By Brett Sparks

“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Mark 3:25 The dice went flying across the room. A friendly game of Yahtzee had just turned bad. Sad to say that was me that hit the box and sent the dice through the air. I was angry because those very dice were just not rolling in my favor and I was losing to my wife. I hate to lose and that is exactly what was happening. I guess I was reacting to that old adage that if all else fails just disrupt the game so you can’t finish and thus cannot lose. Needless to say, that belief didn’t work at the age of five and it certainly wasn’t working for me as an adult.  My actions shocked my wife. My actions shocked me. It was clearly not one of my better moments. Truth is my actions were actually a loss for me and my relationship.  Fortunately it was just a game, but it was symbolic of the early struggles my wife and I had in trying to become one.

By Kirsten Lamb

Before my husband and I married, we believed that most of the world’s problems could be settled by a few humble hearts gathered around the table in conversation, with good food and better lattes. That was, of course, before the good food became pureed sweet potatoes and our caffeine more of a lifeline than a luxury.
Two years into marriage we found ourselves humbled by our children. We no longer had the solution to the world’s problems. Just trying to remain on the same team amid simple parenting challenges felt overwhelming. Through this, we discovered a few strategies that helped us build unity in our parenting: