“The Art of Relationships” Podcast

Friendships are supposed to be life-giving, but what happens when they are not? What can you look for in friendships that bring the opposite? In this podcast, Dr. Chris Grace and Dr. Tim Muehlhoff discuss how to identify and deal with toxic friendships.

When you haven't had a model for what a healthy relationship looks like, where do you turn? We talk with Mike and Stephanie Anderson as they describe their story. Growing up in a home without a solid model of marriage, Mike had doubts about marriage being worth investing in. Where he learned to appreciate marriage may surprise you!

When a person wants to change something about their life, how should they be motivated? Often, fear motivates a person to try to change their behavior or cover their actions so no one sees it. What would acceptance and love do for that person? In this podcast episode, we continue our conversation with Karrie Garcia the work she has done with addicts or those tempted with adultery or those caught in shame. 

"If you're not fighting in a relationship, then someone's lying. Someone's not telling the truth because you're taking a passive stance...There is a huge difference between selflessness and passivity. A lot of times in the name of selflessness, we're just like 'Well, I'm not going to bring it up. I'm not going to say what I need. I'm not going to talk through this.' That's not selflessness, that's conflict avoiding." 

Today we continue the conversation with author Debra Fileta on how intentionally couples need to continually choose marriage rather than choosing to focus on personal happiness.

First dates, love notes, romance, there are so many different approaches to how it should be done. Christians are often told to avoid the hookup culture that is so common today, but beyond that, what should they do?

"We're talking about gritty, person to person intimacy of two people who know each other better than anyone else on the planet, and they still remain committed and in love with one another."

Dennis Rainey had a vision to help equip engaged and newly married couples around him. He felt the need struggling relationships had for tools and felt God call him to help mentor them. Fast forward 40 years and FamilyLife Conferences have reached hundreds of thousands of couples who want to set a strong foundation for their relationship. We got to talk about how marriage is changing and struggles that many couples find themselves in. 

“It's an important distinction to make, that the parts of us are not bad. Just like you have arms and legs, parts of your soul aren't bad. You want them, and they can work for you. The problem is if they become extreme, or if they take you over and you're not being led by the Holy Spirit.”

Anger, shame, sadness, envy, criticism. When you feel these emotions build up inside you, what is your gut instinct? What if those emotions are trying to tell you something about what is important to you? What if they are coming from a place that needs your attention? On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Kim Miller, MTh, LMFT, and author of Boundaries For Your Soul. She explains that our emotions can tell us a lot about ourselves...if we will just listen!