Is perfectionism secretly sabotaging your relationship?

In this episode, Brad Rhoads sits down with therapist and pastor Nathan Thompson from Southeast Christian Church to uncover how performance-driven living spills into marriage, fueling criticism, defensiveness, and stress.

Together, they explore why grace is the antidote and what it really means to live in Jesus’ easy yoke. You’ll walk away with fresh hope, practical tools, and a new vision for grace-filled love.

👉 Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, leave a review, and visit gracemarriage.com to grow deeper in your own marriage.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• How perfectionism in yourself leads to nitpicking your spouse
• Breaking free from Gottman’s “Four Horsemen” of marital breakdown
• The freedom of “You’re not okay—and it’s okay”
• Why grace, not guilt, is the key to real change in marriage
• How grace lowers stress when life feels overwhelming
• Shifting from self-effort to resting in God’s care

KEY VERSES:
📖 Matthew 11:28–30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
📖 Hebrews 4:9–10 – “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
📖 Galatians 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
📖 Galatians 5:22–23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”

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What if just six seconds a day could change your marriage?

In this episode of the Grace Marriage Podcast, Brad Rhoads sits down with John McGee of Watermark Church, a national leader in marriage ministry and founder of re|engage. Together, they share practical wisdom on building healthy rhythms, convincing churches to prioritize marriage ministry, and why intentional time (not just an elaborate date night) is the real game changer.

From the power of a six-second kiss, to weekly connection blocks, to finding couples worth emulating, Brad and John unpack both big and small ways to strengthen your relationship and protect it from neglect. If you’ve ever felt too busy, too tired, or too stretched, this conversation will remind you that small, consistent investments create the biggest long-term returns.

👉 Subscribe, leave a review, and learn more about Grace Marriage at gracemarriage.com.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• Why intentional time together is the “401k” of marriage
• How to bring marriage ministry into your church (without frustrating your pastor)
• The six-second kiss and ten-second hug: small habits with big impact
• Why you should seek out couples with marriages worth emulating
• The difference between real connection and Instagram-worthy date nights
• How to build daily, weekly, and lifelong rhythms of connection

KEY VERSES:
📖 Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
📖 Joshua 24:15 – “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

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What happens when you stop keeping score in marriage?

In this episode of the Grace Marriage Podcast, Brad and Marilyn Rhoads share how their own marriage was transformed when they discovered the power of shifting from performance...to grace. They explain the difference between law-based and grace-based relationships, how grace changes the atmosphere of a home, and why forgiveness creates steadiness instead of roller-coaster ups and downs.

With honesty and practical wisdom, Brad and Marilyn unpack how to extend grace when your spouse hurts you, how to deal with ongoing issues without enabling, and why grace motivates more than guilt. If your marriage feels heavy, this conversation will give you hope, freedom, and a new way forward.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and learn more at gracemarriage.com.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• The difference between a law-based marriage and a grace-based marriage
• Why keeping score kills intimacy and connection
• How grace steadies relationships and makes reconciliation possible
• What extending grace looks like in daily life (and what it’s not)
• Why selflessness—not self-focus—leads to joy in marriage
• How grace transforms not only marriage, but parenting and home atmosphere

KEY VERSES:
📖 Romans 6:14 – “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
📖 Romans 5:8 – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
📖 Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
📖 Romans 2:4 – “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
📖 1 John 4:19 – “We love because he first loved us.”


LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

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Kids are a blessing—but they can also pull marriages apart if couples aren’t intentional.

In this episode of the Grace Marriage Podcast, Brad is joined by Rob Pierce, Caleb Potter, and Trey Pippen to talk about how children, with their sports schedules, constant demands, and daily chaos, can quietly take center stage in a marriage. The group shares practical ways to avoid child-centered marriages, from weekly coffee traditions and consistent date nights to learning how to say “no” to overpacked youth sports schedules.

Whether you’re raising toddlers, teens, or somewhere in between, you’ll find both conviction and encouragement in this real conversation about keeping your spouse first...for your good, AND for your kids’ good.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and learn more about Grace Marriage at gracemarriage.com.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• Why two-thirds of marriages lose satisfaction after kids—and how to be in the one-third that thrives
• Signs of a child-centered marriage (and how to shift back)
• Simple traditions that protect your marriage when kids demand everything
• How youth sports can quietly harm marriages and families
• Why prioritizing your spouse is the best gift you can give your children
• The freedom of saying “no” to cultural pressure and “yes” to your marriage

KEY VERSES:
📖 Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
📖 Hebrews 13:4 – “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”


LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

FOLLOW US:
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Is your marriage stuck in the “same old, same old”? If dinner, dishes, and diapers have crowded out laughter, spontaneity, and adventure, you're gonna want to hear this one!

Brad Rhoads sits down with Rob Pierce, Caleb Potter, and Trey Pippen for a raw (and often hilarious) conversation about why so many marriages drift into boredom, and how you can break the cycle. From kitchen fires to hurricanes at Disney (with a newborn), these four husbands share real stories and strategies that keep things fun, fresh, and meaningful.

Whether you’re feeling stuck or just want to turn the volume back up in your marriage, this one will give you hope (and hopefully a few createive ideas).

👉 Subscribe, leave a review, and learn more at gracemarriage.com

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• How to avoid boredom in marriage
• Why spontaneity, curiosity, and creativity keep relationships alive
• How a $23 kitchen gadget (or a $500 account) can change everything
• Why younger generations avoid marriage
• The surprising connection between routine and relational drift
• Simple ways to make communication, sex, and date nights less boring

KEY VERSES:
📖 1 Timothy 6:17 (ESV) – “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
📖 Proverbs 18:15 (ESV) – “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
📖 James 1:19 (NIV) – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”


LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

FOLLOW US:
📌 Facebook: facebook.com/gracemarriage
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What happens when four husbands get real about the mess, the missteps, and the moments that changed their marriages?

In this all-guys edition of the Grace Marriage Podcast, Brad Rhoads is joined by longtime friends Rob Pierce, Caleb Potter, and Trey Pippen. Together, they unpack what they’ve learned (often the hard way) about communication breakdowns, mismatched parenting styles, emotional connection, and even whether watching Netflix without the other counts as cheating.

Expect laughs, honest confessions, and wisdom forged in the fire of everyday married life.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and learn more at gracemarriage.com.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• Why communication is the biggest issue in most marriages, and how you can fix it
• How mismatched parenting styles can actually strengthen your relationship
• The real reason your wife might feel disconnected
• Why emotional safety—not control—builds lasting intimacy
• When “watching ahead” on Netflix becomes a problem
• The connection between talking more and touching more

KEY VERSES:
📖 James 1:19 (NIV) – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
📖 Luke 6:45 (ESV) – “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

FOLLOW US:
📌 Facebook: facebook.com/gracemarriage
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Most couples don’t break up—they just slowly drift apart.

In this episode, Brad Rhoads sits down with marriage leader John McGee (creator of re|engage and longtime voice in the marriage space) to talk about a subtle but universal reality: even loving couples can end up distant. No blow-up. No betrayal. Just years of emotional drift.

John unpacks why that happens, what it looks like, and how to course-correct before the damage sets in. If your marriage feels “fine” but not connected—or if you’ve been living like roommates—this conversation is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.

You’ll learn:
• The most common signs a marriage is drifting
• Why even good spouses get stuck in “parallel lives”
• The habits that rebuild emotional connection
• How empathy outperforms solutions
• What to do when you feel unseen or disconnected

👉 Subscribe to the Grace Marriage Podcast and share this episode with a couple who might not even realize they’re drifting.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• Why married couples grow apart slowly
• How to reconnect in a drifting marriage
• Marriage insights from John McGee (re|engage)
• What to do when your spouse feels distant
• Habits that strengthen emotional connection
• How to stop feeling like roommates in marriage

LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

FOLLOW US:
📌 Facebook: facebook.com/gracemarriage
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Melissa was DONE. Separated, exhausted, and ready to walk away from her marriage for good, she agreed to marriage counseling, not to save her marriage, but to check a box and feel justified leaving.

But what happened in that room changed everything.

In this powerful, emotional episode of the Grace Marriage Podcast, Melissa Hagan shares her raw and redemptive story—from total disconnection to genuine restoration. Joined by hosts Brad Rhoads and Rick Dayton, she walks through the years of slow separation, the moment of unexpected vulnerability from her husband, and the supernatural shift that brought them back together in a single conversation.

You’ll hear:
• What happens when a heart softens in real time
• Why emotional disconnection is often more dangerous than conflict
• How vulnerability can transform a marriage
• The danger of “doing marriage” for appearances
• Why grace (not perfection) is the glue of lasting love

This story is unforgettable. Whether your marriage feels solid, shaky, or done, Melissa’s story will remind you that no one is too far gone—and one moment of honesty can change everything.

👉 Subscribe to the Grace Marriage Podcast and share this episode with someone who’s quietly ready to give up.

🔑 KEY IDEAS:
• How one counseling session saved a broken marriage
• Marriage restoration after separation
• When your spouse checks out emotionally—what to do
• Signs your marriage is emotionally disconnected
• Real story of reconciliation after giving up on marriage
• What vulnerability can do in a struggling marriage
• Grace-based marriage recovery after walking away
• Marriage help for couples who feel “done”

KEY VERSES:
📖 Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV) – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
📖 Romans 5:8 (NIV) – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
📖 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV) – “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING??
✅ Subscribe & Share – Help us spread the message of grace-based marriage by subscribing to the Grace Marriage Podcast and sharing this episode with friends or family.
✅ Join Grace Marriage – Ready to invest in your marriage? Visit GraceMarriage.com to learn how proactive marriage care can transform your relationship.
✅ Leave a Review – Your feedback helps us reach more couples who need encouragement.

FOLLOW US:
📌 Facebook: facebook.com/gracemarriage
📌 Instagram: instagram.com/gracemarriage
📌 YouTube: youtube.com/@grace_marriage