Friendship Before Sex: A New Plan for Finding Love

By Sara Goff “Young love is a flame; very pretty, very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering.  The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deepburning, unquenchable.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher (from RQ Relationship Intelligence by Richard A. Panzer) In my late twenties, I found myself in a two-year […]

Don’t Divorce — Why Mending Your Marriage Makes Better Sense

By Mike McManus Marriage has fallen on hard times. Half of America’s marriages have ended in divorce since 1975 – a divorce rate that is triple that of Britain or France. Dr. Diane Medved offers answers in a compelling new book, Don’t Divorce: Compelling Arguments for Saving and Revitalizing Your Marriage.  It is must reading for […]

Save Your Marriage — Don’t Even THINK About Divorce!

By Suzanne Venker What’s your attitude toward marriage as an institution? Is it more traditional in nature, or does it match the culture’s more progressive, cavalier view? Your attitude is the single most important determiner of your success in life. Life will throw you a thousand curve balls. So will marriage. But it isn’t the curve balls […]

In Training For My Grandchildren

By Jason Williams I’m 32-years-old.  My kids are eight, seven, and five. I figure I’m at least 15 years away from having grandchildren, but I’m already preparing for them. About three years ago, someone wiser than me told me what someone wiser than he was told him: “Don’t think of your children as your children. […]

How Many Married People Have Thought About Divorce? *

Written by Alan J. Hawkins and Sage E. Allen Almost everyone wants a happy marriage and wants it to last a lifetime.[i] But most also know the scary U.S. statistics: nearly 50 percent of first marriages and more than 60 percent of second marriages end in divorce. Researchers have discovered a lot about the struggles […]

Busted By Ashley Madison: The Upside

By Seth Eisenberg Can getting busted on Ashley Madison be the beginning of true love and a happier, stronger marriage? For many, the surprising answer is “Yes!” Florida State Attorney Jeff Ashton tearfully met the press in Orlando Monday to admit using his credit card for Ashley Madison as he privately probed the world’s largest dating site for cheaters from his government […]

Before You Tie The Knot

By Michele-Weiner Davis Does knowing one’s fiancée’s values, goals and aspirations increase the odds a couple will live happily ever after?” That’s what reporters often want to know when interviewing me about the questions people should ask before tying the knot. As someone who for several decades has specialized in working with couples teetering on […]

Sacrificing Love for Lent?

By Seth Eisenberg As a Jew, Lent is not one of the traditions my family and ancestors practiced. Yet reading Mike McManus’ post on the Coalition for Divorce Reform website left me inspired by the sacred meaning and potential of the 46 days of reflection and sacrifice observed by Catholics and many Protestants that ends on Easter […]

A Lenten Challenge to Pastors to Cut the Divorce Rate

By Mike McManus After hearing a Lenten sermon on the need to repent from sins and make a new commitment to amend our lives, I asked my pastor to consider calling upon area churches this Lent to create a Community Marriage Covenant.  Scripture is clear: “`I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God of Israel.”   We have plenty […]

Giving Hope to a Relationship Third-World Country

By Sage Erickson Picture a third world country: desperate poverty, a daily struggle to survive, widespread suffering, minimal sanitation, and diminished economic opportunities. Now picture the United States. Although the United States has long been known as a first-world country politically and economically, has it become a third world country when it comes to romantic […]