Addiction. Depression. Anxiety. Unfaithfulness. Suicidal thoughts. Job loss. The list includes many of the reasons marriages disintegrate. Adelle and Travis Graham experienced them all – and more. But instead of letting adversity tear them apart, the couple leaned into God’s strength, pursued healing and now offer hope to others suffering similarly. 

Internationally respected couple's therapists and speakers Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., and Helen LaKelly Hunt Ph.D. dream of bettering the world through the renown Safe Conversations dialogue, and hope to spark a global social movement. Their well-known courses, trainings, and curriculums teach people how to have safe, healthy conversations.

According to Dr. Harville, “ Everybody needs to be seen, heard and valued.” Through their books and resources, Dr. Harville and Dr. Helen have impacted and continue to impact the prosperity of relationships by teaching people everywhere how to have safe conversations.

Committed, visionary leaders like the Byron and Francine Pirola will continue to pass the Catholic Church’s beliefs and values to the next generation. Their commitment has led them to serve in Catholic lay leadership roles at the parish, diocesan and national levels for more than three decades. The Pirola’s teach that “marriage is not just for life-long happiness, but a healthy marriage is central to the proclamation of the Gospel.” Through their work they’ve helped and continue to help countless couples have strong, loving relationships.

Together, Dan and Danielle Macaulay are a voice for marriage as they blend their unique skills and talents to create a complete date night package for couples.

Their wisdom holds true for churches, worship teams, women’s groups, and couples they reach through their Married UP ministry. They stress that both spouses “married up,” as they are each made better by the other.

Joe and Stephanie DeMott are planning their 50th wedding anniversary next year. But things have not always been so rosy for the couple who founded Missionaries2Marriages 10 years ago and have dedicated the last 38 years of their lives ministering to couples in the U.S. and across the globe.

During their own journey of healing, they realized that they needed to pour out what they learned, as God showed them the importance of testimony.

Sue and Tony Morris remain an ordinary couple, juggling family, work and church activities. But this ordinary couple has done extraordinary things – including spearheading thousands of volunteers as they serve as leaders for Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter is the Gold Standard of Catholic marriage curricula as it continues to be the most popular faith-based marriage enrichment in the world. A non-profit movement, WWME exists as its own entity and presents more than 4,000 experiences in nearly 100 countries every year.

Leaders of the Thrive Training Program Chris and Jen Coursey define joy as “relational glad-to-be-togetherness.” Such a joy is the glue that holds our relationships together and is the expression of joy that our brains are hardwired to seek.

Through Thrive Training courses and resources, couples can remind each other of the things they appreciate, and reflect on what brought them together to re-grow the joy in their marriage.

Before she became the voice of Catholic media, Teresa spent 20 years in the secular world following her dream career in broadcast journalism. Her husband, Dominick Pastore, likewise was climbing the corporate ladder as a successful architectural engineer. They should have been on top of the world, but striving for career success had taken a toll on their relationship. Their marriage was imploding, but the more they tried to fix it in their own strength, the worse their struggles became. Six years in, the couple had run out of ideas and was almost ready to call it quits.

It was an invitation to a Bible study that changed the trajectory of their lives. The Bible Study ignited Dominick’s relationship with Jesus and once Teresa joined Dominick in study and developed her relationship with Jesus, their marriage started to grow.

God is faithful. He promises a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair… and to repay for the years the locusts have eaten.

The rebirth of Brad and Lisa Valencia’s now 22-year marriage could be described no less vividly.

Twelve years ago, it seemed their relationship was dead. Brad had walked away from life with Lisa, leaving her alone with three small children, one just nine months old. Divorce papers had been prepared. Lisa was about to sign, until a phone call from Brad caused her to pause.

He told her he felt God calling him back in forgiveness to the faith and family he’d left.

You’ve seen them – men and women sitting in church week after week by themselves. Or maybe that person is you. You may have found Christ after marriage or returned to the faith in which you were raised, but either way – you are pursuing a relationship with God, while your spouse is… not. 

Coach and speaker Lynn Donovan offers wisdom and support to those in a spiritually mismatched marriage. Her work offers hope and help to a Christian learning to be united with their spouse, even when he or she holds very different beliefs.

If you’ve hit your 40th birthday and you’re married, you’ve probably felt the pull of midlife. Maybe it’s the squeeze of taking care of an aging parent and the kids. Or a corporate restructure has jumpstarted early retirement. Perhaps an empty nest has caused you and your spouse to wonder if you even know each other. Any and all of these situations can cause a midlife couple to pause and take inventory of their lives and the state of their marriage.

Dorothy Greco, award-winning photographer, author and speaker, addresses midlife issues and transparently shares lessons learned as she and her husband, Christopher, have navigated the past 33 years of marriage together … and in so doing drawn closer to God and each other.

Author, speaker, podcast host and soon-to-be filmmaker Laura Gallier has created content to address both aspects of sexual relationships through a biblical lens —before and after marriage.

She shares the importance of having a correct mindset about sex-related values in romantic relationships, speaking to thousands of teens about God’s best plan for their purity.

Laura and her husband Patrick offer a streaming course for married couples that opens the door for meaningful conversations and discusses topics that have once been taboo in Christian circles.

Whether engaged or newly married, young couples need a supportive community with authentic relationships. Ryan and Mary Rose Verret began working with engaged couples in their local parish to develop a better way to prepare them for a lasting marriage and reconnect them to their church family. The Verret’s created the Witness to Love program in 2012 for engaged couples to choose married mentors from their church to journey with them as they prepare for their married life together.

Why is it important for a couple to be in rhythm? As anyone who’s ever watched a Dancing with the …. show can attest, both partners need to be in synch for their performance to be successful. If one is dancing a tango and the other a waltz, their steps won’t coincide. The analogy follows in marriage. It takes both the husband and the wife moving on beat together to navigate their marital journey harmoniously. 

Authors, speakers, and podcasters Chris and Jenni Graebe use this concept to encourage marriages. Their ministry, The Rhythm of Us, helps identify where couples might be in or out of rhythm and offers tools to help them align their steps for a happy, healthy marriage.

God designed the family as the primary unit of society. And marriage is the heart of the family. Since marriage was designed by God, what better place to find instruction on how to live it out than in His Word?

The concept of applying scripture to daily life forms the foundation of Scott LaPierre’s teaching. He first began preparing a marriage sermon series for his congregation at Woodland Christian Church in Washington state. Marriage month sermons grew into a year-round emphasis and commitment to help the families of his flock thrive in their relationships.

Most people would agree that raising ten children over 39 years of marriage qualifies someone to be considered an expert in family dynamics. The fact that psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi and his wife adopted those children, some from very difficult circumstances, lends even more credibility to the advice he offers through his practice and media ministry.

How can families love each other well? That question inspired Mark and Susan Merrill to found non-profit Family First, formerly the Florida Family Council, more than three decades ago. While they initially worked to change laws that impacted family, they realized changing hearts and minds was most important. They began creating encouraging, helpful content for families, including the Family Minute radio spot that aired on stations nationwide.

The Great Commission – sharing the Gospel worldwide until every tongue and tribe has heard the good news – has been the passion of Dr. Dave Harvey for more than three decades. A graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, he’s now President of the Great Commission Collective in charge of church planting, church care and international outreach, a position that allows him to travel internationally teaching pastors and missionaries.

Do you know if your personality is similar to that of an Otter, a Golden Retriever, a Beaver or a Lion? If these terms are familiar to you, chances are you’ve read The Two Sides of Love, a classic marriage book written by Dr. John Trent. The animal identifications are part of a personality strengths assessment John developed for his doctoral dissertation in Marriage and Family Counseling. Understanding strengths is one important step in the process of relating well with others as outlined in his book and his other bestselling marriage and parenting book, The Blessing.

You’ve heard the hit, “This is How We Do It.” Everyone’s familiar with the anthem that’s been part of pop culture for the last 25+ years. It’s a ubiquitous favorite, played by the NFL, NBA, in commercials and at weddings and proms — guaranteed to pack the dance floor. The song’s artist/manager duo, Montell and Kristin Jordan, had been married less than a year when the title reached number #1 on the charts. The couple’s rocketing fame almost caused their marriage to disintegrate. They weathered trials and tribulations, and eventually, after two decades of world tours and millions of album sales, they chose marriage over music, faith over fame, and significance over success.