7 Pillars of Healthy Dating - pillars of healthy dating

7 Pillars of Healthy Dating

Compatibility. Common goals. Chemistry. If you’re dating, or single and looking to date, these are probably high on the list of things you’re hoping to discover about the person you’re getting to know. While all of those are valid, there’s something deeper, yet just as important, that you need to be paying attention to as you date, and that is this: Is this person healthy and capable of building a healthy relationship? And since it takes one to know one, how do I answer the same question about myself?

Marriage Advice that Actually Helps - marriage advice that works

Marriage Advice that Actually Helps

The same day I said “yes” to Ben’s wedding proposal, I began receiving marital advice. The. Same. Day. And I kept getting it all the way through my wedding day. The advice was mostly unsolicited, but I suppose the influx of tips and experiences from both strangers and friends can be expected for life’s bigger milestones.

Soul Ties - soul ties

Soul Ties

Tom Crandall and Cole Zick address the reality of what happens when you form an intimate sexual connection outside of marriage, and the strong influence that can have on us and our life choices. How can we become free from shame? What can we do to move past attachments that we have with people from our past that we’re tied to because we’ve had sexual experiences with them?

Why Your “Type” Isn't Always Good For You - dating

Why Your “Type” Isn’t Always Good For You

Finding someone to whom you are physically attracted is an important part of the equation of a healthy relationship. But it’s not the only part of the equation of attraction. It’s important for us to understand that attraction is multi-faceted. While attraction may start as physical, it’s fueled by other aspects of connection: emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Understanding a Woman's Sex Drive - woman's sex drive

Understanding a Woman’s Sex Drive

We must first start with the core value that sex is about connection, intimacy, and love. Sex is designed to be a safe place where both people are present and vulnerably giving themselves to each other. If sex is a beautiful part of connection with your spouse and not just about orgasming, even when your body, hormonally, may not want sex, your heart and emotions can still desire it.

5 Ways to Protect Your Kids from Porn - children & parenting

5 Ways to Protect Your Kids from Porn

92.5 million. That’s how many times just one porn site was visited each day last year in 2018. EACH DAY! It’s devastating and straight-up frightening. Pornography and explicit imagery have become a custom of modern culture and, tragically, our kids are being targeted. What is now being called a public health crisis, the porn industry is fighting for the minds and hearts of the next generation.

Simple Healthy Communication Skills - relationships

Simple Healthy Communication Skills

Sexual sin can creep in as a result of trying to meet our healthy need for connection in an unhealthy way. How does this happen? I’ve found that many people don’t have the skills that they need to build proper friendships in the first place, which can lead them to feeling rejected, isolated, and unworthy of healthy relationships--and they can turn to porn, masturbation, or sex outside of marriage in an attempt to get those relational needs met. But don’t worry, these skills can be learned!

“Losing Yourself” in Marriage - losing yourself in marriage

“Losing Yourself” in Marriage

The loss of self has nothing to do with losing our identity or our personality. It doesn’t mean we ignore our needs, wants, and desires or let go of our goals and dreams. It doesn’t mean we forget our opinions, our beliefs, and our ideas. No, letting go of self means one thing and one thing alone: we choose to lose all that is wrong in exchange for all that is right. Losing our “selves” means we let go of all that God has called us not to be in exchange for all he has called us to be.

How to Thrive This Christmas - singleness

How to Thrive This Christmas

Christmas is a beautiful season of giving and spending time with the people we care about, but sometimes it comes with the realization that life did not turn out the way we expected it to. We look around at family or friends or people we’ve known forever, and it’s hard not to compare our life to theirs. It’s hard not to remember where we thought we would end up or how we thought things would be at this point in our life.

Brave Communication - brave communication relationships

Brave Communication

Dann Farrelly and Cole Zick dive into the importance of open and healthy communication in families, marriages, and relationships. Dann gives useful tips for conflict resolution, navigating emotions, and practical insight on how to create a new normal from unhealthy communication habits in the past.