Married Up: Recent Episodes
Dan & Danielle Macaulay
A few moments to keep your marriage moving in the right direction! We are Dan & Danielle Macaulay and we BOTH married up 20 years ago. We are thrilled to bring you this marriage encouragement podcast - presented by A Better Us! We know our imperfect marriage, differences included, can become a win-win when we allow God to help us navigate it all. We believe the same is true of you! So we're doing our best, and inviting you along to see that YOU married up too!marriedup.netabetterus.tv
Pornography is easier to access than ever and statistics show that its addicting powers are damaging a large percentage of our population and crushing marriages all around us. Today we talk to Dustin and Tori Weedman, whose marriage suffered due to Dustin's addiction to pornography until he confessed it to her and overcame it with God's help. Their story will encourage you and provide a roadmap away from the destruction caused by even dabbling in Porn.
Life pulls us all in 100 different directions and if we're not paying close attention we can blink and find too much distance between us and our spouse. Today we talk to Ron and Ann Mainse - creators and hosts of the Canadian marriage television show "A Better Us"! We hear some great stories and advice on how life can easily pull us apart and how to fight to stay truly connected - including the BEST way to make sure we stay connected. We also hear about Ron and Ann's new couples devotional "Come Closer" and how just a few minutes a day can make a huge difference in your marriage!
Your Heavenly Father can bring dead things back to life. He did it with His Son, and we've heard from countless marriages that he's done it with too! If your marriage feels dead or dying - there is hope! Today we talk to Tara Root about her new book "The Beer Bottle Rose" which tells the true story of her parents' marriage, salvation, and ensuing legacy. You will be encouraged again that nothing is impossible with our good God!
Nothing carries ripple effect into the future like parenting. The way we parent and the way we live out our marriage in front of our kids will affect future generations and perhaps influence if they even desire to get married someday. Mix in careers and other pursuits into the juggling act and the balance only gets more complicated! Today we talk to Nick and Britney Serban, Lead Pastors of Full Life Church in Franklin, TN, about all of this - and how they find balance while raising their 4 young kids! Such a great talk! Can't wait for you to listen in.
The enemy of your marriage and family doesn't want you 'bad', he wants you busy. Because saying "yes" to one thing is ultimately saying "no" to something else. As a couple, you need to come together and decide "what's important to US?" What are you all about as a couple? What is your family's mission statement? (Did you know God has a specific mission for your marriage?) Let Jay and Laura help you find yours at jayandlaura.com under "coaching" with the code "married up"!
You are going to be so inspired as you listen to our interview with Lance and Alison Welch about how to navigate the process of creating your ideal family legacy! Lance wrote the book "The Legacy Navigator" which is packed with stories of how others have created powerful, multi-generational impact for their family and instructions on how to do it for yours. We cover some of those and give you resources to create your own personal family legacy. Together, Lance and Allison host the "Beyond The Nest Podcast" as well! Legacy is not just about what you leave behind; it's the deliberate actions and choices you make today that ripple long after you're gone.
Betrayal and Infidelity don't happen overnight. There are warning signs and a lead up that can be recognized and intercepted. Today we'll talk about some of those! But even in the crushing aftermath of total betrayal there is hope for those whose Father is the master restorer! He can bring even very dead things back to life. Jim is the author of the book "Hope is Where the Heart is: A Story of Marriage Broken and Restored" and as we interview Jim and Shannon Porteau, you'll be amazed at their journey and what God has done and is now doing in their restored lives and marriage!
This week we're talking to award-winning Gospel recording artist Alvin Slaughter and his wife, Joy, who is a Board Certified Master Life Coach! Together they get very honest about some of their past marriage struggles as well as some of the most common issues and solutions among married couples that Joy sees week to week in her coaching! There is, for sure, something here for you in what they share! Find more on that coaching at: Gracefulmarriagecoaching.com
This week we interview Apollos and Amy Hall, who together lead "Mending Eden" Thirteen years ago, just one year into marriage, Apollos and Amy Hall stood on the brink of separation. Yet what seemed like the end, became the turning point of a powerful transformation. Choosing to fast and pray for 21 days they sought God’s direction and He gave them a vision for their marriage. After you hear their story you're going to want to try something similar because the results are amazing!
Today we kick off a brand new season of amazing interviews on The Married Up Podcast. (AUDIO FILE NOW REPAIRED) We begin with Jesse and Natalie Weedman. Natalie wrote Creative Comfort about their experience walking through one of the hardest and most heartbreaking things a marriage could survive - the loss of a young child. You will be blown away by how God met them in their lowest moments and their testimony now, and you'll be encouraged to build into your marriage now the foundations that can carry heavy weight together one day - should you ever need to.
Let's be clear, human love fails. But God offers us a love that does not, and He also offers to enable us to live out unfailing love in our marriage.
Have you ever had a coach or mentor who believes in you much that they practically WILL-you to be better? This is what love does. It's not pessimistic jaded or critical, but it believes for the best and strains forward to reach it. Let's talk about how spouses can be that for each other through all the ups and downs.
Love says "You are safe with me. I will keep your secrets. I will correct you in privately while praising you publicly and even take the fall with you or for you. You can trust that I will put your good ahead of my own. Let's talk about how these ideas play out in marriage!
Here's another great way your marriage makes you better - When you are "equally yoked" (as the Bible calls it) you have effectively DOUBLED your ability to hear from the Holy Spirit! And when stand together, against evil, and for truth together, and are open to correction from each other, you are so much stronger!
When we take on the burden of keeping records of other people's wrongs it creates burdens we were never meant to carry. When we self-preserve we actually self-harm. When we assume the role of JUDGE, we are inferring God's judgment will be insufficient. Let's talk about letting go and being free.
When uncontrolled anger is allowed to flow unchecked in a marriage you leave yourselves defenseless against destruction. Heritage and inherited family patterns are not a sufficient excuse. Let's talk about some ways to slow our anger down to something manageable and healthy. It's possible!
We are born selfish - sin-nature at it's "finest". But God's way (much higher than ours) replaces selfishness with servanthood. Marriage will "force the issue" on our inherent selfishness like almost nothing else! But it can be hard for us to learn and harder to live - let's talk about it!
How hard do you find it to honor your spouse when they are failing and faltering or when they're not keeping up "their side of the bargain" around the house... What can one do with a husband who craves honor, but isn't living his best honorable life right now? The honor the Bible tells us to give each other supersedes condition - and that make it hard for us to to give it in our own humanity! Let's talk about it.
God made us to need community, and community, especially at its most intimate expression (marriage) is humbling by design. In humility in marriage,. our "low places" are raised up by our spouse who covers us and our high places are lowered down as we cover them. In humility love calls us to lay down what we want as we receive what we really need.
Is it possible to be envious or jealous of your spouse? Maybe thinking they have the 'better end of the deal' in this season, or that their part in your shared roles is better than yours? How can we embrace contentment, practice gratitude and re-frame our thoughts surround the TEAM that is your marriage? Let's talk!
Right after praying together regularly, the best marriage glue there is, is simply being KIND to one another. We talk about the benefits of this and it is amazing! Your spouse will even find you more physically attractive when you're kind to them. It costs nothing and it works!
This season we are going through the descriptions of love from 1 Corinthians 13 one by one - but in a fresh and fun way! So starting at the beginning, love is patient! If you've been married more than 5 minutes you know marriage requires PATIENCE... Jump in to season 4 with us - it's going to be fun!
Are you operating in disfunction and don't even realize it? Maybe it's been a slow drift, or you've adopted patterns we all see in the world around us that aren't actually helpful, healthy or Biblical. This week we have some reminders of what your spouse IS and what they are NOT. A quick refresher that we all need from time to time!
If you could go back and give your newlywed self one piece of advice - what would it be? We asked this question on socials and we have all the answers! There's some good advice here - and it's good advice for all us old-ly-weds to be reminded of too!
Is your life moving at 90MPH to the point where you and your spouse can be "ships passing in the night"? So many of us live life in the fast lane to the point that staying connected in our marriages can get left in the dust cloud of the rat race! Pastors Chris and Jeanette Willis share with us all some of the things that help them stay grounded together in the midst of their busy lifestyle!
We talk to our new friends, former CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cat, Luke Tasker and his wife Jenna Tasker, about the seasons of their marriage together, and the sacrifice each one requires! Listen to find out the one constant that held them together through it all - it's something key to every marriage!
Your "little birdies", if you have any, ARE going to grow up and leave the nest one day! What will that be like? What can you do NOW (if you're not there yet) to prepare your marriage and your "birdies" for that moment so you both thrive? We talk with Pastors, long time friends of ours, and fresh empty-nesters Paul and Lori Allen and it's a GREAT conversation for you to listen-in on!
Has rejection been a part of your life? We bet it has! And rejection can cause an infection that will make us react to our spouse and everyone around us out of hurt in self defense. But in reality, not all rejection is bad. Sometimes is can be a gift from God! Let's talk about how we can see rejection and ourselves correctly and combat the lies of the enemy with the truth of God's Word!
Everyone wants to live life on the mountaintops, but "real life" happens in the valleys... Tune in and hear the testimony of God's faithfulness to our friends Andrew and Tara Root. They ooze wisdom - so come get some! No matter what valley you're in, or what trouble is behind you, there is always hope ahead and "it's all about the finish!"
What do you do when the "Ashes" of your past reignite and threaten to burn down your marriage? Our friends Joe and Karen Amaral join us with their riveting story of absolute brokenness from past abuse and their journey to healing, as well as how open communication saved a marriage some said was doomed from the start.
There are lots of "personality tests" out there that can tell you a whole bunch about yourself. But we tried one recently that you do AS A COUPLE that shines a light on where you're "hitting and missing" in your marriage and can really help you tune-up your relationship. We'll tell you about our own interesting results and point you to it in case you want to try it too!
How teachable are you? Are you willing to make room for your spouse to help you in areas you are weak, while being gracious enough to help them in their weaknesses too? Pride is the enemy of unified love, while humility feeds it. This episode is going to help you count all the ways your spouse makes you better - if you let them!
The Gambles marriage was OVER. Like, divorced-for-years over. All hope of restoration was lost. There were 3 kids in the mix, and after being divorced for 3 years, God brought them to salvation and then back together to full restoration and 3 MORE miracle kids! You will be greatly inspired by their amazing testimony! There is always hope with Jesus!
What are your greatest memories? We'll go first and get the ball rolling by sharing some of OUR favorite marriage memories over the years! Stories you've for sure never heard from us (cause no one has!) By thinking through your greatest marriage memories you'll be inspired to make more - and enlightened as to what elements made those memories special and might be worth revisiting in some way!
It's time we talked about sex, baby! That thing, that thing, that thing... (insert other 90's song references here) It is a wonderful God-idea invention of our creator. A fire that can warm our house in the fireplace, or burn everything down in the wrong time and place. A fun and important one!
Got kids? This one is for you. We are not suddenly parenting experts here, but we have some Biblical principles and thought processes to share that will help you shape your own parenting style and approach so you can steward the blessing of the child or children God has given you.
No matter what challenges you face in your marriage; no matter what your past looks like; no matter how hopeless you may feel; our Heavenly Father is able to carry you and your marriage through to better days! Today we're talking with Billy and Jodie Ballenger. Their story is wild and God has been faithful to them through it all. He will be faithful to you as well.
Bill and Pam Farrel are among THE wisest people we know. Their most famous best-selling book is "Men Are Like Waffles And Women Are Like Spaghetti" (It's pretty much "marriage-canon" by now) We talk to them about this and lots more and it's gold!
Navigating the everyday (often mundane) norms of life and marriage is ONE thing - but what do we do when, hardship, tragedy, sickness, loss or struggle interrupt our life and marriage? Today we're talking with "A Better Us" founders, Ron and Ann Mainse, about when serious sickness invaded their lives, how that affected their marriage, and how they got through it together with The Lord's help.
What does an "all in" marriage look like? Is yours one? Is there a point when it's okay to be "out"? What is this new trend of "grey divorce" and how can we avoid it? This week we talk to Chris and Jamie Bailey of Expedition Marriage about these things and more and they are SUPER wise and SUPER fun. You're gonna love this one!
Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott are NY Times best selling authors and the creators of one of the most used pre-marriage counseling systems in the world - S.Y.M.B.I.S. (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts); as well as the brand new Loveology.org. Les Parrott joins us here to talk about conflict in marriage and how you can make it work for GOOD in your marriage!
Last week we talked about "what wives want" This week it's time to flip the script and talk about what the HUSBANDS want! We're sure there's one thing that comes to mind right away... but some things might surprise and help you! (BTW we do know how to actually spell socks)
Here you go fellas! Want to know what your wife actually wants from you? Want some insight into what she's thinking and how you can make her happy more often? We break it down here and it's going to help you!
Without trust and communication in a marriage you are in trouble. This week, we are talking to Major League Baseball Pitcher Chase Anderson and his wife Anna. The season of life they are in right now, with Chase on the road a lot, require a lot of trust and communication to make marriage work. But the very same principles apply to all of us no matter what our profession. Tune in and be encouraged!
Money can be a touchy subject - even with your significant other! It can cause big divisions and big fights. But when you and your spouse learn to function as a team and bring each of your strengths to the table, you can make your money work for you. Today we talk with Pastors Dan and Alicia Desrosiers about money in marriage - and they have some things to share that are going to be a big help to us all!
Are there things that keep coming up in your marriage that you thought you dealt with a long time ago? Seasons of change in life can spark responses from you or your spouse that can seem odd - like: "Where is this coming from?" We are talking with XO Marriage experts, authors and podcasters, Sean and Lanette Reed about healing, wholeness and change in marriage!
We kick off Season 2 with a fun one! We interview Keith Everette Smith and Tasha Layton. Keith is a music producer and touring artist with Tobymac; and Tasha Layton was an American Idol Contestant, a background artist for Katy Perry and is now a fantastic CCM artist herself! You can imagine how busy that makes their lives. That's a different experience than most of us - but the common denominator for ALL of us is this: marriage takes work. No matter what our life looks like or who our spouse is, marriage takes work. But when we're willing to work at it the rewards are endless.
The world is hyper focused on contagion these days... But did you know that good and bad marriages can be contagious? Whoever you associate with regularly is re-writing what is "normal" into your brain. Let's talk about one way you can safe-guard your marriage, because "All of us make mistakes, but all of us don’t have to make ALL of the mistakes!"
Is your marriage what you expected it to be? Is it going the way you always dreamt? Or are there maybe some things that, if you let your mind go there, you would wish were very different? Managing these thoughts and expectations are super important to the health of your relationship... Let's talk about navigating these tricky waters!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
Depending on the weight of the offense, forgiving can be HARD - perhaps one of the hardest things to do. But, not forgiving carries a heavy toll on your marriage - even not forgiving someone outside of your marriage can poison it all! Here's how to get past it with Jesus' help!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
Does anyone else out there enjoy "being right"? On any given subject, there are few things as satisfying as being the one who's 'right' when there's a conflict... But in marriage, believe it or not, there IS something even better...
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
So, between you and your spouse, which of you is the better listener? The way you listen to each other has a huge bearing on your intimacy and how connected you actually feel to each other. We share our challenges here - and some tips to get better at this crucial skill!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
What is Ephesians ~really~ talking about when it mentions "submission"? Is it possible these verses have been "used to abuse" for centuries? Biblical submission in marriage, done God's way, is actually MUTUAL. It's a two-way-street that creates a win-win for everyone walking on the road. Let's take a look together!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
Anyone else out there add some extra padding to their waistline during the pandemic? If we're not paying attention it's so easy to do. Without some intentionality your marriage can slide in a direction you never thought possible as well. Like a boat in the open seas, without intentionality, DRIFT happens in our marriage by default, and drift is almost never in our favor. Let's talk about how to WIN in this struggle!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
If there was a way you could virtually divorce-proof your marriage up to a 99% success rate, would you do it? It might feel foreign at first. It might stretch you a bit if it's not been "the norm" for the two of you, but it's one of the best things you can possibly do for your marriage. Let's talk about it!
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
It feels like everywhere we look there is temptation to compare what we have to what others have - including our spouses and our marriages. But, beware! Because comparison is a TRAP that leads to sin no matter what conclusion you come to. Let's talk about how to steer clear of comparison and learn to be content and secure in our own marriages.
For more info on Dan and Danielle Macaulay and this ministry visit: marriedup.net
For more information on our sponsor, the marriage TV show A Better Us, check out: abetterus.tv
This theme is central to our Podcast theme, and like it or not, it is central in your marriage! If you think your spouse is annoying, they will annoy you constantly. If you think your spouse is wise, you will find wisdom from them all the time... And on and on it goes. What do you think about your spouse and your marriage? Let's help you think well and therefore BE well!
For more information about tour ministry visit: marriedup.org
For more information about our sponsor, the marriage-building TV show, A Better Us, visit" ABetterUs.tv
Here are two tricky questions: "What is the purpose of marriage?" and "What is God's ultimate will for your life?" For those of us who are married, could it be that these two questions are intimately related - and possibly even have the same answer? Even the worst days in your marriage are a tool in God's hand to shape your life. Let's unpack this together!
For more about our ministry please visit: marriedup.net
For more about our sponsor, the marriage enriching TV show and ministry, A Better Us, please visit: abetterus.tv
Have you lost that "lovin feeling?" Maybe when you look over at your spouse you feel... not much right now... Or you even feel something negative. We hope not, but the truth is WE ALL FEEL THIS WAY SOMETIMES. You are not strange and your marriage isn't doomed. Let's talk about what you can proactively do about it!
For more about our ministry visit marriedup.net
This podcast is sponsored by the marriage-enriching TV show and ministry of A Better Us! You can learn more about the show and find helpful marriage resources at abetterus.tv
It's our very first episode of "Married Up" and we're pretty excited! We'll let you in on our personal story a bit, give you a taste of what to expect from this podcast in the coming weeks, and answer the question: "Why 'Married Up'?" - what is that title all about??
We're thrilled you're here taking this ride with us, hope you'll check out the marriage TV show we're a part of too: A Better Us - this podcast is presented by them and you can find out more about the show and where to watch it at: ABetterUs.TV
Find out more about Dan and Danielle's ministry at: MarriedUp.net
We are THRILLED to give you this quick little glimpse into "Married Up" The brand-spankin-new marriage podcast from Dan and Danielle Macaulay, and sponsored by A Better Us! We'll be launching officially on Monday October 4th, but until then, check this out, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and we'll see you soon! MarriedUp.net