Are You In A Season of Struggle? Has 2020 created a challenge for your your marriage?

No worries ... not only can you survive all of this craziness, you can actually thrive! In this episode we share with you 5 tips you can use today to get and keep your relationships vibrant and health!

To register for the "Tough Talk for Tough Times" webinar on Wednesday, October 7th at 7p CST go to www.yourmarriagematters.com/webinar1.

We look forward to your joining us!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Do you struggle with making "big decisions" in your marriage? Well, here is a process we use that can help!

We are in week five of our series on making important decisions in our lives and we are using the acronym I D E A. Inspiration, discussion, education and now finally "ACTION"!

Grab a notepad and a pen ... it is time to learn a great strategy!

Jim & Christie Jacobus

In this episode we discuss how important it is to educate ourselves before we make a decision! And, with all of the tools we have available today ... how easy it is too! 

Grab a pen and pad ... you are going to want to take some notes!!!

This week's "tough question" is very simple ... how do YOU stack up in the two most important skills to the success of every marriage? Seriously, if you can work hard to be just good at these two you can have a SOLID marriage! Master these two and you can have a great marriage!

What are they? Listen, take notes and find out "how you stack up"!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Last week we talked about what your 5 biggest strengths are. Well, it is equally important to be aware of and be working on what are challenges are. But ... we are going to cut you, and ourselves, some slack and focus on only 3! 

It takes courage to look in the mirror and admit our faults! NEWS FLASH ... we all have them. That just makes us human. How we handle them determines what kind of human, and spouse we are!

So, let's do the work this week and make a change for the better!

Jim & Christie Jacobus

This week, in our 5 Tough Questions series we want you to list your top 5 strengths that you bring to the marriage! Strange that it would be one of our 5 Tough Questions series. Well, you would be surprised how people struggle to list what they are good at!

So, grab a note pad and a pen and get to it! After listening to the podcast of course!

NOTE: Our apologies for the poor sound quality on Jim's mic! OPERATOR ERROR!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ...

COVID-19 Tips From Team Jacobus' Resident Healthcare Professional!

We are in an unprecedented time in our communities, our nation and in our world! The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has become a life changing event for everyone!

In this episode we find out from Christie Jacobus, an RN with 35 years of experience and alphabet soup behind her name as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor what we need to do to stay both physically and emotionally healthy during the days ahead!

There is a window of opportunity in the midst of it all for our ,marriages to grow and become even stronger in the days ahead! Learn, in this episode, how you can make that a reality!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

The Most Impactful Words To Your Marriage! These 6 words are straight from The Cupid Challenge 2020!

During the 14 day challenge it was clear that these words meant the most to everyone and struck up the most conversation.

We trust you will enjoy this recap and our discussion why these words can make a huge difference in your relationship!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ...

The Cupid Challenge 2020 Kicks Off February 1st! Join Us For 14 Days Of Intentionally Building A More Vibrant, Healthy Marriage!

In just a couple of days we will kick off this year's version of "The Cupid Challenge 2020"! Starting February 1st we will send you and e-mail, with a video (or you can catch it on our Facebook Group The Cupid Challenge 2020) every day for 14 days ending on Valentine's Day!

Each day we will have a word that pertains to marriage, a short discussion why that word is important and then we will present you with a fun, easy and awesome challenge that is going to help us all build more vibrant, healthy marriages!

Are you up for the challenge! We trust you are and will see you there!!!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

How To Build A More Vibrant Healthy Marriage In 2020! In this episode we break down the key components of our tag line "build a more healthy vibrant" marriage in 2020. Key words are:

• Build - a constant work in progress
• Healthy - marked by not just the absence of sickness but displaying healthy habits
• Vibrant - energetic and enthusiastic

We also invite you to join us for "The Cupid Challenge 2020" starting February 1st where we will take on a daily challenge designed to help us build those healthy vibrant marriages. You can sign up for The Cupid Challenge 2020 by Clicking Here!

We are looking forward to an awesome year here at Your Marriage Matterz!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

3 Keys To Being Thankful In Your Marriage ... Even If You Don't Feel Like It!

This episode will drop on Wednesday, November 27th the day before Thanksgiving 2019. We felt like it was the perfect time to talk about how we can all stay proactively and intentionally thankful in our marriages ... even if we don't feel like it! 

Remember ... "it is thankful people that are happy ... not happy people that are thankful"! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Welcome Gang ... 

3 Things We Can Learn From A "Divorce Coach"!

Just this past week Christie and Jim had the opportunity to appear on Christy Stratton's show "The Divorce Coach Hour"! What an awesome learning experience it was talking about how people can go through, if they must, a divorce and come out the other side whole and with hope for a great future! 

So, we decided to do this week's episode on 3 Things We Can Learn From A "Divorce Coach" and how to make sure you don't ever need one! The ideas are simple, not necessarily easy, and are:

• Don't quit!
• Be vigilante!
• Be proactive!

Check out this week's episode for the details ... 

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode YMM #036 ... How To Make YOUR Spouse Feel Loved! Understanding Relational Needs In Marriage!

We have a great show for you this week as we dig into being intentional about building strong, vibrant marriages and learning what our relational needs are and how they give us the keys to making our spouse feel loved!

We have a Relational Needs Survey you can download at ... 

1. Our Your Marriage Matterz Facebook page - Click Here
2. Or, go to our podcast blog page - Click Here
3. Or, e-mail Jim and put SURVEY in the subject line and he will send it to you ... jim@teamjacobus.com 

In this survey we measure 10 different relational needs ... Acceptance, Affection, Appreciation, Approval, Attention, Comfort, Encouragement, Respect, Security and Support. Here are some things you will learn:

• Doing the survey will provide a lot of clarity around the mystery of how do I make my wife/husband happy!
• Why doesn't he/she respond when I (try to make them feel loved with what makes me feel loved)? 
• Some great ways to communicate what you want from your spouse and learn what they want from you!
• Clear up a lot of sources of frustration in your marriage you may never have even known existed!
• A great plan moving forward for being intentional in your marriage1

We know you will enjoy this week's podcast so download the survey, complete it and let's get started!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz episode YMM #067 ... 5 "Vital Signs" That You Have A Vibrant, Healthy Marriage! In this week's episode we draw on Christie's experience as a nurse that teaches CPR, Advanced Life Support Systems and a number of other classes that teach other nurses how to check "vital signs" in their patients. 

We are going to look at 5 Vitals Signs we see in vibrant, healthy marriages. They are:

• Communicating effectively ...
• Dealing with conflict in a constructive manner ... 
• Planning and dreaming a future together ... 
• Constantly growing individually and as a couple ... 
• A deep love, appreciation and respect for each other!

So, check it out and assess your own relationship "vital signs"!

Jim & Christie Jacobus

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode YMM #062 "Why Change Is Critical To A More Vibrant, Healthy Marriage ... And, How To Make It Happen!"

Tommy Hopkins once said "the price of progress is the pain of change"! So growth can certainly be uncomfortable for sure and at times can be downright painful. In this episode we will discuss why it is so important to you and your marriage and we are going to provide you with a formula for making it happen in your lives!

We will be back next week with our next session in the "40 Days of Prayer" study!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode - YMM #060 40 Days of Prayer Week 4 ... Jesus Teaches Us How To Pray (For Our Marriages)!

We are in Week 4 of Rick Warren's 40 Days of Prayer and we are going to take a very close look at 10 key things we can take away from The Lord's Prayer. Because there is so much ground to cover we are going to dig into the first 5 this week and the second 5 next week. 

Here is what we will tackle in this episode ...

1. How much God loves us ... 
2. How God is worthy of praise ... 
3. We want his kingdom to come here on earth ... 
4. We want his will to be done ...
5. Give us today just what we need for today ... 

If you want access to ...

• Rick Warren's videos
• A copy of the teaching powerpoint file 
• A link to buy the 40 Days of Prayer workbook 

Then go to www.yourmarriagematterz.com/episode60

Let us know how we can pray for you and your marriage! 

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode YMM #057 ... 3 Lessons Team Jacobus Learned From A Major Decision We Made!

In this episode you are going to learn 3 important things that can be really important to success when it comes to decision making in your relationship! As a bonus you will also find out what dorks Team Jacobus can be from time to time!

Want to sign up for our brand new newsletter ... Click Here!

So tune in and take notes! 

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to this week's YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode YMM #050 Marriage Power Skill #1 ... Learning To Effectively Communicate!

At the root of the vast majority of marital challenges lies the same 2 culprits ... 

• The inability to effectively communicate
• The inability to effectively solve problems together

When a couple makes a decision to tackle and master these two key "Power Skills" then everything else from there on can be handled! Money, parenting, sex, family and every other marital challenge is a subset of communication and conflict resolution. 

This week we are tackling communication and are giving us all a very powerful and immediately applicable set of skills to assist us all in becoming better communicators! Next week we will tackle conflict resolution with one of our favorite skill sets! 

If you want to download the handout for this week's episode Click Here! 

To register for The Cupid Challenge go to www.thecupidchallenge.com ! It is going to be a blast ... 

Until next week ... 

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YMM episode #042 ... 4 Questions To Ask Yourself To Make 2019 YOUR Best Year Ever! In Week 1 of this 4 week series our question of the week is "What's working in your life and how can you do more of it"? 

This question helps us in a couple of ways ... 

1. It assists us in looking for patterns of things that are working because we will see some commonalities in the good!
2. It assists us in increasing our satisfaction in life that we can do more of or add to! 

We are going to ask ourselves this question in the following ways as will our spouse. Then we will compare notes. 

• Personally as an individual
• Professionally as an individual
• Personally as a collective or couple (Team Jacobus)
• Professionally as a collective or couple (Team Jacobus)

Be sure and download the handout we have for you before listening to the podcast. You can download the handout at Click Here!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz with Jim & Christie Jacobus. This episode is Introducing "The 5 Love Languages" And How You Can Use Them To Strengthen YOUR Marriage! We are going to plug everyone into this awesome work done by Dr Gary Chapman and the folks at www.5lovelanguages.com!

This is another in our series on how to be intentional about building your marriage! In this episode we talk about the 5 Love Languages:

• Gifts
• Quality Time
• Physical Touch
• Words of Affirmation
• And ... Acts of Service

To get the most from this podcast we recommend you download the 5 Love Languages assessment tool and take it before listening. You can access the survey at any of the following ... 

1. Our Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1017258051759978/
2. Our podcast blog page - http://marriagematters.libsyn.com/
3. 3. At the 5 Love Languages website - www.5lovelanguages.com 

Get ready to learn yet another way to intentionally build YOUR marriage!

Jim and Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz episode YMM #032 ... How To Get YOUR Spouse To Change!

Lately Christie and I have heard a lot of "our marriage would work if he/she would just (fill in the blank)! So, we said, let's do an episode on just that! How do you get YOUR spouse to change. 

We trust you will enjoy this episode!!!

PS ... you might want to get out a pencil, something to write on and a mirror for this one!

Jim & Christie Jacobus 

Hey gang ... 

Welcome to the Your Marriage Matterz podcast episode #031 ... 4 Dangers Of Social Media (And, What To Do About Them)!

First things first! We love social media. We love our Facebook communities, Twitter followers, Instagram followers and our LinkedIn followers! There is nothing wrong with any of the social media platforms! Nothing!

That said, there are inherent dangers and we see them impacting marriages in a negative way every day. In this podcast we are going to discuss what they are and what you can do about them to protect and strengthen your relationship! 

Grab your notebooks and a pen. You will want to take some notes!

Hey there gang ... 

Welcome to YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode #030 ... We Are Finally Back!

And yes, we hope you noticed that we missed the entire month of August doing the podcast and for that we apologize. We had a really scary health episode where Jim spent 8 days in ICU and just the experience itself was tough but the recovery period has been tough as well. 

That said, every challenge has a silver lining to it and for all of you that follow the podcast we believe it will bring about some great new stuff for our YMM Family! Check out the podcast to hear more ... 

And, we also want to say THANK YOU! So many of you have reached out to us in the last few weeks offering prayer, kind words, offering to help and on and on. What a blessing you have been to us in a time we really needed it. 

So, we are finally back! Can't wait for what's ahead!

Jim & Christie Jacobus
 

Hey there ... 

Welcome to Your Marriage Matterz podcast #029 ... Marriage At the Speed Of Life! This week we recap a 6 week study of Dr's Les and Leslie Parrott's awesome book The Time Starved Marriage! 

This was an awesome opportunity to look at time from so many different perspectives and really focus on a couple of key factors ... 

• Be intentional about the time we have in our marriage
• When we are so busy focus on quality instead of quantity
• Making our marriage a priority

We certainly learned a lot ourselves that we have already put into practice!

If you want to access the books, videos and other Time Starved Marriage resources CLICK HERE!

Check out our brand new Facebook Group by Clicking Here! 

We trust you will enjoy this week's podcast! Let us know if you have any questions or if you have any ideas for future podcasts!

Jim & Christie Jacobus
info@yourmarriagematterz.com 

Hey folks ... 

Welcome to the YOUR Marriage Matterz podcast episode YMM #028 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ... 5 Reasonable Expectations Every Couple Need To Agree On! Making Your Life Together Work. 

In this episode we wrap up our look at marital expectations. We focus on how we divide up all of the tasks and responsibilities that make up how we run our households! 

We provide you with a formula, a process, for making sure everything gets done and that we are fairly sharing the load! 

Grab a notepad and let's get to work getting to work!

Jim & Christie Jacobus