The Living Marriages Podcast | Effective Communication, Intimacy, Healthy Habits, Christian Counseling, Christian Parenting

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...

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 a...

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 o...

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-v...

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 lect...

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...

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 beau...

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...

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 an...

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 Get...

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...

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

We are so excited to introduce you to our good friends, Cris and Christy Harper. After God moved them to Edmonton from Alabama in the midst of a global pandemic to start church ministry, they felt a bit untethered in life and in their marriage. As they were approaching the end of the year, God invited them to a new practice, one which they've developed and practiced regularly at the end of each ye...

In Episode 89, we spoke with our friend Justin Chan about how in being curious about our differences and learning to honour them, God can draw us closer to one another and himself! On today's Thursday Thought we take time to reflect on some of the differences in our marriage, get curious about them and pray about how the Lord might be inviting us to honour these differences. We also are reminded a...

If you've been listening to the podcast for awhile, you'll know that two of the biggest dangers marriages face today are "drift" and "difference". Each is a tool the enemy uses to great effect to drive us further apart in our marriages.  Today's guest, Justin Chan, Director of Oneness for Power to Change and founder of the PRAXIS experience, shares his wisdom and experience of how understanding an...

As we discussed in Ep. 87, the holiday season can be anything but "the most wonderful time of the year." However, with clear communication and intentional planning, our families can move from just surviving this time to actually enjoying and thriving in it. Join us for this Thursday Thought as we reflect further on what kind of communication and planning we might need to have BEFORE we're in the t...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." At least that's how the carol goes. With American Thanksgiving barely in the rearview mirror and Christmas barreling towards us, are you feeling the joy and wonder of the Advent and Christmas seasons or are you feeling the pressure and expectation of yet another holiday? If you're feeling the pressure, like we are, make sure to stop and do this one thi...

On this Thursday Thought, we lean into God's grace and love as we seek to discover God's best for our sex life. We reflect on: Our conversation from Episode 85 with Joanna Sawatsky of baremarriage.com We re-affirm our view of the sacredness of sex intended for the covenant of marriage We lean into God's grace and healing for those affected by pornography, purity culture and more We discuss how obl...

There has been a lot of conversation in Christian circles recently about some of the well-intentioned yet harmful marriage advice that is being perpetuated, especially in some best-selling Christian materials. Today's guest, Joanna Sawatsky, has been working to shine a light on some of these teachings and their effects on marriages through rigorous research. Along with the team at baremarriage.com...

On this Thursday Thought, we take time to reflect on the conversation we had with Matt and Mandy Horne in episode 83. We draw encouragement and instruction from how God held them close and how they walked in "deep trust" with him through challenging transitions in life and marriage. We pray for all of our listeners going through these difficult seasons of transition. Next Steps If you'd like us to...

Mandy and Matt Horne have experienced A LOT of transition in their nearly 25 years of marriage. From several moves to adoption to working in ministry to starting a business, they have experienced the joys and challenges of the different seasons of life God has brought them through. In our conversation you'll hear: How God has held them close and how they have clung to him through difficult transit...

On this Thursday Thought, we reflect back on Ep. 81 and the Marriage Hierarchy of Needs by Sheila and Keith Gregoire from "The Marriage You Want." We reflect and pray on the idea that if one of you feels like you're being chased by a bear in your marriage, you both are! Are we on the same level in our marriage and if not, have we communicated about it? Is this a season we are in by choice and if s...

You may have heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs before - the idea that basic needs (such as food, clothing and safety) must be met before we can move into higher ideals (friendship, self-esteem, self-actualization.) What if the same were true for marriage? Authors Sheila Wray Gregoire and Dr. Keith Gregoire think this is the case. In their latest book, "The Marriage You Want", Sheila and Keith p...

After hearing Christina Worthing's powerful and moving story from Episode 79, this Thursday Thought is a simple one: it's a prayer for those who find themselves in unexpected grief and a prayer for those sharing together in that grief. It's a prayer for the church to step into its calling to "mourn with those who mourn." (Romans 12:15) It's a prayer for humility and wisdom in how we do this and fo...

At the Living Marriages Podcast, we feel it a privilege and a calling to share stories of Christ-centred marriages in all of their joys and challenges. Today's stories is about one of those marriages. Christina and Sean loved Jesus and they loved each other. And then suddenly, at a very young age, Sean passed away unexpectedly.  What came next for Christina was a story of inexplicable grief, confu...