Tools for Safeguarding Your Marriage  Truths about marriage are well established in Scripture. Marriage is ordained by God, established for His purposes, and reflects Christ’s relationship to the church. What isn’t spelled out quite as clear is that marriage stands as a paradoxical encounter in life: both a terrific challenge and an immeasurable blessing.  Strong marriages don’t evolve from two perfectly matched soul-mates coming together in relationship. God builds strong marriages from two people with very different backgrounds, contrasting personalities,...

This writing comes on the heels of celebrating 40 years of marriage, and seems a good time to talk about one of the somewhat surprising, yet very real, hards of life. Marriage. Volumes have been written about this God-ordained institution, but maybe in the simplest terms, we can agree: Marriage is hard. We are not far along in the journey of wedded bliss before the easy-as-pie, happy-ever-after notions slip to the ground and become trodden under the reality that this...