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1 month ago | 
focusonthefamily.com | Jane Daly |Carol Cuppy
My husband, Mike, and I have been empty nesters since 1999. For years we went where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go. We traveled, ate out and spent a lot of time with friends. But after Dad passed away, Mom became increasingly dependent on us. This gradual slide into more responsibility for us marked a change in our mother-child relationship and challenges in my relationship with Mike.
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1 month ago | 
focusonthefamily.com | John MacArthur |Carol Cuppy
Estimated reading time: 5 minutesWhat does the Bible say about marriage and divorce? And what does it tell us of God’s original intention when he created marriage? Notice again what Jesus said about divorce: “Because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Matthew 19:8-9). Divorce was never God’s intention for marriage.
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1 month ago | 
focusonthefamily.com | John Duckworth |Carol Cuppy
Estimated reading time: 6 minutesBill and Vicki Rose will stop at nothing to make sure their marriage makes it. Lately, they’ve been trying something unusual: Singing in bed. The Roses concentrate on praise songs. That is a challenge for Bill, who isn’t a morning person. “It’s not exactly a natural thing,” he says, sounding a tiny bit grumpy. If you’re guessing this experiment wasn’t Bill’s idea, you’re right.
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1 month ago | 
focusonthefamily.com | Alistair Begg |Carol Cuppy
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes“I know that once we are married, we’ll be able to take care of that.” This statement, heard again and again, is usually fueled by wishful thinking rather than honest evaluation—whatever the that happens to be. If a young woman runs up significant credit card debt, how realistic is it to expect that she can establish and maintain a frugal budget during marriage?
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2 months ago | 
focusonthefamily.com | Kathi Lipp |Carol Cuppy
Estimated reading time: 5 minutesIt was our first New Year’s Eve as a married couple. As we sat together, I shared my goals for the coming year (remodeling parts of our house and completing a big writing project) and set my priorities. I could see my new husband’s face fall. When I asked Roger about it, he tried to downplay his disappointment. “I thought we would save up for a summer vacation,” he finally admitted.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
focusonthefamily.com | Danny Huerta |Carol Cuppy
Falling in love produces hope for the future. Couples with children from previous relationships who fall in love and plan a wedding also hope for a blended family filled with love and honor. They wish for a honeymoon—and a “familymoon!” But if their hope is not realized in the manner desired, disillusionment sets in. Disillusionment without perspective can erode love. Marriage and the stepfamily experience are complicated endeavors. Smart step-parenting can come with its own set of challenges.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
focusonthefamily.com | Greg Smalley |Carol Cuppy
The movie Mully is one of the most beautiful stories of caring for orphans I (Greg) have ever seen. It’s the true story of Charles Mully, who, as a 6-year-old boy in Kenya, was abandoned and left to raise himself on the streets. Against all odds, Charles thrived and, as an adult, seemed to have it all — a beautiful wife, eight wonderful children, a great home and several thriving businesses. But Charles began wondering whether God had something more for him.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
focusonthefamily.com | Mary Hunt |Carol Cuppy
Estimated reading time: 6 minutesYou’re already sitting over the kitchen table, crunching budget numbers, and trying to figure out how to have a financially healthy marriage when the phone rings. You pick it up to hear your husband say, “Honey, do you know what day it is? Seven years ago tonight, we got engaged. Let’s go out for dinner and a movie to celebrate!”Long ago, in what seems like another time and place, you fell in love with this man because he was both spontaneous and sentimental.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
focusonthefamily.com | Greg Smalley |Carol Cuppy
Chris and Rachel met while attending college, where they became well-acquainted friends. After a year, they took the next step into a dating relationship. About six months later, Chris excitedly proposed to the love of his life, and she agreed to be his wife. Everything was on course — he was about to graduate and had landed a youth-pastor job at their church while working at Starbucks on the side.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
focusonthefamily.com | Carol Cuppy
Are you looking for ways to enrich your marriage and bring yourself closer to your spouse? Here are 8 short devotionals for married couples to help bring you closer. “‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two but one flesh.
