As Christians, we are often unclear about God’s views on sex and intimacy. It can be a struggle to make sense of our temptations, shame, brokenness, longings, or desires. What is more, Christian churches and families are often divided in the nuances of sexuality, neglecting Jesus’ most important call to be unified as His body. Mark and I often talk about the significance of surrender, but how should that impact our sex life? My friend Dr. Juli Slattery is deeply familiar with both topics and is ...
Oct 07, 2025•41 min
When brokenness strikes, it can feel impossible to know what to say or how to ask for help. Whether that brokenness is due to hard circumstances, an unexpected diagnosis, or the pain of a relationship ending, when we are hurting, all we want to do is retreat. But it’s in these dark seasons when we need a community to lean on the most. How do we find the strength to reach out when we are battling some of our worst moments? What can we offer our friends who we know are hurting? And can God still u...
Sep 30, 2025•37 min
Have you ever met someone who was not at all like you? Maybe their thinking, mannerisms, or outlook was so different from your own that you clashed or struggled to connect with them? The old proverb, “birds of a feather flock together” is a classic because it’s true! Building relationships with people who share your interests, hobbies, opinions, and goals often feels easier than stepping outside your comfort zone. However, here’s the truth: in any close relationship—whether with a friend, family...
Sep 23, 2025•26 min
We have all experienced moments when we wanted more than anything to “keep up with the Joneses.” This comparison trap is nothing new—our parents dealt with it, their parents dealt with it, and so on and so forth. The only difference? Fifty years ago, the “Joneses” were just the folks down the street. Now, social media lets us keep tabs on hundreds of Joneses from all over the world—morning, noon, and night. This kind of exposure to the lives of others can allow a constant yearning for what we do...
Sep 16, 2025•31 min
Unexpected news, traumatic events, and unfortunate but common stressors in life—such as a fender bender or learning that you’ve lost your job—can hit us in unexpected ways. While we may not be able to verbalize exactly how we feel in the moment, having a family member, spouse, or close friend be there for us during a hard season can make all the difference in the world. That’s what we are talking about in this episode—the power of being there for someone else. We’ve experienced this many times i...
Sep 09, 2025•32 min
For today’s conversation, we are talking very openly about the physical relationship within marriage. (If you have little ears around, consider listening on headphones or waiting until you are alone.) Many marriage resources presume that the husband has a higher sex drive, but in about 25% of marriages , it’s actually the wife who experiences more feelings of desire. When women have the higher level of desire for sex and intimacy, they can often experience feelings of rejection when their spouse...
Sep 02, 2025•49 min
This is a special episode with just me (Jill)! For this one, I’m opening up about a topic that is very close to my heart. I wanted to share it this time of year because the end of August is when school starts back up, and as such, many groups such as Bible studies, moms’ groups, and more, are all kicking off. Through my years of parenting, I’ve found that it can be challenging to integrate into a new group. Meeting new people, finding those who will be closer friends, and discovering your place ...
Aug 26, 2025•17 min
Our words have the power to encourage and inspire others. They also have the power to put down, shame, and discourage. In this conversation, we are looking at the power of our words. Joining me for this discussion is someone who has personal experience with the impact our words can have in relationships—especially within marriage. Ann Wilson spent more than a decade longing for a better marriage. Every chance she got, Ann told her husband how much she wished he were more attentive, more helpful,...
Aug 19, 2025•48 min
“What does it mean to hold space for someone?” A listener recently sent us this question—and it’s such a good one. Simply put, holding space means being emotionally and physically present with someone’s feelings—without judging, making it about you, trying to fix it, or getting defensive. The beauty of this practice is that it works in almost any relationship. You can hold space for your spouse, friends, family, neighbors, coworkers—you name it! We don’t know about you, but we’ve noticed the phr...
Aug 12, 2025•37 min
We all know marriage isn’t easy. Bringing together two people with different life experiences, opinions, and family backgrounds takes a whole lot of intentionality, grace, and growth. When neurological differences enter this complex equation, you need an additional set of tools in order to maintain a healthy marriage. My guest, Shawna Meek, is here to help us understand what it can look like to navigate neurological differences within a marriage relationship. She has been through three separatio...
Aug 05, 2025•53 min
We live in a world full of distractions. Technology is always with us, pulling our focus away from the present with notifications that ping at all hours of the day and night. On top of that, many of us deal with internal distractions like insecurity, the desire for perfection, or the stress of trying to do it all. These distractions can often crowd out the still, small voice of God—if we let them. My friend, Peg Arnold, understands the struggle of grappling with distractions well. She is an auth...
Jul 29, 2025•37 min
We are excited to have another listener-submitted question to discuss! This question really hit home with us because it resonated with obstacles we’ve recently overcome in our own lives. It reminded us of the powerful emotional growth and healing that can be achieved in a marriage. The question was: “Is the woman in the marriage relationship the one who does most of the heavy lifting as far as promoting emotional growth toward each other?” You know, we find that 75% of the time, it is the woman ...
Jul 22, 2025•28 min
Life can be full of uncertainty. Whether it’s moving to a new city, starting a new job, or walking through a difficult time, we don’t always know how things will work out in the end. When that happens, we can feel frozen by fear and unsure of what our next step should be. Thankfully, my friend Katie Reid knows what it’s like to face uncertainty and has some helpful encouragement for us. Katie is a Bible teacher, author, podcaster, pastor’s wife, worship leader, and mom. She recently released her...
Jul 15, 2025•34 min
We’re back for another special conversation, this time about the topic of accountability. When most people think of accountability, they imagine someone asking them tough questions—almost like it’s a police interrogation and they’re in the hot seat. The problem with that mindset is, if the other person doesn’t ask us the “right” questions, then we think we’re off the hook. We don’t have to offer up anything we don’t want to share. That’s how we viewed accountability before walking through our ma...
Jul 08, 2025•23 min
Whether you are experiencing a prolonged period of stress or just having a bad day, everyone experiences times of emotional strain. Our jobs can often overwhelm us with pressure-filled deadlines. Our family budget may be tight, which causes us to worry about making ends meet. Sometimes, our family relationships are tense and filled with conflict—whether that be with our spouse or extended family. There are so many things in life that can be the source of our stress. Although stress may be unavoi...
Jul 01, 2025•42 min
If you’re listening on the day this releases, then tomorrow (6/25/2025) is our 42nd wedding anniversary! We can’t believe that it’s already been more than four decades since we walked down the aisle to say our “I do’s”. Would you believe that our first big argument occurred on our honeymoon? We had a lot of good times in those early years, but they were also the beginning of some recurring conflicts and struggles for us. As we reflect back on 42 years of marriage, one of the things that has made...
Jun 24, 2025•30 min
An estimated 100 million people in the United States have some sort of “step” relationship. This could be a stepchild, a stepparent, or even a stepsibling. These relationships are often part of what’s known as a “blended” family, where individuals come together from previous relationships to form a new, unique family unit. Blended families face many challenges and difficulties that other families don’t necessarily have to navigate. They have to build new relationships within the parent-child and...
Jun 17, 2025•36 min
We are doing another episode to answer your questions! Last time we did this, a listener asked to hear more about “Jill 1.0”. For this conversation, we have received a question for Mark! Here’s the message that came in via email: Dear Mark, I listen to every episode that you and Jill put out there. In one of the episodes, you described a “chaos” going on inside your brain and how you’ve experienced healing from it. I want that more than anything. The chaos in my brain seems insurmountable. I can...
Jun 10, 2025•52 min
If you’re familiar with the journey Mark and I have walked together, then you know that I spent a year “standing for my marriage” while Mark had an affair and separated. ( You can explore more about our story here. ) It was the darkest season of my life—and also the season that produced the most personal, emotional, and spiritual growth I’ve ever experienced. My guest for this conversation has a similar story. Jason Carver is a pastor and the founder of Standing Supernaturally For Marriage Resto...
Jun 03, 2025•47 min
Over the years, we’ve had our fair share of expectations that ended in disappointment—sometimes around big moments like birthdays, and other times over something as simple as how we spend a Saturday. It’s taken us a while to discover that what caused many of these conflicts was a lack of proactive communication, or as we like to say, a failure to “push information.” Pushing information is simply taking the time to communicate in advance your current hopes and desires (or even how you are used to...
May 27, 2025•35 min
Every marriage is an ongoing story with its own highs and lows, joys and difficulties. Depending on which season we are in, we may start to see marriage as the best thing that has ever happened to us or the source of our angst. If you’ve been following our journey for a while, you know that my husband Mark and I share openly about the struggles as well as the victories in our marriage. God has used every obstacle we’ve encountered to grow us in so many ways. The truth we hope you walk away with ...
May 20, 2025•52 min
©2025 FamilyLife. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. If we’re being completely honest, many of us enter into marriage with stars in our eyes and the hope that our spouse will live up to our every expectation. Isn’t it funny how we can spend months preparing every last detail for our marriage ceremony—yet we spend little, if any, time preparing our mindsets for what our marriage will actually look like in practice? That reality often shows up fast—like the moment you realize the person yo...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Have you heard some variation of this before? “ Marriage is hard. It’s unfair. One of you will always pull more weight. Marriage doesn’t make you happy; it makes you miserable. ” I'd like to push back against that pessimistic mindset. Yes, it’s true that marriage can be challenging—but it can also be one of the greatest relationships you will experience! Marriage is certainly not easy, but it can be easier if we approach it the right way. Joining us to share her insights on doing just this is my...
May 06, 2025•43 min
When a loved one hurts, it can be hard to know how to respond and support them through the crisis or pain they feel. Our first response is often to jump straight into “fix it” mode or lighten the mood by offering platitudes. However, the key to true comfort lies in a few key areas that Mark and I are going to talk about in this conversation. In our story, we’ve had quite the journey of learning how to best support one another—whether we are experiencing physical pain, emotional hurt, or just a d...
Apr 29, 2025•29 min
If you know my husband Mark and I, then you know we are passionate about moving people from a 1.0 version of themselves to a new-and-improved 2.0 version. We’ve taken this journey ourselves and know the difference it can make in your relationships, as well as how you view yourself. We want you to know that whether you are navigating a life transition, experiencing a relationship crisis, trying to rediscover your purpose, or looking for direction on how to move forward, you are always just one ch...
Apr 22, 2025•55 min
Everyone has baggage. We carry it around with us everywhere–into marriage, adulthood, and every aspect of our lives. It’s part of being human, and while there’s no shame in having baggage, it’s important to take the time to consider how the behaviors we’ve picked up over the years could be potentially harmful to ourselves and others. The question we are addressing in today’s conversation is: how do we pinpoint our baggage and begin to heal those areas of our lives? We define “baggage” as places ...
Apr 15, 2025•47 min
What does your morning routine look like? A typical morning may look like rolling out of bed, getting ready, and grabbing breakfast to feed your body before you tackle the day. But how often do you prioritize feeding your soul as well as your physical body? My guest for this conversation discovered that there is no better way to start her day than by sitting with Jesus. Tera Elness is a writer and a speaker. In her first book, Sitting with Jesus: A Yearlong Faith Journey , each individual entry ...
Apr 08, 2025•46 min
Have you ever had a conversation where it seemed like you and the other person kept misunderstanding one another? At some point, it may have even felt like you were speaking two different languages. This is a challenge that pops up in many marriages—after all, there’s a reason why people say men and women could be from different planets! Teaching others how to have safe conversations is a passion of ours, as this skill has played a big role in taking our marriage to the next level. You may have ...
Apr 01, 2025•44 min
Dear Mark & Jill, I listen to your podcast every week and I love it. It seems like when you are talking together, we hear a lot more about what Mark did wrong before and during your marriage crisis. I identify more with Jill’s personality before your marriage crisis. I would love to hear more about “Jill 1.0” when you are discussing problems in your marriage. What were some of the things you (Jill) did during that time that you felt did not help the situation, and how did you correct them to...
Mar 25, 2025•48 min
As a coach, one of the things I do most often is help people learn how to manage their emotions in a healthy way. The human capacity to feel is God-given. However, when our feelings go unchecked, that’s when emotional ups and downs can start to steal our peace, sabotage our relationships, and fill our minds with self-defeating thoughts. So how can we manage our emotions instead of letting them manage us? Alicia Michelle is here to show us the way. Alicia is a coach, author, speaker, course creat...
Mar 18, 2025•40 min
