The Living Marriages Podcast | Effective Communication, Intimacy, Healthy Habits, Christian Counseling, Christian Parenting
The Go-To Podcast for Those Who Want To Rebuild Intimacy and Connection in Their Christ Centered Marriage Has the excitement of your wedding day now faded into the background? Are you so exhausted that the last thing you want to think about is your marriage? Do you and your spouse feel like ships passing in the night? If you’re craving the intimate, connected marriage God has for you, you’ve come to the right place! We’re April and Aaron Au, marriage coaches with over a decade of experience, who are on the journey to finding God’s best for our marriage while raising two young boys. We recently heard this wisdom: “If your marriage isn’t growing, it’s dying.” Yikes! That really got our attention! But if you think about it, it’s true. Marriages need direction, purpose and a common vision to thrive. If they don’t, they will inevitably drift apart. When you add the pressures of raising young children and the grind of daily work to the mix, there are even more forces that threaten to pull our marriages apart. Thankfully, God has a beautiful vision for our marriages. He wants us to cultivate and enjoy intimacy and connection in our marriage. What’s more, God wants to breathe his Spirit and life into our marriages through beautiful encounters with him in prayer and worship. In this podcast, we’ll learn about: - Simple, healthy habits that lead to effective communication and intentional conversations - The assumptions and expectations that can sabotage our marriages - How community is essential for a connected marriage - God’s heart to bring healing and wholeness to us, as individuals and as a family And of course, we’ll dive into all of the fun topics like sex, money, parenting and why you shouldn’t buy a car without talking to your spouse first. We’ll also have space to encounter God through prayer, worship and reflection through regular episodes called “Thursday Thoughts.” So join us on this beautiful journey that we call “Living Marriages.” Get in touch! info@livingmarriages.com Like the podcast? You can make a charitable donation to keep fresh content coming: livingmarriages.com
Episodes
"By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
Matthew 7:16-20
God had us confront a difficult yet ex...
On this Thursday Thought, we reflect on our family of origin (discussed in Episode 75), its impact on our marriage and how God is inviting us to:
1. celebrate the good things from our upbringing
2. acknowledge the unhealthy things
3. examine some of the things we have left unexamined that could be good or unhealthy
If you are able, please find some time to listen to this episode with your spouse. You will be able to point out and c...
British author, Jay Shetty, shared an image of how our families of origin are like brick houses that we build as we are growing up. Some of those bricks (our habits, understandings, practices) are good, some are crumbling and then there are some gaps in our buildings as well.
How does this affect our marriages? When we get married, we often think that the brick houses we grew up in our the best houses and that our spouse should si...
Are you facing some difficult decisions as a family? Are you and your spouse confronting uncertainty in your marriage?
On today's Thursday Thought, we are inviting you and your spouse to listen together (and if you haven't had a chance yet, listen to Episode 73 where we talk about the importance of prayer and listening conversations in times of uncertainty.) What would it look like to truly seek God in this time, apart and togethe...
Well this was a first for the Living Marriages Podcast. We started recording an episode that, a minute or two in, didn't feel like what God had for us. We always pray and discuss before we record but even with that, we felt that as we got going, God actually had something different in mind. So what to do? God had us pray about it, have a good conversation about it and then come together to talk about it!
Hopefully those of you faci...
On this Thursday Thought, we reflect on how saying "yes" to God may mean letting go of something we hold dear. We'll hold space to hear from God where in our lives he is inviting us to do this, as individuals and as a couple and we'll discover why God has better things for us then our favourite toy trucks at times.
Next Steps
We'd love to hear from you, whether you'd like to share you story or ask for prayer! Get in touch with us: ...
This episode began as a conversation about seeking our "Why?" from God - my life's purpose, my life's mission and focus. Aaron shared his "Why" (saying "yes" to Jesus and helping others says "yes") but as sometimes happens, the Spirit takes the conversation elsewhere and as a result we ended up talking about how in saying "yes" to Jesus, we need to be continually in touch with him about what we're saying "yes" to! (It's almost as i...
On this Thursday Thought, we reflect on the powerful and challenging conversation we had with Dr. Barry Danyluk from SEE Globally on Episode 69 in which he invited us to recapture God's heart for the church as family.
We'll consider the ways in which God has given us the mandate, whether we are single, single-again or married, to go and make disciples of all nations. We'll take a moment to consider how we're doing at that, whether...
While the Living Marriages Podcast primarily focuses on married couples, we are also blessed to have single and once-again single friends as part of our listening community. How we understand singleness and marriage, especially within the church, can have incredible impact on how we care for one another and our gospel impact in the world.
On today's episode, we are excited to welcome Dr. Barry Danyluk of See Globally, a ministry he...
Just a heads-up: please make sure you have some time and space to sit with us and the Spirit in today's episode. Grab your journal, a pen and your Bible and join us as we confront the lies we believe about ourselves with the truth of how God sees us. We'll do this by reading Scripture together, having time and space for reflection and prayer.
If you haven't yet, please also listen to Ep. 67 to prepare for this time.
This may be har...
As we journey into the fullness of what God has for us in our lives and marriages, two important questions need to be continunally asked: "What lies do I believe about myself?" and "Who does God say I am?"
Join us as we explore the impact of these two questions and hear the story of how Aaron was sabotaging his marriage early on as a deeply buried lie he believed about himself stopped him from receiving April's love in some areas.
...
In episode 65, we asked the all-important question, "Who do I believe God is?" followed by an equally important question, "Who does my spouse believe God is?"
On today's Thursday Thought, we reflect further on that, asking God to reveal to us the lies that we believe about him in order that we might discover more fully the truth of who he is and the good that he desires for our lives and marriages!
Next Steps
One of our callings at Living Marriages is to help couples "centre their marriages on God." But have you and your spouse ever taken time to figure out what you believe about God? In what ways are your beliefs the same? In what ways are they different? Are there any false beliefs that could be causing you to drift apart and miss God's best for your marriage?
Join us as we take time to ask some foundational questions about who we bel...
Today's Thursday Thought provides space for reflection and prayer while asking some extremely practical questions. (If you haven't already, please listen to Ep. 63)
So grab your Bible and a journal and join us as we reflect on how God wants to pour into our lives, where we might be missing out on that and practical changes we can make to our habits so we're more available to God and one another.
Resources
"Find the room where your ...
When Bob and Linda Lotich from SeedTime introduced us to the concept of Assets Under Management (episode 61), it was in the context of finances. As we began to consider this more, we've realized that this principal applies to all of our lives and marriages, including how we manage the time, energy and attention God has given us.
On this episode, we look at the powerful image of the pouring of oil into jars that God gave April from ...
Why is it so hard to trust God, especially when it comes to the area of finances in marriage?
In this Thursday Thought, we reflect on our conversation from ep. 61 with Bob and Linda Lotich and God's invitation to shift our mindset from finding our "Net Worth" to stewarding "Assets Under Management." We reflect on the reality of God's goodness and provision AND the challenge it is as humans to continually trust him in that.
We also ...
In this second part of our conversation with Bob and Linda Lotich of Seedtime.com, we get practical. (Please check out the first part of our conversation in ep. 59 if you haven't already.)
One of the key mindset shifts Bob and Linda teach to gain financial freedom is to move away from valuing our "Net Worth" towards stewarding "Assets Under Management." This shift will affect everything from how we budget to how generous we can be,...
In Ep. 59, we heard the incredible story of how God invited Bob and Linda Lotich to trust him with their finances, including giving an incredible 31% of their income. Linda mentioned that they were able to step into this with obedience and surrender because of how they had seen God's faithfulness to them earlier.
1 Samuel 17 tells the story of a young man named David who confronts a giant that nobody else will. How does he do it? I...
We are so incredibly excited and honoured to welcome two Spirit-led guests who we've looked up to for years in the areas of finance and marriage: Bob and Linda Lotich of Seedtime.
As Bob and Linda sought out God's wisdom for their finances and obeyed him, he moved them from beginning their marriage with crushing debt to giving away $1 million by the time they were 40 with incredible joy.
Join us for Part One of this incredible conv...
As we conclude this series on examining the Lord's Prayer and Marriage, we're reminded of the simple yet profound fact that everything, including our marriage, belongs to God. Are we willing to seek him in our marriages together? Are we willing to surrender our lives and marriages to him daily, in prayer?
Research has shown that couples that pray out loud together daily lower the odds of divorce from around 50% to 1%. It's a stunni...
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