Charlie and Ida McClendon, married 63 years. They have taught and used the Dynamic Marriage "tools for a lifetime" to build a better marriage over 63 years together.

Tools for a Lifetime: Build a Better Marriage

Marriage Dynamics InstituteConnection, Marriage Courses, Marriage Health, Reconnecting

For a lot of couples, 2020 was a particularly hard year for their marriage. But when Charlie McClendon received calls from distressed couples who had already taken a Dynamic Marriage course, he knew just what to do. “I told them to go home and get out their Dynamic Marriage books and go back through the material,” Charlie said. “And when …

Keep love alive: Couple in wedding clothes sitting on a hillside

Keep Love Alive in your Marriage: Four Habits to Consider

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCommitment, Communication, Connection, Date Night, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Marriage Health

Want to keep love alive in your marriage over the long haul? Develop behaviors and habits that feed your love one day at a time. Healthy marriage habits prevent feelings of loneliness and disconnection and help you grow a strong, resilient relationship that can survive the decades. This could be a much longer list, but here are four habits to …

Older couple walking on beach.- close together.

From Separation to Sharing the Love: A Dynamic Marriage Journey

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCommitment, Communication, Connection, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, Humility, Intimacy, Marriage Counseling, Marriage Courses, Marriage Health, Quality Time, Reconnecting, Selfishness, Separation, Uncategorized

Every Dynamic Marriage journey has a “before” story. For *Greg and Kate Watts, the story began when they met in 1976. According to them, it was love at first sight. We enjoyed being together and spending hours in great conversation.  We shared the same sense of humor.  Our interests were similar.  We enjoyed going to church together and our personalities …

Couple walking and conversing.

Walking Together for a Better Marriage

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCommunication, Connection, Marriage Health, Mental Health, Quality Time, Reconnecting

Question: What one activity can improve your physical health, enhance your mental well-being, elevate your mood, and increase communication with your spouse? Answer: Walking together. Most everyone knows that walking is a great form of exercise. Experts agree that walking improves general fitness, including cardiac health. Walking in combination with a healthy diet can help prevent weight gain. It creates …

Man watering grass

The Joys of Marriage Maintenance

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCommitment, Communication, Conflict, Connection, Contentment, Date Night, Gratitude, Intimacy, Marriage Health, Reconnecting

If you are a home owner, you know about maintenance. Unless your house is newly constructed, and sometimes even if it is, something always needs repair. Or a little touch of paint.  Or a battery in the smoke detector. Or….whatever. And spring cleaning is a thing becauses houses get dirty. Once a year or so they need a good going-over …

What is love?

Real Love: What It Is—What It’s Not

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCelebration, Commitment, Connection, Faith, Intimacy, Marriage Courses, Marriage Health, Patience, Selfishness

Got any special plans for Valentine’s Day this year? In this season, we often feel obligated to demonstrate feelings of love by purchasing things like candy and flowers, or even more expensive gifts.  And while there’s certainly nothing wrong with giving and receiving gifts, there’s a lot more to real love than hearts and flowers. Love is powerful. It is …

Couple working together

Make a Good Marriage Better: Ideas for the New Year

Marriage Dynamics InstituteConnection, Intimacy, Listening, Marriage Health, Quality Time

Now that Santa is in the rearview, we get down to the business of making that list and checking it twice. “What list?” you may be asking. The list you are composing–mentally, electronically, or on paper–of your top priorities for this new year. So what’s on your list?  You might want to include one (or more) of these ideas to …

couple hoding hands at Christmas

Improve your Connection this Christmas

Marriage Dynamics InstituteChristmas, Communication, Connection, Date Night, Holidays, Marriage Health, Quality Time, Romance

Are you ready for Christmas?  Gifts bought? Wrapping done? Packages in the mail? It may seem like this extraordinary year has dragged on and on, and yet in other ways it has flown by. And now Christmas is almost here again. This season is all about connection. Because God connected with us in human form when he sent Jesus. And …

Multiply Your Healthy Marriage Legacy

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCelebration, Faith, Giving, Gratitude, Marriage Health

  A legacy is something passed from one generation to the next. Often, we think of legacy in financial terms. But legacy is about more than just money. Over the past 25 years, generations of couples have participated in marriage courses and workshops offered through Marriage Dynamics Institute. And as lives and relationships change—as couples find joy, meaning and purpose …

Unhappy couple considers options for marriage help

Marriage Counseling or Marriage Intensive?

Marriage Dynamics InstituteCommunication, Connection, Marriage Counseling, Marriage Health, Marriage Intensive, Reconnecting

When your marriage isn’t going well, should you look for marriage counseling? Or is it better to find a good marriage intensive, like a weekend marriage retreat? According to one veteran marriage therapist, both approaches serve useful purposes. But a marriage intensive can help speed up the counseling process. I tell my clients a marriage intensive will often allow them …