Hey Joy,
I recently watched the video “Fear and the Tick-Tock of my Girlfriend’s Baby Clock,” where you mentioned not playing savior for the person you’re in a relationship with. I feel like I dropped the ball on this one with my first girlfriend, because when we broke up she told me I was smothering her. If I ever date again, how do I find the balance of being best boyfriend without playing savior in the relationship? Read more
This time I am talking to Dr. Norm Thiesen about a shift in our generation–how we’ve moved towards being so “honest” about marriage being hard that we forget to talk about its benefits.
Because unmarried people keep hearing the horror stories instead of the stories of success, it feels to me like one more contributor to the growing delay of marriage. Read more
Well Hello Hello!
I’ve been told that one should never explain a joke, but just in case you have never been to a bookstore, the following series is a spin-off on the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. Read more
Why do we have weddings? Is Happily Ever After real? Is it possible to help our friends stay together forever?
Since it’s “wedding season” and this is a post I hold near and dear to my heart, I felt it was time to share this baby again. Last week, I was contacted by two different friends telling me of their friends whose marriages were Read more
Recently my brother sent me a picture of Jackson, my 3-year-old nephew, photocopying one of his storybooks. My brother realized the reason he was doing this was because he had seen my brother making photocopies from one of his own books. Children watch and copy.
My friend, Tim, knows the patterns he lives out will be the standard his daughters will grow to expect from the future men in their lives. This is my favorite part about this post. As I think about my future sons, or even my friends’ children who are watching me, I hope the model of how I treat and speak about others is something worthy of being copied. Read more
Hey Joy,
Women [in westernized societies] are becoming more educated than men. How is that going to impact the future of marriages?
– Jonathan
“Do I even have time to date?”
– Joy (In my head)
Joy, Crazy, Darling,
“Do you think married people ha Read more
Heyyyy-ooo! Another lost video from the “What I Know Now” series I did awhile back. Oops. Guess I’m just swimming in so many videos that I lose track of them. I decided to continue The Illumination Project‘s theme of bringing in older, wiser counsel and ask my mom: How do I know this is the type of guy I should marry? Mama E explains a few Love and Respect principles that will guide you to your answer and help you make a check list to …
Hi Friendlings!
Guess what? I totally misplaced this video and the one coming up on Thursday. Remember when we did the “What I Know Now” series where I asked my parents a bunch of questions?
Well, here are the two that got misplaced. Oops! Sorry!
For guys who are asking themselves “how do I know?” about their significant other… make sure you tune in for this one!
Do men and women really process words differently?
“Joy, it’s not men vs. women, but just people who process and hear things differently.”
I don’t want to argue, I just want to share some enlightening tidbits I learned from asking a few good men what they would love women to know…
Hi Friendlings!
If you haven’t heard already, I’m going to start hanging out with ya’ll!
My father and I tested out Love and Respect Now’s first Google + hangout sesh while in Dallas for Dave Ramsey’s Smart Conference. I didn’t see my two dudes from Croatia this time, but had some great questions come in that we were able to answer.
Hi Joy,
For the first half of my marriage I hadn’t read the Love and Respect book.
Now, the book has completely transformed the way I treat my husband and has made our marriage so much better. He is a great father and very funny— I even feel I have more than I could ask for in some regards.
At the same time, he tends to struggle at meeting my needs emotionally.
To say Sarah Thebarge has had somewhat of an eventful life in her few short decades is an understatement.
From breast cancer to broken engagements, and hiding in closets with refugees, she’s someone who has had to push the pause button quite a few times to say, “Uh, God? What’s going on here?” (My paraphrase.)
Hi friendlings!
About three years ago, I posted my strengths finder personality profile and emphasized that we are constantly growing in different seasons of our lives.
I enjoyed this so much that I couldn’t resist to not post it again…I hope you will join me in analyzing where you are now in this season of your life.
Hi Joy,
My husband and I have been married for three years and love each other very much, but it really bothers me when people talk up the honeymoon stage. I feel like our marriage has been difficult ever since day one and not only is the honeymoon stage over, it never really began. We feel like we got gypped.
Is this normal?
Hi Joy,
I’m writing in response to the Ask Joy video you and Stephanie made about transitioning into new seasons of friendships as a newly married person. Well, I’m having the opposite problem.
Hey friendlings!
Today I’m comin’ at you from the sunny suburbs because finally, finally, I got visitation rights to see Walter, my long-lost dog love. Unfortunately, he won’t stop hiding under the table.
I think that means he missed me. Read more
In case you’re just tuning in, we’re smack dab in the middle of the What I Know Now series. My hope for all these parental interviews is to highlight the importance of asking questions and seeking counsel—we have so much to learn from those who’ve gone before us.
Think of it as an echo of The Illumination Project song, an opening band to the main show, a slice of apple pie before the main course.
Friendlings, if you’ve been around the site for the past week, you should know two things:
1. The Illumination Project has launched! My baby, born!
2. We are smack dab in the middle of the What I Know Now series, starring none other than my wonderful (and often hilarious) parentals.
My friend, Esther, introduced me to Tim a couple years ago. Not hearing my name correctly, Tim tried to clear it up by guessing what he thought he heard Esther say.
Tim: “Chalet?”
Me: “What? No…Joy.”
Hi Joy,
I’ve recently gotten married. I love being married, but now my single friends are leaving me out. My best friend, for example, no longer calls when she goes camping or to a concert.
I know I can’t go out as much as my “free-wheeling” single friends, as I’m balancing school and my husband, but I don’t want to feel like there’s this divide growing between us.
I wish you could all hang out with my friend, Katie. She’s one of those people who makes you laugh—most of the time without intentionally trying.
I would also like you to meet Katie because she could essentially be called the co-founder of Love and Respect Now.
Recently a friend of mine, who is single without kids, told me about some married friends who recently went on a camping trip with their kids and some other couples. Although she would have loved to go along, she felt like the “season of life factor” may have caused the married couple to compartmentalize the invitation list. My guess is, married people with kids probably assume single peoplewithout kids would rather go camping with their other single friends who can stay up late around a …
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