Dave Ramsey is a financial guru and he encourages people to get out and stay out of debt, to live within their means and to save for an uncertain future. If I were to list my personal shortcomings, money management would be at the top of the list. He’s very upbeat and encouraging and I’ve learned a ton and been able to stay motivated to get our butts out of debt. My wife, Mary Sue and I would listen together on weekends sometimes and often on out-of-town trips. Dave Ramsey’s been a godsend to us and we’ve been able to absolutely turn our finances around and are on a positive track.
My oldest son, Marty, has reminded me my blogs have served the same service to my readers. He told me I need not fear to repeat myself. He said Dave Ramsey has certain themes and steps he emphasizes and I listen to his podcasts over and over for encouragement. Marty said my readers need encouragement in their marriages, and they come back again and again for a little pick-me-up along life’s tough journey. This led to my looking into the possibility of starting a podcast, similar to the spirit of the blog, to enable folk to listen while they drove or walked or worked out. A search on iTunes didn’t reveal any other marriage therapists that are doing weekly podcasts about marriage. Hmmmm.
I’m hoping to have 3 Major Themes:
1. Answering your questions about how to make your marriage all it can be. By readers of our blog and listeners of our podcast asking questions, it will help us cover the most common areas of concern. It’ll also be a way to keep things fresh. Marriage is a pretty broad topic. If we throw in dating and engagement, struggles with cohabitation, divorce, remarriage, step-families, kids, in-laws, careers, money, trust, commitment, communication, affection and sexuality, pornography and affairs, etc., etc., we could cover a lot of ground! Send us your questions and we’ll see where it goes!
2. Dating ideas. Actually, I’m adding this as a regular feature this summer on the blog, also (See last Friday’s blog). One of the first things to go when a young couple starts having children is the weekly date. This is also one of the major struggles of couples who have given their lives to their respective careers and to their children and put each other on hold. They wake up one day and realize they don’t even like each other, let alone have things in common. If a couple isn’t hanging out with each other on a regular basis and having fun, it’s easy to feel lonely and eventually resentful. In addition, may couples struggle with coming up with ideas of things to do that would be mutually invigorating, fun AND affordable. Many of you have figured this out. Why not share your ideas? I’ll share some of mine; you share some of yours. We all could use a little creativity here. Fill out the podcast form and send them our way. What has been a blessing to you may very well be a blessing to others.
3. Your success stories. We live in a society that absolutely has NO idea what perseverance and patience mean! If you are going to be married for 50-60 years you aren’t going to go through any tough times? Many couples divorce at the first sign of obstacles. The average divorce is after 7.2 years of marriage! 7.2? That’s it? What’s going on there? Couples are trying to make ends meet, finishing college or grad school, just starting out in their careers, learning a trade, getting to know each other, buying that first house and starting a family. Plus, if you are 30 or so, you are still pretty immature! Really. Come on, People! We have NO stictuativeness AT ALL. My wife and I have been married 35 years. You think we’ve never gone through any tough times? Are you kidding? Hello.
Tell us how you got through your tough times. Be an inspiration for others. Fill out the form on our podcast page and encourage the rest of us to rise to the occasion and not to let discouragement cause us to give up. We may also use the stories in future blogs.
Cost of the Podcasts: FREE! How can we do this? Our plan is be of service to our readers and listeners. Down the road, and hopefully in the not too distant future, we hope to start making available products about encouraging couples in their marriages that can be purchased. You could help us at that time by buying those. Of course, you can always call us or fill out the form (here) for an appointment!
So help us make the podcasts fun, encouraging and interesting by submitting your dating ideas, success stories or questions for Ask Dr. Bing (here).
To see the current list of available podcasts and to start listening to Ask Dr. Bing click here.
