Building Strong Marriages
The negative effects of the pandemic on mental health and families is already well acknowledged. Pandemics and in fact, all the crises of life highlight our great need to have strong relationships around us. Whether it’s with your spouse if you’re married, or with a close friend, or with your Growth Group. We all need strong, healthy, mutual relationships because we’re better together (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)! In this blog I want to highlight a brilliant resource that Michanne and I have been benefitting from. It’s called The Marriage Course and it’s created by Holy Trinity Brompton (the same church behind the Alpha Course!). We have already done 5 of the 7 sessions and they have been brilliant. They’re really practical and the videos are super professional and engaging. You can access all of them here: https://www.htb.org/marriage-catchup.
Don’t be intimidated by the length of the videos, because they include large sections for you and your spouse to discuss. Nicky and Sila Lee, the creators of the course, recommend doing the Marriage Course each week as a kind of ‘date night’. In the privacy of your own home, once the kids are asleep (if you have children), light a few candles, have a meal and play the video together. Not only have these nights been enjoyable for Michanne and I but they have really helped us to understand each other more and how to build a healthy and life-giving marriage. If you’re married, I encourage you to take advantage of this free course, because our marriages are meant to be a mysterious and beautiful reflection of the gospel (Ephesians 5:32).
Grace and peace,
Ben
