Alan Hawkins, Ph.D., has devoted his professional career to studying family life. A professor in the Brigham Young University School of Family Life, Dr. Hawkins has focused his work on studying and applying relationship education tools to help individuals and couples form and sustain healthy relationships and strong marriages. His award-winning work focuses on educational interventions and public policies aimed at preventing unnecessary divorces. He assists couples in answering the question: “Should I try to work it out?”

Sex. Our culture’s obsessed with it. Sex sells everything from cars to power bars. It’s the topic on everyone’s lips – the pursuit of it, the results of it, or whether a person’s pronouns change because they feel like they identify with the opposite. What was designed by God to be a powerful representation of the union between him and his people has become something (all sorts of things) so far removed from the original intent it’s almost unrecognizable.

Have the events of the past couple years left you feeling anxious? Worried about your marriage or your family? Maybe you have a relationship question, and you just don’t know where to turn. 

These thoughts occurred to seasoned therapists and relationship experts Dr’s. Les and Leslie Parrott. Les and Leslie are a husband-and-wife team who share the same name and passion for helping others build healthy relationships. Les, a clinical psychologist and ordained Nazarene minister, is a professor of psychology at Northwest University. Leslie is a marriage and family therapist. They offer marriage and relationship help through their speaking engagements and their New York Times Best Selling books, with more than six million copies sold. 

The subject has been addressed before, but it bears repeating. Divorced and/or remarried people fill our churches. Children from broken or blended homes attend our Sunday school classes. We hope their teens attend our youth programs. In fact, 113 million adults have at least one stepfamily relationship, according to Craig Morgan, who, along with his wife Gina, founded Blended Together Forever, a ministry created to offer hope, encouragement and support to members of blended families. 

When was the last time you heard a sermon or listened to a podcast emphasizing the importance of your marriage? Read a book about relationships? Or attended a marriage enrichment event or date night? Researchers, pastors, authors and speakers emphasize the importance of focusing on family relationships. But what happens when the boost from the event fades or, even worse, uncovers some troubled spots or brokenness? Where do you turn for help? 

“Till death do us part.” Catholics have traditionally taken their marital vows seriously. Considering marriage a sacred, holy sacrament, the Catholic Church is known to discourage divorce. But has the church invested in helping couples strengthen their marriages? Marriage champions Lorrie Gramer and her husband, Don, were early advocates of marriage building since the Marriage Encounter they attended on their second wedding anniversary in 1974 proved transformational.

What happens when the unimaginable happens … in your family? That’s the circumstance in which Cathy and Ron Tijerina found themselves after Ron was sentenced to 14-25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Cathy was left at home with no job, no source of income and two toddlers to care for.

Have you ever wanted to “Have a New Kid by Friday?” or a New Teenager, a New Husband, a New You? It’s likely you’ve run across one of these or other relationship-related titles written by prolific and beloved Christian psychologist, author and speaker Dr. Kevin Leman over the past several decades. Dr. Leman is recognized and respected worldwide for his practical and humorous approach to doing life.

Click. The sound of a light switch. That small switch has the power to change a room from darkness to one illuminated with warming light. A switch can also describe a change in a person’s emotional and mental state from positive to negative, or vice versa. The ability to identify, then actively move one’s emotional outlook from negative to positive is what Christian life coaches Chuck and Ashley Elliot call “Switch Theory.”

If you’ve listened to Christian talk radio anytime in the past 35 years, it’s likely you’ve heard his voice. Pastor, author, and on-air announcer, Bob Lepine was the co-host of FamilyLife Today®, FamilyLife’s nationally syndicated radio program, for 28 years, just retiring in May 2021. Over the decades he’s interviewed leaders on a wide variety of marriage and family-related topics.

Many have felt helpless watching a friend or family member struggle in their marriage. George Kenworthy, M.Div., D.Min., feels the same heart tug. As he began pastoring churches, he realized the depth of the need of those experiencing marital difficulties and the passion of his conviction to help.

Did you know a divorce can cost more than $30,000? And that doesn’t even factor in the emotional cost to both the couple, their children and extended family. Preventing divorce and strengthening marriages impassions Richard Albertson, Founding President of Live the Life, a Florida faith-based non-profit.

Family – the strength of families is foundational to a society’s flourishing. Family also ranks as paramount to marriage educator and non-profit head Amy Gilford. So much so she joined her parents, Bill and Anne McKenna, founders of the Marriage & Relationship Education Center (MREC), in their work to improve their Carroll County community by strengthening and supporting families. 

Ladies, are you seeking engaging and real encouragement from the Bible? Practical ways to warm up the atmosphere of your marriage and home? Purpose and meaning in your life? Look no further than the wisdom from prolific writer Karen Ehman.

You’ve met a new guy, and things are looking serious. Can you imagine telling your grandmother your relationship started because you “swiped right?” Or worse yet, your answer to your kids about how you met their father is that you picked his profile from an app because he was the one who had the highest income or looked cutest? (Interview with Jon Birger)

Nobody enters the world alone. Relationships form the foundation of the human experience. But sometimes the ties that bind begin to chafe, especially between those we love most. Helping couples untangle the knots and strengthen marriage has long been the focus of Christian marriage speakers and authors Brad and Heidi Mitchell, founders of Build Your Marriage ministry.

Passion for marriage and a desire to help couples start off on the right foot is the motivation behind Scott Kedersha’s life’s work as a pastor, author and mentor. He’s counseled couples, led…

The bride waited in the dressing room of the church on her wedding day. It was the happiest day of her life. Then a thought struck her — wasn’t every bride this happy on her…

They’ve arrived! Those glorious midlife years when your grown children are living on their own and the demands of your professional career have slowed. You may be eagerly…

It’s a wife’s worst nightmare. Your husband’s confessed he’s been unfaithful. You don’t know how to think, what to do, or even if you can take another breath. Where do you turn for…