Have you ever thought, I don’t deserve this?  When you have experienced pain and suffering, you are often quick to think, I deserve better.  But the more we feel entitled to the good things that God has for us, the less we can truly appreciate them. In this week’s episode we share how understanding God’s grace and mercy helps move us to a place of true gratitude.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Have you ever just wanted to be given the benefit of the doubt?   It feels awful when someone, especially your spouse, assumes the worst of you in a doubtful or unclear situation.  When it’s assumed that our intentions are off,  we get defensive and less likely to offer grace in return. This week we’re sharing how we’re learning to give each other benefit of the doubt and how to grow in grace in your marriage.     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram ...

Behind Our Smiles just celebrated three years of podcasting! And over 160 episodes!!  Many listeners have asked us if we enjoy podcasting together (we do!) and where we find our topics for each episode.  This week we’re giving you a behind the scenes look at our podcast- how we plan our episodes and why we love spending time with you each week!  Thank you so much for listening these past three years!    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com ...

By this time in an elections season, we can become worn out from all the divisive rhetoric both from the politicians and their followers. Sometimes it makes you want to scream, can’t we all just get along?  Why is everyone talking and no one actually listening?  We can have similar issues in our marriages and relationships, where we become more and more polarized when someone doesn’t agree with us. Then we can fall into the same trap of divisive rhetoric and me-vs-you language that makes...

 As adults we may not dress up in costumes as often as our kids do.  But we do wear our own kinds of masks that keeps people from seeing who we really are.   In this week’s episode we’re sharing how to live without the masks and have more authenticity in our marriage.   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

How do you feel when someone asks you to share a cup of coffee with them?  That request indicates that they want to connect with you and get to know you on a deeper level.  In our experience, coffee dates promote conversations that are both comforting, encouraging, and full of laughter.  Our marriages can benefit from coffee-fueled conversations too!! In this episode, we share from sharing about our daily habit of sharing a cup of coffee and how it strengthens our marriage!   To connect...

Sometimes conflict is necessary and other times we just need to pause and say, does this fight even make any sense?  We both want to be close an grow our connection… but we are sabotaging that very goal by fighting over something silly.  In this episode we’re working to avoid super silly arguments that serve no purpose but to divide us.   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Sexual intimacy requires a vulnerability and giving of ourselves like nothing else that we share in our marriage.  Then throw in previous trauma, marital disconnection, and the demands of modern life, and it’s not surprising that we’re not always “in the mood”. In this episode, we talk about how we overcome our obstacles to sexual intimacy.   Content note: Although we do discuss the effects of trauma on sexual intimacy, there are no explicit descriptions of abuse or sexual activities.  ...

Happy Fall!  Instead of bringing you a new episode of our podcast, we want to share with you some of the podcasts we’re listening to!  If you’re looking for other podcasts to binge on, these are a great start! WowGod.com Morning Focus Daily Devotional Manly with Andy (The Sex Talk You Never Got w/ Sam Jolman) I Love that Song (Consumed by Fire) Mental Health w Dr. Mork  (Panic Attacks)   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com ...

After an episode full of verbal processors, we’re letting Joe, our resident internal processor, respond to that conversation.  What exactly is going on inside the mind of a man who has less words to say? And why do steady men like him tend to not respond as expressively as their wives would like them to? What is the nothing box and how does it work?  We try to find the answers to those questions in this episode!    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram ...

Move over Joe, the ladies are talking- I mean taking over this episode!  Does your marriage have a dynamic with a very talkative, excitable wife, and a quiet, steady husband?  Verbal processor vs internal processor?? Then you’ll relate to the conversation I had with three of my friends who have similar marriage dynamics.  But this is not an episode where the wives get together to complain about their husbands.  This is about celebrating the way God made them and learning how to extend grace...

We love to look back at those key moments that have radically changed the trajectory of our marriage- those times the lightbulb comes on and you’re able to see things more clearly.  Over our 27 years, there have been many lightbulb moments, most of which we wished we had had earlier!  In this episode we share some of those times in our marriage that we thought Aha!!    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Have you ever experienced that A-ha!! moment? So often, we hit the same wall, again and again, until God gets a hold of us and A-ha! The light goes on.  We see what we were too blind to see before.  Ignorance to understanding.  In this episode we share about why we all need a good lightbulb moment!   To connect with us on social media: Facebook  Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Our marriage is affected by the many decisions that arise in parenting.  One of those big decisions that we need to find unity on is how are kids are educated.  Even though we had very different educational experiences, we were in agreement early in our desire to home educate our kids.   Looking back on almost two decades of homeschooling, we’re sharing how that decision has benefitted our family and our children.   Tara’s Homeschooling Resources My favorite homeschool supplier    To...

Are your expectations of your spouse realistic?  We may all answer, of course they are! I mean, I don’s ask for much, right?  We usually consider ourselves to “not ask for much” while also thinking that our spouse is asking too much of us. In this episode we talk about the danger in thinking “But I don’t ask for much!” And how to navigate those expectations with grace.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Do you ever feel like your ideas are dismissed by your spouse, often from the get-go?  We’ve been there way too many times!  This week we’re re-visting our very favorite phrase that we use to strengthen our marriage.  We’re sharing how adding “That’s a great idea” to our vocabulary has helped our marriage in so many ways!    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Do you and your spouse ever disagree?  That’s a silly question. No one agrees with one person 100% of the time.  But disagreements can become a source of tension and conflict in our marriage when they’re fueled by stubbornness and disrespect. In this episode we talk about to keep disagreements from weakening your marriage.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Before our son, Stephen, got married to Anna, we shared a special evening together with them and the parents of the bride. It was a night of prayer and blessing for Stephen & Anna. In this episode, we share how that conversation went as the four of us prepared our kids to build a marriage, and not just a wedding.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Do you love weddings?  We have always loved weddings, but a wedding as the parents of the groom was a whole different experience! In this episode, we reflect on our son’s wedding day and how attending weddings encourage our marriage (and make me cry….) Stephen & Anna’s First Dance Video    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

Do you feel “free” in your marriage?  That might depend on on your definition of freedom! There are many cliches about marriage being the end of freedom, but the right kind of freedom makes a marriage healthy.  In this week’s episode we talk about the importance of both freedom and boundaries in building a strong marriage.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

 Interview w/Brian and Carole Pucel  We are so excited for you to meet our friends Brian and Carole Pucel.  When they married in 1982, everything seemed to be bliss until Brian began to follow Jesus. Brian’s new-found faith almost destroyed their marriage, until Carole slowly became curious about what had caused this change in her husband. For several years, they had a picture-perfect marriage, raising their three children, involved in church. Then a church split triggered a spiritual battle...

Do you remember all the little things you would do for your spouse when you first met and got married?  We took such joy in giving an receiving those small acts of love.  As the years go by, we can let the little things go.  In this episode, we talk about how keeping up with the little things has grown our marriage.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]

How do you feel when someone starts a sentence with “you should…”  No one likes being told what to do. Some of that comes from our own aversion to being corrected, and some of that is when someone is talking to us as if they know more.  This dynamic shows up in our marriage as well and we start sentences with “you should…” more often than we should!  In this episode we share our struggle with “shoulding” each other and share healthier alternatives!    To connect with us on social media: ...

We’re celebrating 27 years of marriage this week!  In honor or our anniversary, (and our son’s upcoming wedding!) we’re sharing the 27 things we would tell our newly-wed selves!   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com wowgod.com Email: [email protected]