Behind Our Smiles Marriage Podcast

We've all been there… when someone has called us to account for something we did and our first instinct is to make an excuse, or maybe two or three.   It was the dog who ate our homework, not our forgetfulness. In this week's episode, we share about how learning to own our mistakes and not blame shift has helped minimize conflict and strengthen our marriage.     To connect with us on social media:...

  Kids are back in school and that means time to get that homework done!   Even though most of us groan at the thought of homework, there is so much value and even purpose in doing homework. In this week's episode, we share the value of "doing the work" and what that looks like in our marriage.   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcast...

We love sharing the stories of what makes you smile when you think about your spouse.   But we also know many of our listeners are in tough marriages and may not have much if anything to smile about.   This week we spend a few minutes to pray for our listeners who are in marriages that feel hopeless.       To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.c...

We can't seem to help it- the words we speak are often clothed in this invisible layer we call tone- sometimes that tone makes us understand each other there better, and other times, those tones make things worse.   Especially when tones are misread and then we assume things that aren't there.   In this week's episode, we share our struggle with tone and how we keep them from getting misread.    ...

How do family vacations look for your family?   They often are a mix of rushing, relaxing, and new adventures. In this week's episode, we share some of our favorite memories traveling as a family and how we learned to trust God in the unexpected twists and turns!     To connect with us on social media: Facebook   Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: t...

Have you taken a vacation recently?  Getting away can be really fun and healthy or it can be full of stress and anxiety.  In this week's episode, we're sharing and how we feel about vacations and our struggles around traveling.  To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindoursmiles.com

In honor of our 200th episode, we're celebrating TWOs and the ways we are better TWO-gether.   Batman and Robin, Woody and Buzz, Paul and Silas - all dynamic duos where you can't imagine one without the other!   In this week's episode we share what makes a good partnership so that our marriage can be a dynamic duo!   To connect with us on social media: Facebook   Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfa...

  Do you have Fan Wars in your house? One person who prefers the fan be on, and the other one who needs it to be off?   In this episode, we laugh about our dilemma with the fan and how we work through our differing preferences.     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindoursmiles.com  

How do you feel about birthdays?   Maybe you love celebrating yours or maybe it brings up a host of negative emotions about your worth.  In honor of Joe's birthday this week, we share some of our "birthday baggage" and how our identity is not tied to the circumstances surrounding our birth, nor who we are born to!   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaith...

In this last session of summer school, we share about another foundational skill that benefits our marriage: kindness. Once you've mastered forgiveness and offered grace, being kind is a great next step. It may be a simple skill to learn, but it can have a huge impact!  Join us this week as we share about the ABC's of being kind!     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindour...

This week we're tackling another foundational skill that we need for healthy relationships: grace!     Grace is one of those things that we love to receive but we are more hesitant to freely give.   In our second session of Summer School we share the ABC's of showing grace in our marriages.   These are the Conversation Cards that we mentioned :)     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Ins...

School's out so that means it's time for…. summer school!   Sometimes summer school is all about brushing up on foundational skills so you're ready to move on to the next level.   In our marriage, one foundational skill we need to know is how to forgive.   In this week's summer school episode, we're sharing the "ABC's" of forgiveness!   Previous epidsodes on forgiveness: Will You Forgive Me? Part...

Did you have a "good Dad"?   Are you, or your husband, a good dad?   Joe and I have vastly different experiences with our own fathers but we can agree on the characteristics of what makes a good dad.   In this episode, we talk about the positive and negative influences our fathers have on us.     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcast...

We're celebrating our 28th anniversary this month! Like many couples, we look back and remember the ups and downs, and all highs and lows in our marriage. This week we share some of those moments and what we learned through each season.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindoursmiles.com

Do you like to be pursued by your spouse?  What does it even mean to pursue each other?  In this episode we share about the value of pursuit in marriage and what it is that we are pursuing.    To connect with us on social media: Facebook   Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindoursmiles.com

We have added another daughter to our family!  We recently celebrated the wedding of our son, Jeremiah, to his bride, Evangeline.  In this week's episode we share highlights of the wedding day and a few things we shared with our newlyweds about marriage.     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindo...

What makes you smile when you think about your husband or wife?   Sometimes what makes us smile is the most random quirks and imperfections. This week we're sharing fun comments and stories we received from you that make us smile!       To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@behindoursmiles.com

Is Mother's Day a "loaded" holiday for you or your spouse?   Does it bring up emotions and memories you'd rather not deal with?   In this episode, Joe shares openly about the scars he still carries from an abusive mother and how he has found healing in Christ.   To connect with us on social media: Facebook   Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behind-our-smiles Email: tara@b...

As Mother's Day approaches, what kind of emotions come to the surface?  Specifically, when you think of your mother, what do you hear her saying?   The messages we hear as a child can often stay with us for life, especially if those messages were negative or hurtful.  This week we're sharing our emotions around Mother's Day and the importance of replacing negative voices with God's truth.   As Mot...

What makes someone a good manager at work?   As Joe stepped into a management role, we saw that some of the same tools that make for a good work manager can be just as helpful in context of marriage. This week we share the last three principles of managing your marriage well as a husband.   To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles.com myfaithpodcasts.com/podcasts/behi...

What makes someone a good manager at work?   As Joe stepped into a management role, we saw that some of the same tools that make for a good work manager can be just as helpful in context of marriage.   Joe recently had an opportunity to share with a group of men at a local marriage conference about this topic.   This week we share the first two principles of managing your marriage well as a husban...

One of the most impactful types of "body language" that God has given husbands and wives is sexual intimacy.   But like other areas of communication, sometimes our messages get lost in translation and cause disconnection.   We've seen in our own story how our own relationship with physical touch and our past traumas can greatly affect our ability to give and receive physical love.   This week we s...

What is the message that your body language is sending to your spouse?   The experts say that 70% of communication is non-verbal communication:   facial expressions, gestures, body language.   Just like our words, we can use our body language to build up or tear down.   In this week's episode we share how we use body language to pursue connection.     To connect with us on social media: Facebook I...

It's the game that drives you crazy!   Both options seem so extreme but you have to pick one.   Besides having a little fun, this game also helps us to learn about each other and what makes us tick.   In this episode, we play a few rounds of Would You Rather and discovered what our answers reveal about what we each value .     To connect with us on social media: Facebook Instagram behindoursmiles....

Dustin Lolli is the lead singer of Sanctus Real. Have you ever faced challenges in your marriage that didn't make any sense, but they were still very, very real?    Dustin is the lead singer of Sanctus Real and he and his wife Sarah make up the folk duo, This Way Home.   They shared with us their love story and the hardships that they have had to walk through together, including financial struggle...