top 5 reasons to get premarital mentoring

Top 5 Reasons to Get Pre-Marital Mentoring

[This is a guest post by Randy Hamm from The Marriage Mentor. He has been working with premarital and married couples for over 10 years.]

“Um, to be honest, what would we talk to a mentor about for 6 hours?”

I had just explained that I usually recommend a minimum of three, 2-hour sessions (for a total of 6 hours) for premarital mentoring. The bride-to-be (let’s call her Kate) on the other end of the line couldn’t imagine needing to talk for so long about their relationship. I had them complete an online assessment, and once they began to see their assessment results, they decided that it couldn’t hurt. Halfway through the second session they, specifically the guy (let’s call him Will), commented how much they enjoyed the process: exploring their differences, looking at the families they came from and their styles of communication. Now they are eager to get to the next topics of discussion (finances, sexuality, kids, etc).

I’ve seen dozens of couples in the Vancouver area make discoveries like this.
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How Marriage is Different in Indonesia

How Marriage is Different in Indonesia

We’ve spent the last week in Bali, Indonesia. It’s one of the most beautiful vacation destinations in Asia, and also where my brother recently got married. One of the things we’ve enjoyed during our stay here was having conversations with the local Balinese people. What we’ve discovered is that the marriage rules in Indonesia are quite different from what we are familiar with in North America.
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10 Things Your Spouse Needs to Hear You Say

What I Learned: 10 Things Your Spouse Needs to Hear You Say

[“What I Learned” is a guest post series of lessons learned in relationships that matter the most (you can send us your story too). This guest post is by fellow blogger Ngina Otiende.]

Words have creative power.

The universe was created with words.

In marriage and when life gets busier – kids, career commitments e.t.c – the small things tend to suffer first.
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How I Fought With My In-Laws (and Won)

How I Fought With My In-Laws (and Won)

[This is an excerpt of our book, “Then Came The Baby“, about the time I fought with my in-laws shortly after Allie was born.]

Before Allie was one week old, I had a big fight with Olive’s parents. They were so angry they wanted to cancel Christmas.

Well, technically no one could cancel Christmas. But they wanted to cancel Christmas with us by changing their plane tickets to fly back to Toronto early.
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Dear Bride-to-be, It's Not (Just) About You

Dear Bride-to-be, It’s Not (Just) About You

“It’s your big day, you deserve for it to be perfect – the way you’d always dreamed for it to be.” So goes the common sentiment when it comes to brides. This line of thinking might be good business for wedding magazines and bridal shows, but in reality, it’s untrue. If I could write a letter to all the women out there who are planning for their wedding day, here’s what I’d say:
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