Do you know if your personality is similar to that of an Otter, a Golden Retriever, a Beaver or a Lion? If these terms are familiar to you, chances are you’ve read The Two Sides of Love, a classic marriage book written by Dr. John Trent. The animal identifications are part of a personality strengths assessment John developed for his doctoral dissertation in Marriage and Family Counseling. Understanding strengths is one important step in the process of relating well with others as outlined in his book and his other bestselling marriage and parenting book, The Blessing.

The vision for the flourishing marriage coaching and counseling ministry founded by Curt and Rhonda Hamner was born on a trip celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. The couple had spent the previous 20 years following Curt’s pastoral career in Dallas and Southern California and raising three children. Now, as the empty nest loomed, Curt gave Rhonda an assignment in light of the season ahead. He asked her to share the dreams God had given her for their next chapter of life.

Mentors make a difference. The gift of walking alongside another can literally change the course of a life. Currently, Jackie Bledsoe is a digital creator, best-selling author and, with his wife, Stephana, a sought-after speaker at marriage events and founder of Happily Married Couples ministry. But in the not-too-distant past, Jackie and Stephana were a struggling couple themselves looking for wisdom and a community to bolster their young marriage and family.

If you’ve picked up a marriage or family book or study in the past 40 years, chances are good it was either written by FamilyLife co-founders Dennis and Barbara Rainey or published by the ministry. The couple started the fledgling FamilyLife organization in 1976 under the umbrella of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). For the next 41 years, God’s favor and the Raineys’ leadership grew FamilyLife into a dynamic and vital ministry that’s equipped millions. People in more than 110 countries around the world now experience the abundant life Christ promises in their marriages and families.

What would inspire a single person to read a book about marriage when they are not even dating anyone? How about because it’s a gift from their mother? Pleasing his mother motivated author and speaker Michael Johnson to crack open a “marriage book” Christmas break his junior year of college – little imagining its future impact. What he found inside opened his eyes to common marriage pitfalls and became a treasure, not just for him and his future family, but for the thousands influenced by his ministry where he and his wife, Julie, help singles transform their dating practices.

Brokenness thrives in a sin-sick world. We see marriages fall apart due to infidelity or addictions to sex or pornography. Who steps in to help people heal from these hard problems? Who can be trusted to understand such personal pain and shame? Be Broken Ministries, founded by Jonathan Daugherty 20 years ago, effectively addresses these very issues with kindness, skill, and the power of the God’s redeeming grace.

You want to raise your children in a happy home, and you agree a healthy marriage is key to that goal. You might listen to a few podcasts, follow a speaker in the relationship field, even read a book or two. But how do you keep up with all the information from all the experts? Is there a way to easily incorporate best practices into your busy life?