child) may not have any other outlet for relaxation away from the home front. This situation can easily lead to a sexless marriage because there may be underlying feelings from both sides that contribute to an already tough situation based on personal and work related schedules.

The spouse with the career may say at times, “Why do you think I work so hard? I do it for you, the kids, our family, etc.”. The spouse who stays home with the children (child) may say at times, “You have another release, you have social interaction daily with the outside world. I feel stuck here sometimes, I need to get out and have time for myself.”. If the spouse that stays home feels like the spouse with the career enjoys being out and working more than being home, that calls for a whole different and escalated level of concern! Chances are the sexless marriage was bound to be that way before the current situation even arose.

Sexless Marriage: “I don’t know why…there’s just no spark left, you don’t pay enough attention to me and our sex life and I guess I don’t either!”:
This is a common sexless marriage situation and it can be caused by a variety of things including emotional scars, bad experiences, boredom, laziness, etc. In this situation, there is deep cause for concern from both parties because both parties aren’t happy sexually but don’t really know why it ended up this way. Both parties have just “let things go” and didn’t place a high enough priority on their sex life with their spouse, which in and of itself is very concerning.

Why would either or both parties let things get this way when love making is so important?

Sometimes there’s a feeling of being taken for granted that can occur in this type of sexless marriage, and both parties should realize that sex is a basic human need and should take priority over other things at the right time. It takes work to get out of this type of sexless marriage, you need to sit down and figure out why your marital love life has dwindled. If you both really want to rekindle things, you can do so, but you both need to take equal responsibility for correcting the problem.

Whatever type of sexless marriage you are in (there’s certainly more types than listed here), remember that it is not unrecoverable. If you’re to the point of thinking about getting a divorce because of your sexless marriage, take the time to sit down and figure out how it got to be the way it is now.

If you’ve lost interest in your spouse from a sexual point of view, you need to define exactly why that occurred. If you don’t know right off hand, you need to think back to a time when you did ‘have the spark’ and recall what you both were doing, feeling, thinking, etc. From that point, identify what has changed, why it has changed, and what you can do about it. When you get that portion figured out, you may well on your way to taking the first step of recovering from your sexless marriage. Remember, if you really want to rekindle your relationship, you can.

Kansieo.com

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Justin Robins asked:

Let’s start this article off and simply say this. In my opinion, couples should go for counseling before they get married. This will help them to identify trouble spots, which will crop up later on in their life. They can rectify this problem after wards. Going for counseling is not yet popular among the people since they take it as a weak point. Couple who have strong marriage relation will also get the benefit if they take the service of professional counselors.

There are different stages in marriage. First step is for the couple to get married. Even if the couple are in love for some time and have meeting each other occasionally, there are so many things about each other, which they really do not know. Couple who live together and if they want to get married, still they must take the help of a counselor. They might not have thought about household workload and the finance involved. The counselor will highlight these problem areas and the couple can sort out this problem before the marriage.

Once a couple decide to get married they should approach a professional counselor and find out the trouble spots and get it rectified so that they are ready for the commitments which a married life demands. Counseling not only strengthen the relationship but also help to find out the trouble spot and rectify before it becomes a big issue, which ends up in fights. The number of fights will increase gradually. To avoid the situation you must visit a counselor before marriage. When the couple talk to an experienced counselor, he will come to know where the trouble can crop up, with his experience. It does not matter whether the couple tries to put forward their best form. The counselor will filter out trouble spots immediately while you speak to him.

Second stage is the arrival of new born. There will be a lot of excitements. But at the same time there will be ups and downs as well. Normal schedule will change. More responsibilities will be there. With each child birth the schedule will also change. Counseling at this stage will help the couple to deal with the situation during ups and downs. Counseling will help to keep the channel of communication open, which is very essential in couple. For a given situation, both the couple will react differently. One should keep others interest in mind. Counseling will help them to identify the trouble spots. That way one can avoid the situation if possible.

Most important thing to remember is that counseling is not a weakness, as people believe. It does not mean that the people who go for counseling are having weak relationship. Couple with strong relationship can also take the help of a counselor. It will help you to strengthen your relationship, which will last longer.

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Make Your Marriage Last