Inviting God Into the Broken Places of Your Marriage
You can rebuild intimacy and trust after emotional distance or past wounds. Consistency is key. It's like cherishing a valuable vase. The vase is fragile requiring protection and special care to keep it beautiful. But if or when you become careless, the vase can easily fall, break, or become damaged. And while repair may not be easy, it is possible.
So how do you overcome brokenness in your marriage? By making common Christian spiritual disiciplines a part of your life and marriage. I know from experience how prayer, meditation, scripture study, commitment and grace turns brokenness into blessing.
In my book, Our Blended Family, God revealed lessons for marital success, I shared how to keep joy alive amid stress, parenting, and busy schedules. It is our personal story of faith, healing, and togetherness.
Seeking God's strength and guidance allow God to heal your brokenness. As you heal, you can better overcome resentment and even learn to forgive through practicing your faith, even when the pain feels fresh. You experience true forgiveness the moment you choose to release bitterness and rebuild trust.
Repairing from hurt or brokenness takes time, patience, and a whole lot of grace. I know this because I’ve lived it. But God, in His mercy, took the broken pieces of my past and began crafting something new, a story of healing, hope, and second chances.
CovenantStrong.org.
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.” — Colossians 3:15
Love and blessings, j&c
Does passion sustain itself alone?
I hope you missed me delivering my weekly blog. I was without my laptop mid-March and just decided it was too much to update this blog via phone (I’m still very old school). But I’m back. I'm excited about April blogs. We have a lot of good things to share. Let’s start this off talking a little more about passion in marriage. To have passion, chemistry must exist, right? Wrong.
Chemistry is magnetic. It pulls you in without effort. But what many couples eventually discover is that while chemistry is instant, presence, connection, and partnership is built over time. Partnership steadies love. This kind of steady love is lasting because it’s achieved through time spent building something special together. This kind of love includes patience with each other’s differences and most importantly, being fully present in the process. One of the things you will appreciate most about intentional presence is how passion matures as a result of it. Yes, passion.
While James and I had the natural passion that exists with good chemistry, we also experienced the deep passion that grows, lasts, and isn’t always rushed, but expected to be savored over a lifetime. A relationship full of passion is one of the greatest benefits of marriage. While sex is not the only consideration when you have a passionate relationship, your intimacy is so much better when you can guiltlessly satisfy the burn Paul talks about in I Corinthians 7.9 within covenant marriage. Real talk couples, really think about this. As your marriage becomes stronger, your love and passion become stronger as well. Imagine how great your passion is as you grow together over the years. Nothing we have sustains itself so don’t be confused about your role in the process. Every area of your marriage requires being intentional.
Reflection:
Work on a shared goal this week then pause and celebrate it together, fully present, with time, and permission to passionately show up for one another.
Also ask yourself: Are we giving your love time to grow or expecting it to sustain itself?
Prayer:
God, help us build a partnership rooted in patience and presence, where our love and passion can grow over time. Amen.
Commitment Feels Different When It’s Rooted in Gratitude
Real talk family. How do you define commitment? Some people only recognize commitment when they struggle with it. But commitment is not about staying in the struggle. It is about the daily choice to love, live, remain, and sustain. When you are grateful for your spouse, staying isn’t a burden but a privilege. When you value your relationship, staying commited and choosing your spouse doesn’t feel heavy because it is rooted in appreciation instead of obligation.
Commitment isn’t simply enduring but rather building and sustaining a love that will last. You become protective of your relationship. You enjoy time together to naturally nuture what you’re becoming. In our story, a strong, healthy relationship wasn’t built overnight. Our relationship grew through our daily decisions. It took effort and the willingness, patience, and grace to learn each other deeply and to love the good, bad, and the ugly. Then what started with chemistry matured into covenant. That’s the beauty of marriage.
Reflection Tip: