Focus on the Family Magazine - April/May 2020
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics. Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics.
Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
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MARRIAGE HOPE / COuPLES<br />
lose <strong>the</strong>ir identity. They lose <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
self-c<strong>on</strong>cept and self-esteem. And<br />
<strong>the</strong>y feel like <strong>the</strong>re’s no relief in sight.”<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, women or men who<br />
feel oppressed over time can become<br />
reactively abusive <strong>the</strong>mselves. Clients<br />
will often c<strong>on</strong>fess, “I’ve become<br />
like him. I’m angry. I’m irritable. I<br />
throw things now. I’m cussing. I’m<br />
becoming somebody I didn’t want to<br />
become. Please help me!”<br />
Charlene Bens<strong>on</strong> can testify to<br />
that kind of tranformati<strong>on</strong>. The<br />
daughter of a c<strong>on</strong>trolling fa<strong>the</strong>r<br />
and passive mo<strong>the</strong>r, she married at<br />
21 and found herself living out <strong>the</strong><br />
same dysfuncti<strong>on</strong>al pattern as her<br />
unhappy parents.<br />
About 10 years into her marriage,<br />
however, Bens<strong>on</strong> realized that sometimes<br />
she “switched places” with her<br />
husband and became as c<strong>on</strong>trolling<br />
and manipulative as she perceived<br />
him to be.<br />
Today she counsels couples who<br />
feel stuck in difficult marriages and<br />
says “switching places” is something<br />
many of her clients have experienced.<br />
If you’re in a chr<strong>on</strong>ically unhappy<br />
marriage, you may retreat and<br />
shrink away from your spouse or you<br />
may become reactively abusive or<br />
even unfaithful. Those rep<strong>on</strong>ses lead<br />
to intense emoti<strong>on</strong>al and often physical<br />
pain. You may think you have<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly two choices: remain miserable<br />
forever or get a divorce. But <strong>the</strong> surprising<br />
truth is that transformati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
opti<strong>on</strong>s exist for those in a stressful<br />
marriage, if <strong>the</strong>y’re willing to initiate<br />
change.<br />
A stressful marriage can<br />
lead to physical stress<br />
One day Dr. David Hawkins made a<br />
<strong>April</strong> / <strong>May</strong> <strong>2020</strong> FOCUS ON THE FAMILY 13
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