Les Parrott III's Blog, page 2
October 27, 2015
How to Predict a Happy Marriage
John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is fini...
October 20, 2015
Three Essential Ingredients of Romantic Love
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
I Corinthians 16:13-14
If you were designing a recipe for romantic love, what would be your top ingredients?
A mountain of new research reveals what maters most. Robert Sternberg, a Yale University psychologist, says it basically comes down to three ingredients:
Passion – the biological part of love: This it the spine-tingling sensation that moves us toward romance. It starts...October 13, 2015
What We Learned from Hall and Oats
And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.
I Corinthians 7:17
Last month on one of our date nights, we splurged. We saw the popular 1980s group, Hall & Oats, in concert. Among their pop hits they also did a cover of the Righteous Brother’s classic “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”that made the audience go crazy.
Why? In part because it’s one of the all-time great rock anthems...
October 6, 2015
Saving Your Marriage Before (and After) It Starts
Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other.
I Corinthians 7:4
Let's be honest. The “till death do us part” of the marriage vow rings increasingly ironic.
We’ve all heard the startling statistics saying fifty-percent or more of today’s marriages will not survive. What we know for sure is that 200,000 new marriages each year end prior to the couples’ second anniversary.
The numbers can be massaged and debated, but most marriage experts agree...
September 29, 2015
A Surprising Predictor of Marriage Success
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 2:29
Did you know that how you talk about each other to your friends and family and even strangers can predict your success as a couple?
That’s what researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle report. A ten-year study followed 95 couples beginning six months into their marriages.
The initial hour-long inte...
September 22, 2015
Let’s Talk about Sex
Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together. Matthew 19:6
How is your sex life?
That’s a fair question, isn’t it? After all, sexuality is not a given, something that somehow miraculously takes care of itself once we enter marriage. It needs nurture, tenderness, education and—are you ready for this—religion.
It’s a fact.
Religion, according to some studies, is good for your sex life. As strange as it may sound, there is a strong link in marriage be...
September 15, 2015
The Simple Solution to Better Communication
Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think. Isaiah 44:18
On a downtown bus, just as it is pulling into its next stop, a woman stands up, slaps the face of the man next to her, and hurries to the exit.
Each of the passengers who saw what happened react in their own way.
A middle-aged man feels sad for the man who was slapped.
A younger woman is frightened.
A teenage boy is angry.
Another woman feels excited.
How could t...
September 8, 2015
A Sure-Fire Way to Lower Divorce Rates
Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith. Acts 15:32
Few things are more deadly to marriage than negativity – especially in its most alluring form of pessimism.
In fact, if couples could be given a vaccine against pessimistic thinking we would see the divorce rate all but drop off.
In a sense, you can protect your marriage against a pessimistic virus. All it takes is a little encouragement.
Some marriage partners se...
September 1, 2015
How to Bring More Grace into Your Marriage
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
It’s common practice for a new website or software to go public in what is referred to as a “beta” version.
When Microsoft, for example, launches a new system upgrade it will come out in beta before the “official” or final version is released.
The idea of a beta site is it’s still in test mode.
In oth...
August 25, 2015
What’s Your Romance IQ?
And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow.
I Thessalonians 3:12
When they married 18 months ago, Kim never would have dreamed she’d find herself complaining that her husband Steve didn’t show her enough affection.
“He was so attentive that he would notice if I changed a part in my hair or bought a new blouse,” Kim says.
But the loving words and compliments come a little less often now.
Kim and Steve aren’t alone. The frequent expressions of affection...
