Archives

  • Social research shows why women and children especially suffer without a strong union

    Many decades of social science research have conclusively demonstrated that heterosexual marriage is an invaluable social good, with benefits for adults, children and society at large. As a well-documented 2004 booklet I was involved in producing puts it: We believe good social science, despite its inherent limitations, is a better guide to social policy than […]

  • One of the Dumbest Things I Did in 44 Years of Marriage

    I’ve already changed the title of this article once. It was originally “The Stupidest Thing I Did in 44 Years of Marriage.” Then I started thinking of so many dumb things I have done in my married life. I couldn’t be certain which one of the 537 acts of stupidity should be number one. They […]

  • Getting past the expectation gap

    Have you ever bought something online that you were so excited about, but when it finally arrived, it looked nothing like the photo? The description read ‘high quality denim’ but the product ended up with more loose ends than your mums famous spaghetti. A few weeks ago, I had a friend tell me about the […]

  • If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

    “Although that fleece isn’t flattering, I bet it’s really warm.” ~Super Husband Yes, my super husband, my perfect gift from God, said that to me. About a fleece I was wearing. In the car. On our way to work together. Past the point of possibly changing my clothes. Did it hurt my feelings? Yes. Did […]

  • As Massachusetts legalizes polyamorous marriage…

    At the risk of saying ‘I told you so’, there is now a movement toward recognising polyamorous marriage; that’s marriage between more than two people. The New York Times recently published an article, “A Massachusetts City Decides to Recognize Polyamorous Relationships.” The city in question is Somerville, and it has officially recognised the validity of […]

  • After Years in Court, the Larsens Can Now Tell Wedding Stories

    Carl and Angel Larsen’s love of marriage stories began with their own. The couple met in high school. Angel remembers going to the hospital to visit a science teacher who was battling cancer. Carl’s mother was also in the hospital recovering from the removal of a non-malignant brain tumor. When Angel saw the remarkably loving […]

  • A letter to a bride

    ‘Building a marriage is a lot like building a stone wall,’ I wrote to my niece Hannah on the morning of her wedding to fiancé, Brad. The analogy came to me some months earlier during a family working bee to build a stone wall courtyard in her sister’s garden where Hannah was going to be […]

  • Great is His Faithfulness

    It was a hot, Australian summer and my loneliness was palpable.  As a senior in high school I had never had a boyfriend, and boys were not interested in me. I secretly worried that I would be single forever. That summer changed everything. I went on a high school music camp run by a group […]

  • Why you need to prepare for your marriage, not just your wedding

    Most couples spend so much time planning for their wedding day, but very little time planning for their marriage. I know, because several years ago that that young bride to be was me. I found myself lost in a world of wedding preparations pre-occupied with endless lists – like lock in the flowers, the dress, […]

  • So you want the marriage without the loopholes?

    Kick him to the curb. Move on. You deserve better. You’ve got the escape clause, get out now while you can. File for divorce. That’s what Matthew 19:9 says, right? If your spouse commits adultery, you’ve got a get out of marriage free card. It’s the loophole scripture, right? When learning your spouse has committed […]