Getting married? Growing Together is a practical guide that will help you to develop a shared understanding of your future together through exploring your dreams and expectations of married life and by highlighting some of the key issues that being married can raise.

In their 30 years of shared ministry and marriage, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa pastor Brian Brodersen and his wife, speaker and author Cheryl Brodersen, watched many couples struggle to build a lasting, fulfilling relationship. With the desire to understand God's path for their union, the Brodersens' turned to the Bible and learned how to view and experience marriage as an incredible gift from God. Now they share the ten essential "E" principles they discovered, showing readers how to: Entrust the relationship to God Eliminate unhealthy expectations Encourage one another Enlighten with spiritual truth Energize the relationship Endure by standing together in faith In this biblical and practical resource, newlyweds and longtime married couples will embrace the wholeness of God's plan for them to have the very best human love experience possible.

Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.

From a Relationship of Ignorance and Conflict to Awareness and Fulfillment In Buddhist psychology, it is said that the root of all pain is ignorance. Nowhere in life is our ignorance more evident and frustrating than when we attempt to relate with someone we love and find ourselves forever walking through relational minefields. We find ourselves consistently being frustrated in our efforts to relate with our partner and become upset with the way they are relating to us. This book is intended to describe what a real relationship of compassionate commitment is between two people and explores: - How to negotiate the inevitable season of struggle between partners - Providing insight into how couples will use the same words and speak different languages - The importance of not taking things personally - Understanding the role that stress plays in our relationship - Learn compassionate communication (similar to Nonviolent Communication) - Practice a mindfulness-based approach to communication The purpose of this book is to help couples gain a sense of what is going on between themselves and to help develop the awareness and skills to get beyond their confusion, frustration, pain and suffering, to a sense of fulfillment as individuals and as relational partners. Information contained in this book is the distillation of over forty-seven years work as a marriage and family therapist.

Discover joy as you help each other grow in your Christian faith. As you grow together in Christ, you'll find true fulfillment in your marriage.

Each year 63,000 couples choose to marry in church. Growing Together: The Course is a flexible marriage preparation course for use by church leaders. The course is designed to help couples to develop a shared understanding of their future together through discussion of key issues on married life, and is suitable for those considering marriage or those already engaged and planning a wedding. It can be used alongside the popular Growing Together book which is aimed at the couples themselves. Guidance is provided on using the material with groups of couples over a number of weekly sessions or as a one-day course. Subjects covered include: Past, present and future Reasons for getting married Communication Conflict Spiritual issues Us and them The wedding day Follow-up after the wedding How have we grown - a reunion course A CD-ROM is also included with worksheets, scripts of each session, graphics, a poster and course invitations.

Women in all seasons of life can feel alone, longing for encouragement, guidance, and wisdom from someone who has been there before. They would value the wealth of knowledge and wisdom from older women's experiences, but often these women don't feel equipped to offer help. This book is a starting place, meant to be a springboard for mentoring discussions between older and younger women, setting the biblical basis for mentoring from Titus 2 before outlining 11 lessons that guide their time together. Each lesson focuses on a topic such as God's word, prayer, contentment, temptation, and church, with activities for before, during, and after the mentoring session. Younger and older women will grow together as they use these lessons to walk through life together. Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition.

When all that we are using is "lets agree to disagree" or "if it's too hot in the kitchen..," it is time for a simple and proactive alternative for moderating our own disputes. Based on six rules of engagement, Rethink Perfect creates a COMMON & SANE space for us to share real thoughts, feelings & our latest concepts. Like the protocols and Black Box of an airplane, Rethink Perfect allows us to monitor our conversations before, during and after to reduce the frequency and magnitude of our inevitable disputes.

Financial strategies that help couples start off on the right foot Couples today face a far more complex financial environment than their parents could have imagined. The Young Couple's Guide to Growing Rich Together addresses issues unique to those just starting out--from limited incomes and college debt to home purchases, new babies, and more--and provides the knowledge and tactics necessary for juggling these financial responsibilities while also working on the nonfinancial aspects of a still-developing relationship. Featuring strategies that are both sensible and realistic, this financial planning guide explains how to tackle the smaller issues before they grow to take on a life of their own. Sample topics include: Techniques for combining personal budgets Determining whether a prenuptial agreement is appropriate How to address financial "differences of opinion"