Making Your Spouse Your Best Friend

Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley emphasize that a strong marriage rests on friendship! Author and speaker, Becky Harling discusses how a past breast cancer diagnosis reshaped her priorities toward intentional friendships. She highlights bringing fun and adventure back, expressing gratitude, avoiding complacency, practicing wise vulnerability, and setting boundaries to prevent over-functioning or controlling behavior, including tighter safeguards around opposite-sex friendships. Greg and Erin also encourage reminiscing and flirting. In a listener question, they advise a husband navigating his wife’s perimenopause to stay curious and educate himself.   Friend-Wise: Practical Ideas for Richer Relationships   Marriage Assessment   Understanding Menopause   Hope Restored   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

Do you feel like your prayer life with your spouse could be better? Do you usually pray about circumstantial things? Mike and Melissa Kruger share about 5 Things to Pray for Your Spouse that will transform your marriage and draw you both closer to Christ.   5 Things To Pray For Your Spouse   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

How do you and your spouse handle conflict? Greg and Erin share insights from Dave and Ann Wilson today. They discuss common conflict styles (e.g., yielding, defending, resolving) and emphasize that conflict is often driven by deeper emotions and desires, requiring an open heart, slowing down, listening, and sometimes choosing to “solve or sleep” when exhausted. In the Q&A, they advise a listener to describe behaviors without labeling, using “I feel” statements. It's like a free counseling session when you listen to Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage!   The Vertical Marriage   Here's a Blank Bingo Card   Learn About The Reactive & Care Cycles   Check Out The Marriage Assessment   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

Greg and Erin talk about what each of us wish our spouse knew about our inner most secrets and desires in marriage. Sometimes it's hard to express our feelings. Greg and Erin share ideas on how to access our emotions, and share them with our spouse. This is a program that both wives and husbands need to hear! We also give you specific scripture to pray over various situations, and we are encouraged by a testimony from a listener.   Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

Erin and Greg share their thoughts on the value of women and we hear excerpts from author and former CEO of Mothers Of Preschoolers (MOPS), Elisa Morgan. She shared how women should find their beauty by looking through God's eyes. We'll also talk about the upcoming Mother's Day podcast series from Focus On The Family called Legacy of Love.   Hello, Beauty Full   Listen to the Legacy of Love podcast series celebrating Mother's Day   Dealing With Inlaws   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

This special edition encourages moms on their journey of motherhood, and it's hosted by Whitney Lowe and Erin Smalley. We're covering why becoming a mom is a gift, finding your identity in Christ, hope for tired moms, and ways to celebrate Mother's Day!   Praying The Scriptures For Your Children: Discover How To Pray God's Purpose For Their Lives   Listen to the Legacy of Love podcast series celebrating Mother's Day   Want to get involved in our social media challenge for Mother's Day?   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley have a treat for you today! Get ready for a presentation from Pastor Ted Cunningham, highlighting humorous, scripture-based encouragement to revere marriage. Greg and Erin give a “Share and Compare” date-night exercise, an a Q&A, from a husband whose wife feels “touched out” after caring for five young kids. Share this show link with friends!   Use the Marriage Assessment Tool! It's free!   Check Out the Reactive Cycle Assessment Tool!   Marriage Champions   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

We're continuing our conversation on selfless sex with Pastor Doug Hanna, who shares his encouragement to pursue sexual satisfaction. He goes into how self-forgetful sex is a lifestyle, an attitude, its patient, and it seeks pleasure. Greg and Erin also have an exercise with foods around the world and date nights. We also answer a listener question about a spouse's lies and affairs.   Sex and Self-Forgetfulness   Use the Marriage Assessment Tool! It's free!   Check Out the Reactive Cycle Assessment Tool!   Look Into Hope Restored Marriage Intensive   Healing Separation Article   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

On this episode, we're talking about Christian married sex with Pastor Doug Hannah, author of Sex and Self Forgetfulness. Does your sex life reflect covenant love through self-forgetfulness rather than selfishness transactional “getting what I’m owed"? We'll talk about serving your spouse, sinning against conscience, and even losing one’s voice. Boundaries matter, and sex is designed by God to be mutually pleasurable and received with thanksgiving. Well also play “compliment ping pong” and answer an email about a manipulative husband.   Sex and Self-Forgetfulness   Use the Marriage Assessment Tool! It's free!   Check Out the Reactive Cycle Assessment Tool!   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Number - 1-800-273-TALK (8255)   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.

Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley welcome guests Ashley Durand and Kristen Roush authors of Mothering on Empty. We'll talk about the pressures that can leave spouses depleted, and how joy, identity in Christ, and an eternal perspective anchor marriage without idolizing it. We'll give practical tips for husbands of exhausted wives: empathy over fixing, initiative without being asked, avoiding competitions over tiredness, setting social media boundaries, and addressing the “mental load” so no one feels alone.   Mothering On Empty   Use the Marriage Assessment Tool! It's free!   Check Out the Reactive Cycle Assessment Tool!   Here's Information on Hope Restored   Ask Us Your Question via Voicemail or Email   National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Number - 1-800-273-TALK (8255)   Contact the show!   Send Us A Review!   Support the show!   If you enjoyed listening to the Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage podcast with Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, please give us your feedback.