026 | What Are Your Children Learning About Marriage By Watching You?

It's so easy to believe that marriage only matters to a husband and a wife. But as God has really been laying on our hearts, it's time for us to realize that our marriages matter to so many more, especially the next generation. Whether you have kids or not, this episode is for you.

Now, to the parents listening - this episode is not a guilt trip about the ways in which your marriage is hurting your children. It is though, as we found, a gracious "wake-up" call from the Lord to realize that if we truly want what is best for our children, we need to want what is best for our marriage as well.

In this episode, we discuss:

• God's vision for the next generation of marriages


• How our marriage can impact our children's well-being positively and negatively


• How the simple practice of apologizing to our spouse and children can be transformational

Quote:

“In his lab, John found that the amount of stress hormones that show up in a child’s 24-hour urine sample accurately reflects the quality of the parents’ relationship. The worse the marriage, the more stress hormones there are in the child’s urine. There’s no question that the cradle that holds the child is the parental relationship. The cradle can either gently soothe the child to sleep or violently throw her to the floor.” (Dr. Daniel Segel from the Forward to "10 Principals For Doing Effective Couples Therapy")

Resources

10 Principles For Doing Effective Couples Therapy by Drs. Julie and John Gottman

https://www.gottman.com/product/10-principles-for-doing-effective-couples-therapy/

An Article On the Work of Dr. Gordon Harold

https://danieldashnawcouplestherapy.com/blog/parents-fighting-in-front-of-kids#:~:text=In%20another%20study%2C%20Gottman%27s%20research,with%20happy%20and%20stable%20marriages.

A Summary of Some of Dr. Harold's Findings

https://www.familysolutionsgroup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Inter-Parental-Conflict-and-Family-Separation.pdf

An Academic Study on "Constructive" vs. "Destructive" Conflict

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3829624/#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20marital%20conflict%20places,Grych%20&%20Fincham%2C%201990).

Have questions? Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you: [email protected]

Your support, both financial and prayer, make all the difference! To make a charitable donation, please visit our website: livingmarriages.com