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: https://livingmarriages.com
Episodes
Difference and Drift. These 2 things can be subtle but deadly for our marriages.
Have you discovered some differences with your spouse that have left you discouraged? Do you find yourself drifting further and further apart from your partner?
We're so excited to share our conversation with Braden and Kristin Hafner of Family Life Canada about God's hope for our marriages!
On this episode you'll hear:
- Why marriage matters to God...
When we use the word "intimacy," our culture (and even our churches) have conditioned us to think of what happens in the bedroom, of sexual intimacy.
While sexual intimacy is an integral part of marriage, it is not the full picture of what God has created us for and invited us into. There is so much more to intimacy and today's episode is meant to get the conversation going on what intimacy in marriage can look like beyond the bedr...
This is a first for the Living Marriages Podcast - a rebroadcast of one of our and your favourite episodes! Be encouraged as we re-visit this conversation with our good friend and mentor, Katie Skurja.
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"Shame is the most powerful force on the planet, apart from grace."
Katie Skurja, founder of Imago Dei Ministries, is an internationally recognized inner healing practitioner, spiritual director and marriage counsellor. We wer...
Greetings friends!
When we began the Living Marriages podcast over a year ago, we could never have imagined what a wonderful ride God was inviting us to - one filled with inspiring interviews, challenging conversations and the incredible opportunity to get to know some of you, our listeners.
We felt called from the beginning to offer 2 episodes a week (outside of once-a-week summer episodes) and we soon settled into a rhythm of Tue...
Are you feeling hurried, busy beyond what you thought was possible, stripped of joy? Our culture has a solution for you - buy this bathrobe or three of these candles or this SUV to take you to the mountains so you can find the rest you so desperately want and need.
They have one thing right - we need this rest! But here's what they have wrong - you don't need to buy it. God offers it to you. It's on the first page of the Bible!
Jo...
On this Thursday Thought, we provide some time for reflection as God invites us to consider:
- Are there areas of our marriage or our lives where we don't feel contented or satisfied? If so, why might that be?
- In what ways is God calling us to a fast in those areas, whether that be from food or spending?
- Where do you have a sense that God is inviting you to fast in order to prepare you for his feast?
For those interested i...
Dopamine is profitable. We live in an age where everything is designed to give us quick dopamine hits, from our devices to our online shopping carts, because retailers and marketers know that dopamine drives sales.
But is this what God designed us for? As individuals and in our marriages? On this episode, we share about our experience of doing a "No Spend Week". We talk about:
- The difficulties there are in overcoming these qui...
In our last episode, we discussed the dangers and harm that can come to our relationships from unhealthy relationships with our devices.
Today, we're providing space for us to reflect with God and one another. How have I given in to my phone and social media's design to give me quick dopamine hits? How has this replaced the slower work of intimacy and conversation in my marriage and family? How is God inviting me to more?
We'll al...
We recently heard a very convicting conversation between Joey Odom of ReclaimWell and the great folks over at the Intentional Parenthood Podcast. In that conversation, Joey warns of how the phone can really kill intimacy between spouses and harm relationships between parents and children.
On this episode, we review some of the harmful habits and attitudes we've formed around our devices and seek to discover God's hope, one small ch...
On this Thursday Thought, we re-visit our powerful conversation with Dr. John Littlejohn. (Listen to that on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening to us from!)
We reflect on the ways we intentionally or unintentionally fall into idolatry, how to seek God first, especially in the mundane and unpack the difference between an inward-focused grumbling that negatively affects our life and marriage and a God-focused groani...
For our 101st episode, we're thrilled to welcome back our great friend and a favourite podcast guest, Dr. John Littlejohn! We hear God's heart and word for his people in 2026, including:
- What it means for our lives and marriages to put God first
- What that means for us in the mundane details of life and marriage
- God's invitation to discover the plank in our eye before trying to take the speck out of our spouse's
You'll al...
100 episodes ago, we asked a single question: Is your marriage healthy, or is it just dry bones? Today, we are celebrating 100 moments of God’s faithfulness, 100 conversations about intimacy, and the incredible goodness of a God who breathes life into the hardest places of our relationships.
In this milestone episode of The Living Marriages Podcast, we are going back to where it all began. We re-visit the original vision God gave u...
If you've ever felt like a failure because you've had a hard time getting a family devotional started, this episode is for you. We’re sharing the one habit we’ve attached to our morning breakfast routine that's been working so far —and why God's grace is more important than perfection, especially when Kim Chi ruins breakfast!
Resources
A free online family devotional that uses the practice of lectio divina.
This is The Biggest Stor...
In Episode 97, we interviewed renowned author Sheila Wray Gregoire about God's beautiful vision for sex and intimacy and how, sadly, there has been much harmful teaching and messaging that has made sex feel like anything other than a good gift from a good God.
On this Thursday Thought, join us as we provide space and reflection to examine the messages we have learned about sex, how that has shaped our view and practice and intimacy...
Author Sheila Wray Gregoire has been writing Christian marriage and sex-advice since 2003. But in 2019, she made a shocking discovery about much of the advice that is out there for Christian couples.
In our wide-ranging conversation with Sheila you'll hear:
- How Sheila discovered the harm that some best-selling Christian marriage books were causing readers and what she's doing about it
- How the beauty and intimacy of sex as God ...
In episode 95, we shared God's invitation to us and you to start taking our marriages more seriously. We asked what neglect looks like in our marriage and how God might be inviting us to turn that around, what new habits or mindsets he might be asking us to commit to.
On this Thursday Thought, we take time to reflect on where some of the chaos and fires might be in our marriage and how those might be pointing to signs of neglect in...
It's always a good time to check in with God and one another on the state of your marriage and family. We happened to do our check-in at the end of 2025 and God had a pretty serious invitation for us: start taking yourselves and your marriage more seriously. It's an invitation we're passing on to you!
On this episode you'll hear:
- What it looks like when you're not taking your marriage seriously and how God might be inviting yo...
Happy New Year! As we step into 2026, we wanted to pray God's blessing and provision for your marriage this year. That prayer involves bringing our "not enough", our "loaves and fish" to Jesus and to see what he will do with them. It means not limiting God in how and where he wants to provide for us.
Join us for this time of prayer and blessing as we step into a New Year together!
Next Steps
If you're listening in real-time with us, this episode is being released at the end of 2025. As you look back on the year that was and look ahead to the year to come, how has God been enough for you? In your life and your marriage? Are there areas you've struggled seeing him as enough? Are there areas where you can celebrate his abundance?
In this episode we share:
- The question that really got us thinking about our trust in Go...
If you're listening in real-time with us at the Living Marriages podcast, Merry Christmas!
We've got a short Christmas Day greeting for you complete with an amazing rendition of a winter poem read by our incredible boys, Ethan and Elijah.
Praying the love, joy, peace and hope of the Christmas season for you!
Love,
Aaron, April, Ethan and Elijah
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