20 Surprisingly Simple Rules And Tools For A Great Family

Best-selling author Dr. Steve Stephens offers concrete yet simple ways to build marriages today, even when life speeds by at a frantic pace. Along with a prayer to ask for God's help, each chapter offers ideas and tools that make following rules like "Accept Differences," "Listen Carefully," and "Compliment Daily" easy. Readers will be surprised at how applying these simple rules can make a good marriage even better . . . or keep a struggling marriage from falling apart.

Small changes day by day can make a big difference. This book offers surprisingly simple steps that anyone can use to build deeper relationships, create lasting memories, and ultimately follow God'TMs plan for their life. Stephens provides twenty stand-alone chapters, each focusing on a simple way to live every day to its fullest potential and strengthen your relationship with God and others.

“Help!” “He Doesn’t Get What I’m Not Saying!” “She Doesn’t Say What She Means!” Every marriage faces communication problems–whether about sex, vacation, careers, children, or the remote control. Why do guys often feel clueless, no matter how hard they try? Why do women get so tired of dropping hints that they snap? How can something that started out so good, end up so frustating? Licensed psychologist Dr. Steve Stephens says that communication between genders is truly a cross-cultural experience. The key to communicating well is learning how to interpret the vocabulary, body language, silences, and needs of your spouse–which may be quite different from yours. Using practical insights from his own two decades of marriage and his twenty-five years as a professional counselor, Dr. Stephens uncovers the differences in communication that lead to relationship breakdown. With a fun and exciting look at the reasons behind marital frustrations, he offers a solution so simple, with results so extraordinary, that you will delight to know what your spouse is really saying–and learn how true communication can change your marriage forever.

Lists the top sex needs of husbands and wives and discusses how to meet those needs from a Christian perspective.

Every woman longs to be appreciated, respected, and adored, but when her needs aren’t met within her marriage, she could be tempted to walk away. As little hurts and disappointments accumulate and her heart hardens, a woman’s loneliness and vulnerability take over, and she might find emotional fulfillment elsewhere, perhaps in even a casual encounter with another man. When the marriage enters this realm of real danger, the woman believes it will be less painful to walk away than try to work on it. With heart and wisdom, Dr. Steve Stephens and Alice Gray offer practical advice for how to stop this epidemic of walk-out women. They outline the warning signs of severe marital discontent and share how to reconnect with your spouse, communicate your hurt, and open your heart. If both partners are willing to work at it, any marriage can be saved. Are You Even Thinking About Walking Out? “I’m at the point where I don’t think it is worth the effort anymore.” “The only reason I’m staying is because of the children.” “Surely God doesn’t want me to be this unhappy.” Every woman longs to be appreciated, valued, and cared for. When these needs go unmet, she may be tempted to leave the husband she once loved—but walking out is seldom the path to happiness. Like trusted friends, Dr. Steve Stephens and Alice Gray offer wise and gentle advice to restore hope to your marriage. You’ll discover proven methods for how you can move toward each other rather than away, build up instead of tear down, and find love rather than lose it. Story Behind the Book Although a growing number of women are walking away from their marriages, there are no books to help them realize that this is not the path to happiness. A woman’s discontentment settles like dust on furniture, and although she tries, she fails to make her husband understand. His responses seem too little and too late. Many women mistakenly believe it is easier emotionally to leave the marriage than try to restore it. We want a woman to realize that even when her heart seems closed to her husband, there is a way to open it and become one again. Loss of love does not equal loss of marriage. Loss of hope does not mean the relationship should be abandoned.

Creating a great family doesn't have to be difficult or require a lot of hard work. It's really about little changes that produce big results. 20 (Surprisingly Simple) Rules and Tools for a Great Family includes practical, easy-to-apply principles and tools anyone can use to build closer relationships with your kids, improve communication with your mate, and create lasting family memories. You'll be surprised at how a few simple rules can make a good family better ... or keep a struggling family from falling apart. So learn the rules—and get ready for a really great family!

Just as Masters and Johnson were pioneers in the study of human sexuality, so Dr. John Gottman has revolutionized the study of marriage. As a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and the founder and director of the Seattle Marital and Family Institute, he has studied the habits of married couples in unprecedented detail over the course of many years. His findings, and his heavily attended workshops, have already turned around thousands of faltering marriages. This book is the culmination of his life's work: the seven principles that guide couples on the path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Straightforward in their approach, yet profound in their effect, these principles teach partners new and startling strategies for making their marriage work. Gottman helps couples focus on each other, on paying attention to the small day-to-day moments that, strung together, make up the heart and soul of any relationship. Being thoughtful about ordinary matters provides spouses with a solid foundation for resolving conflict when it does occur and finding strategies for living with those issues that cannot be resolved. Packed with questionnaires and exercises whose effectiveness has been proven in Dr. Gottman's workshops, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the definitive guide for anyone who wants their relationship to attain its highest potential. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the result of Dr. John Gottman's many years of closely observing thousands of marriages. This kind of longitudinal research has never been done before. Based on his findings, he has culled seven principles essential to the success of any marriage. Maintain a love map. Foster fondness and admiration. Turn toward instead of away. Accept influence. Solve solvable conflicts. Cope with conflicts you can't resolve. Create shared meaning. Dr. Gottman's unique questionnaires and exercises will guide couples on the road to revitalizing their marriage, or making a strong one even better.