Creating Fairness in Marriage

I learned many lessons about being a good husband and partner in marriage growing up with my twin brother, Wendel. One of them was about fairness in relationship. Growing up, Wendel and I paid less attention to whether we looked alike and more attention on making sure that whatever one of us received, the other […]

The Art of a Good Marriage

A Poem by Wilferd Arlan Peterson Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. In marriage the little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day. It is never going […]

Phase 4: You, Me and Us

For many couples, life events during the first five to nine years of their marriage can challenge their resolve to support each other’s happiness and success and that of their relationship. Whether a couple faces financial difficulties, extra-marital issues or communication breakdowns, each person in the relationship must call on their inner resources to renew […]

Phase 2: We’re Committed!

Phase 2 of a partnership marriage begins when the two of you commit to creating a future together. You take the plunge together, get engaged and commit to getting married. Phase 2 often extends into the first few years of marriage. As you look forward to your wedding day, you must learn to balance your […]

Same-Sex Marriage is a Right Nationwide!

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would […]

Gender Equality and Marriage

On September 20, 2014, Emma Watson, British actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, launched the HeForShe initiative for gender equality at the United Nations. She gave a moving speech, in which she called on men and boys to join women and girls in advocating for a world in which both sexes have equal rights […]

Six Radical Shifts in Marriage

Marriage has been transforming over the last four hundred years. The institution of marriage has changed as a reflection of evolving human ideals and social ideas of society. Specifically, there are six radical shifts that have taken place in the evolution of the marriage since the first Europeans came to America. Civil marriage is invented. […]

“Let’s have a conversation”

In my relationship with my wife, Martha, one of us often says to the other, “Let’s have a conversation about _______________(fill in the blank).  The topic might be money, a home improvement project, a family member, our summer vacation or some issue.  We’ll pull out our calendars and schedule a time to have a conversation. […]

The Head of the Household

My brother-in-law sent me a book on marriage last week called “Make Yours a Happy Marriage” by O.A. Geiseman. It was written in 1946 just two years after my parents were married. Dr. Geiseman was the pastor at a Lutheran Church in Illinois and was a well known speaker at the time in practical religious […]

Radical Conversations that Have Shaped Marriage

In the last two hundred and fifty years, societal conversations in the United States, all considered radical at an earlier time, have transformed the institution of marriage. Briefly, here are a few: Individual choice. The Age of Enlightenment in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries influenced relations between men and women in radical ways. Reason trumped […]