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!

"So, if my son has a bad game am I just going to go throttle on him and lay on more after the game. That's not what he needs to hear. He kind of needs to hear the 'I love you no matter what.' That's important to show like 'I love you when you do well' and 'I love you when you do bad' because my love is not indicative of your results. That is really important for a child to hear that. Like, 'I love you no matter what, okay?' Tune in as we continue the conversation with the Angels and Dodgers chaplains as they discuss how to parent their own kids in the midst of a performance-driven culture.

When you think "baseball", does your mind show you images of the World Series, home runs, hot dogs, loaded bases, and mascots? What about the personal side of a baseball team? Where do they get emotional and spiritual support? In today's podcast, the LA Dodgers chaplain Brandon Cash and LA Angels chaplain Jack Grogger take us inside the innings as we kickstart our new Freeway Series!

"We want to fix it. We do want to provide answers. There's a fear when we hear somebody start to question God and we feel like we've got to fix that for them right away..." We continue the conversation with Dr. Ed Uszynski in this podcast episode. After a car accident that severely injured his leg, as well as the death of a close friend and the loss of a friend's grandson, Ed reflects with us on what he needs most in the dark moments following a tragedy.

"Marriage has fallen on hard times in our culture. It doesn't get held up as something admirable and something that gets handed down to the next generation. So I feel like people are more and more on their own trying to figure it out for themselves." In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Chris Grace and Dr. Tim Muehlhoff talk with Dr. Ed Uszynski, contributing author to Athletes in Action and speaker for FamilyLife. Marriage is changing and more people start marriage without the tools to succeed. How is that showing up in those relationships? Listen to hear this discussion!

"We want to connect with a marriage counselor, but there aren't any near us?" "My friend is making some bad decisions! What do I do?" What do you think? How would you respond to these? These are just some of the questions we get to answer on today's podcast. These situations are ones that listeners have submitted to us and we love taking time to answer them. Listen as Dr. Grace and Dr. Muehlhoff share their thoughts on these situations and others.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn. The list can go on and on. Social media sites can be found just about anywhere you look. So often we talk about the negative impacts social media can have on relationships but rarely do we flesh out what those are. And even more rarely do we ever consider benefits that social media can bring to our relationships. How has social media impacted your relationships?