How "Magical Questions" Will Help You Overcome Differences and Strengthen Connection

It Takes A Village: Why Every Believer Must Pray for the Next Generation

Whether you are parents or not, God has placed children in your life. While parents are the primary disciplers of their children, God has also given those children a community of adults who can model faith and speak God's love and wisdom into their lives. The question God is inviting us to consider in this episode is: are you praying for those children? Whether for your own kids or someone else's, are you interceding for them to know God's love, grace and goodness? In this conversation we share: * Our own struggles with our youngest child and how that has led us into more intentional prayer * The importance of a weekly marriage meeting whether you have kids or not * The important call God has given us to be praying for the next generation of disciples and leaders Resources Here [https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1246&context=psyd] is an academic paper demonstrating the effectiveness of students having mentors. Among the findings: "Students with mentors were significantly less depressed, more satisfied, and more committed to their faith than students without mentors." Our episode on what makes for an effective weekly "marriage meeting [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-living-marriages-podcast-effective-communication/id1792717195?i=1000696519796]." A wonderful guide [https://familylifecanada.com/blog/more-oneness-every-week] to weekly marriage meetings from FamilyLife Canada. A Prayer For Your Child's Emotions by Kaylene Yoder [http://kayleneyoder.com] Lord, I pray You would bestow on my children a crown of beauty instead of ashes. Anoint them with Your oil of gladness in the midst of mourning. And clothe them in garments of praise so they may be guarded against falling into despair (Isaiah 61:3). Renew my children’s hearts and minds and empower them to overcome any negative emotional behaviors. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Get in Touch We'd love to hear about how you pray for your children or the children in your life! Have any prayers you'd like to share with us? Get in touch: info@livingmarriages.com [info@livingmarriages.com]

How "Magical Questions" Will Help You Overcome Differences and Strengthen Connection

We live in such a divided world today that even family gatherings can be incredible sources of tensions. What can we talk about without somebody exploding? How can we ever truly connect, so that we can know others and be known? If you are feeling that tension in some of your relationships or even in your marriage, this conversation is for you! What if curiosity could help us lower the tension? What if there are questions we can ask that will build connection with everyone in the room? Author Priya Parker has developed something she terms "magical questions", questions that "are good for a group when it’s both interesting to each person to answer and each person would be curious to hear everyone else’s response." In this episode, we explore the power God gives us through the art of asking questions to help us both overcome differences and strengthen connection, both in our marriages and other important relationships. Resources Find out more about Priya Parker and her magical questions here [https://www.priyaparker.com/]and here.  [https://www.instagram.com/explore/search/keyword/?q=priya%20parker%27s%20magical%20questions] Get In Touch! We'd love to hear your response to our magical question to you! We'd also love to hear any other magical questions you've discovered work well in your marriage or other relationships. E-mail us: info@livingmarriages.com [info@livingmarriages.com]

Gain Control over Your Finances Together with God

For many of us, finances cause us a lot of grief and confusion or even worse, it can lead to bitterness and strife in our marriages. Often that stress comes from "clutter" in our finances, e.g. not understanding how much is coming in or going out, what is important to us or our spouse.  In this episode, we heed God's invitation to begin to declutter our finances by: * admitting we need help * having a conversation with our spouse about what are important expenses to us * beginning to track what's coming in and what's going out * seeking good resources and wise people Resources Our friends at Rise Above Finance can help you gain clarity on your financial picture and teach you what stewardship means and looks like practically: https://www.riseabovefinance.com/ [https://www.riseabovefinance.com/] For a great read on achieving financial freedom and eternal impact together with God, check out Bob and Linda Lotich's book, Simple Money, Rich Life. The first copy of your book is free (apart from shipping and handling!) Click here.  [https://seedtime.com/smrl-brp/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=menubar&utm_campaign=freebook]

Finding Space For What's Important In Your Marriage

We had the best of intentions. A wonderful anniversary trip away. Time spent with each other and the Lord visioning what he was calling our family to. We were so excited to implement our family vision as soon as we got home! And then we came home to the clutter and the chaos. We've been struggling to implement our vision since so we decided we need to start by decluttering first.  Note: This episode still includes clean and organized people! Your clutter might just be different than ours but it might still be there. It could be mental, emotional, spiritual and/or physical. If you have clutter, God has something to say about it! Like, what would our lives look like if we removed the things that distract us from those of "most value"? Join us for an eye-opening, challenging and ultimately encouraging conversation! Resources To find Joshua Becker's latest book, "Uncluttered Faith," click here. [https://www.becomingminimalist.com/uncluttered-faith-book/]  Next Steps Get in touch if you'd like prayer, encouragement or if you have guest or episode ideas! info@livingmarriages.com [info@livingmarriages.com]

Step Out Of Drama! The Drama Triangle and Boundaries

Drama. Even as God's image-bearers, drama is a reality of our fallen human experience. Often within our marriages and our families, we step into drama in one of three ways: as the victim, persecutor or rescuer. We can often cycle through these different roles in our family systems or even in our own perspectives. As we continue to cycle through these roles, we continue to live in drama. Thankfully, God has a better way for us to live other than in drama. In this episode we talk about God's invitation for us to step out of drama by becoming aware of our role in the drama and when necessary, by setting boundaries. It's not an easy journey but with God's grace and the support of others, it is possible! Resources For a diagram of the Drama Triangle, click here.  [https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/0*Jufl4y3-yl0Vj5UL.jpg] For support and prayer to step out of drama, please connect with us! We'd love to pray with you and if we're able, to recommend supports and resources for you. info@livingmarriages.com [info@livingmarriages.com] Other Episodes For our conversation with Katie Skurja of Imago Dei Ministries, click here [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-living-marriages-podcast-effective-communication/id1792717195?i=1000751176762]. Find the episodes with JB and Erin Crocker here. [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-living-marriages-podcast-effective-communication/id1792717195?i=1000714340799]