Marriage, Relationships, and Family
Relationships play a central role in our lives, and when they are strained, broken, or changing, the impact can be deeply felt. Whether you are navigating challenges in marriage, family dynamics, parenting, or other relationships, these resources are here to offer biblical wisdom, encouragement, and hope.
Below you’ll find content from across our ministry focused on strengthening relationships and navigating family life with faith and care.
Ask Dr. Betters
Biblical answers to real questions about grief, loss, and suffering
In this episode Dr. Betters answers the question, "Hello, I am a college age female and I feel that God has left me. I feel like I always tried to follow his path even when none of my family goes to church, I felt all my life that God was telling me to go one direction in ministry and then when it was time to apply for schools and I tell people they told me that was not my calling…
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "Within the first weeks of marriage, I knew my husband was abusive…I try not to trigger him, but I’m exhausted and afraid. I was taught God hates divorce. So I feel like that is not an option, but is this what God wants for me?"
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "I grew up as a church kid, my parents were leaders in the church…But as an adult I am seeing how mean church people are – how they use people – and think nothing of betraying people like my parents. I can’t stand going to church and I have such anger and bitterness. I don’t want to be like this but I can’t let go of the hurt."
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "How do I deal with so many people using God’s name in vain? It seems so many people use the Lord’s name in vain. I’ve noticed many of them wear crosses in their jewelry. Should I always ask them to please not do that?"
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "Dr. Betters, I have a question about relationships and marriage. A woman has been in a 17-year relationship without marrying and has two children, and the father of the children leaves her for another woman. The woman finds salvation, and lives by God's commandments. Can she marry a good Christian man? Or must she wait until the father of her children passes away to be eligible for marriage under God’s law? She has never been married before or currently and wishes to marry one day, if it is God’s will."
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "What does God think about being separated from your husband but not divorced?"
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "I am very lonely these days without a husband and children who are very busy with their own lives to visit. I have prayed that God would bring someone into my life to have someone to talk with and hang out with on occasion, not necessarily a life companion, just a friend, but he has not answered me. Why?”
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "…At 42, my son has embraced science, UFO, and other such worldly answers while searching for something to believe in. He vacillates between the two. After listening to him and showing him the fallacy of his judgment, I asked him clearly, "Whom do you choose?" After evading and modifying the question, I return to the question, "Whom do you choose this day?" I asked my pastor (when my son was in his teens), "As much as anyone can look into the soul of another, do you believe my son is saved?" His answer was "yes." Help me settle my heart for my son."
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "How can I maintain or strengthen my relationship with God during grief?"
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "How do I handle well-meaning but potentially hurtful comments from others?"
In this episode, Dr. Betters answers the question, "How do I accept forgiveness for a sin against a loved one who died?"
Help & Hope Stories
Real conversations with people who have walked through grief and loss
Edie’s father died when she was four years old so when her mother brought a new man into her home, she welcomed him as her father. When she was nine years old, this man began regularly raping her in her home. By the time she was twelve, he was taking her to hotel rooms where he trafficked her to men and women for the purpose of sex until she was seventeen. How does a child recover from such
Chuck interviews Ana Stevenson, the founder of Path2Freedom where Chuck and his wife Melanie are currently serving as House Parents at the Magnolia House. Ana felt a calling to start a ministry for girls rescued from human trafficking in 2015. Ana shares that "millions of children are being exploited annually in the global commercial sex trade. That number became real for me when I met the "one". No longer a number, she had a beautiful face, she had a name, but most importantly she has a hope and a promised future." Tune in to hear Ana's story, the miraculous way the Magnolia House came into being and how God has blessed her obedience to his calling on her life.
The title of Nate Brooks’ book, Disrupted Journey, Walking with Your Loved One Through Chronic Pain and Illness describes the transparent conversation he had with hosts Sharon Betters and Heidi Nequist. The day he brought his wife home from the hospital, he was suddenly responsible for a whole new layer of living that included caring not only for his wife’s needs but taking care of three young children and all that means – piled on top of his…
Many people have experienced betrayal, someone violating your trust perhaps by lying, cheating, some kind of abuse, putting their own interests ahead of yours when they promised otherwise. Betrayal affects every part of our hearts, often in ways we don’t understand at first. Some hurts we carry with us to the day we die, they are so deep and seem impossible to resolve. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Wendy Alsup shares the impact of betrayal from her own life, not only through an unwanted divorce but also in her church life. But Wendy doesn’t leave us in the mud of betrayal. Instead, she speaks frankly about the power of forgiveness.
This conversation is for pastors and ministry wives and those who love them. While there are occupational hazards in all lines of work, ministry families experience conflicts that sometimes not only result in broken relationships but the loss of their beloved church family. In most jobs, wives are not expected to be unpaid laborers, stand by their husband’s side every Sunday, remembering every name and something about
From the time you’re little, your experience with friendships can make or break your day – whether it’s a five-year-old who is left out of the game on the playground, or a thirty-year-old who sees pictures on social media of her friend group having fun without her, or facing the most hurtful season of your life completely alone – friends or the lack of friends have power to help or hurt. Sharon Betters and co-host Heidi Nequist discuss the topic of…
1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant. That's about 6.7 million people each year who have trouble conceiving. - 10—15% of women who know they are pregnant will experience a miscarriage. Some studies say it’s higher. - About 1 pregnancy in 100 at 20 weeks of pregnancy and later is affected by stillbirth, and each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.1 - This doesn’t take into account the number of babies diagnosed in the womb with a terminal condition – meaning if they survive their birth, they will not live very long. Kathe Wunnenberg knows the sorrow of such losses. In this transparent conversation with Sharon Betters Kathe shares her own journey of grieving infertility, miscarriages and the loss of her
From age 12 to 18, Doug began to experiment with any and all drugs that he could get his hands on. Over the course of the next few years, oxycodone became the dominant Idol that consumed him and eventually transitioned into a full blown heroin addiction. In this far reaching conversation, Doug touches on how parents should respond to the manipulation of the drug addict, why addicts are willing to destroy their lives and loved ones for that fix, and why addicts often go back to drugs after rehab.
When encouraged to protect their children from tech invasions, many parents vehemently declare that their child is so innocent and so protected, they are not concerned. Sadly, these parents are often in the dark when it comes to what their young children have already seen and experienced through innocent interaction in video games, research for reports, etc. In this interview, parents learn about additional layers of protection and how to talk to their children about the dangers of porn and how to respond when exposed.
In this interview, Danielle demonstrates that depression in young adults is often rooted in childhood. It’s easy to hide depression and to slowly withdraw rather than fight the dark feelings of sadness, loneliness, and worthlessness. Danielle offers help and hope as she describes the steps she took to find her way back to a life of purpose.
Thin. Fat. Thin again. Dieting. Binging. Starvation diets. Grapefruit Diets. Low Carb. Thin. Fat. Thin again. Constance Rhodes understands the obsession with body image. In this conversation, she shares her own roller coaster struggle with weight. Young people and adults alike will find a friend in Constance as she transparently tells her story of weight loss, weight gain and the thin cage in which she found herself trapped.
In this conversation, Sharon Betters and Steph speak as two friends, as they talk about the fact that a child with disabilities might be different but is not “less than”. Sharon and Steph discuss how hurtful comments from others might be a reflection of their own hearts and the need for each of us to learn more about the lives of those parenting children with disabilities. Listen in as Steph challenges us to consider how we respond when around a child with disabilities. Do we recognize them as deserving of the same love and care as a child without disabilities? Does your church enfold such families into the body of Christ? Steph shares how a biblical worldview of disabilities, that is, God’s view, will transform your heart.
Daily Treasure
Daily devotional encouragement for difficult seasons
In our Today’s Treasure verse we see a practical application of the power of Christian community. In response to the teaching of the Word, early Christians committed…
David wrote Psalm 133, a song sung by the Israelites when they were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. David knew the agony of division and conflict in…
When God said it was not good for Adam to be alone, He wasn’t just talking about the beauty of marriage between a man and woman. In those few words, God states that…
Aloneness created a need in Adam for another person. So God created Eve. Note that Adam’s loneliness was not an “oops moment” for God. Creating Eve was…
In this episode Dr. Betters answers the question, "I am getting married in a month and I just found out my fiancée was sexually abused as a child. Knowing this, how should I prepare for my wedding night and our first year of marriage?"