Newlywed shock 
I’m sure it must have been a huge shock when my husband discovered that his new bride wasn’t perfect. By the time our wedding day arrived, we were best friends as well as sweethearts, but that didn’t lessen the impact of discovering we’d have to make major adjustments as we joined our lives.

Happy vs. holy? 
Have you ever met a shell-shocked newlywed (or not so newlywed)? Having bought into the world’s lie that marriage is primarily about being happy, they panic at the reality of their own relationship, which is bending under the stress of sickness, disappointment, sin, and physical exhaustion.

Trashing your false ideals 
God’s arithmetic is simple but intriguing: “Two shall become one” (Genesis 2:24). Modern culture doesn’t get it – being so focused on division. Just look at the marriage and divorce statistics. Where God intends to make two into one, we split and divide.

Remarriage myths
Prior to our marriage 26 years ago, Joe and I were asked by a friend, “Aren’t you going to get premarital counselling?”

“Oh, we don’t need it,” I said with confidence. “We’ve both decided that our past mistakes prepared us for remarriage better than a class ever could.”

The half-hearted marriage
Commitment means making a choice to give up other choices. This simple truth explains why marriage can be so difficult.