

Awesome Marriage Podcast
Dr. Kim Kimberling
Far too many couples are just surviving their marriage when it was meant to thrive. This is the place for practical tips on how to build an awesome marriage. Our passion is to help you strengthen your marriage.
Dr. Kim Kimberling hosts the show. Dr. Kim is the President of Awesome Marriage, has been married for over 50 years, and has been a professional counselor for 40+ years. He is the author of 7 Secrets to An Awesome Marriage ,14 Keys To Lasting Love, and most recently Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half.
Dr. Kim will be joined once a month by his wife of 55 years, Nancy Kimberling. He will also host other great guests that will teach and encourage you as you intentionally pursue an awesome marriage.
Tune in each week to hear practical advice from Dr. Kim.
This podcast is brought to you by the ministry of Awesome Marriage.
Dr. Kim Kimberling hosts the show. Dr. Kim is the President of Awesome Marriage, has been married for over 50 years, and has been a professional counselor for 40+ years. He is the author of 7 Secrets to An Awesome Marriage ,14 Keys To Lasting Love, and most recently Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half.
Dr. Kim will be joined once a month by his wife of 55 years, Nancy Kimberling. He will also host other great guests that will teach and encourage you as you intentionally pursue an awesome marriage.
Tune in each week to hear practical advice from Dr. Kim.
This podcast is brought to you by the ministry of Awesome Marriage.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 28, 2019 • 28min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #3 | Ep. 381
We are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages. We will be breaking them down starting with #8 and working our way towards the #1 marriage issue. In this episode Dr. Kim & Christina talk about the 3rd biggest issue in marriages this year which is: values and beliefs. Our value system and belief system is foundational to all our other opinions and actions in life. So when a couple isn't on the same page, it can naturally cause many issues. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina share about values and beliefs in marriage and how to cope when you and your spouse aren't on the same page. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "If your spouse doesn't agree with you on something it can be helpful to rate how important something is to you on a 1 to 10 scale to help your spouse understand how important (less important) something is to you." - Christina "Find the hot button topics in your marriage and agree on how to talk about them or agree to disagree with each other if that's healthier for your marriage." - Christina "There are some things in marriage it is absolutely ok to compromise on; one thing you should not do is allow compromise with your spouse to cause you or them to sin." - Christina "If you aren't married yet, be prayerful before going into marriage with someone who's values and beliefs are much different than your own." - Dr. Kim "Pray and ask God for wisdom on how to handle conflict in your marriage in a way that honors Him and honors the vows you made to your spouse, and let Him lead you through it." - Dr. Kim "God will sometimes give you more than you can handle so that you turn to Him for help." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 26, 2019 • 31min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #4 | Ep. 380
We are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages. We will be breaking them down starting with #8 and working our way towards the #1 marriage issue. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina talk about the 4th biggest issue in marriages this year which is: life stages We all go through different life stages. One thing is for sure, life does not stay the same. But will we adjust as life goes on? Or will we not adjust? Our marriage needs to grow and adjust in every new life stage. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina share about how to adjust to life stages and keep your marriage strong over the test of time and life's changes. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "The things you do to connect and have a good marriage will change throughout your marriage." - Dr. Kim "There's value to being and living in the present." - Christina "What does it look like to be fruitful where you are right now in life?" - Christina "As long as you're on this earth God has a plan and a purpose for you and for your marriage." - Dr. Kim "If you talk about it with your spouse then you can plan for it." - Christina "If your marriage isn't growing in each stage of life, that should be a red flag that you need to do something different." - Dr. Kim "Don't let your stage of life define you, you are more than where you are currently at in life." - Christina "If your spouse is struggling with adjusting to a new phase of life, come alongside them and let them grieve the loss of the previous season if they need to." - Dr. Kim "Find a mentor couple who is ahead of you in life to learn from." - Christina "You'll need to learn to say no to different things in different life stages." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 21, 2019 • 32min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #5 | Ep. 379
We are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages. We will be breaking them down starting with #8 and working our way towards the #1 marriage issue. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina talk about the 5th biggest issue in marriages this year which is: traumatic situations. Because we live in a broken and fallen world, so many couples end up facing traumatic situations. Death of a child, abuse, suicide of someone close to you, assault, a life-changing diagnosis, war, natural disaster, the list goes on. Often times when faced with traumatic situations, naturally, couples struggle to cope and many end up losing their marriage over it. But does a life changing event have to mean the end of your marriage? Dr. Kim has walked alongside countless couples through life-changing events. A traumatic situation does not have to mean the end of your marriage. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina share about how to cope with life-altering and traumatic situations in a way that builds up your marriage instead of tearing it down. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "A traumatic situation is anytime life goes differently than we thought it would." - Dr. Kim "Your grief might look different from your spouse's grief and that's ok." - Dr. Kim "Nobody can't define what grief looks like for you." - Dr. Kim "Allow your spouse to express whatever emotions they feel when they're grieving." - Dr. Kim "Put God in the middle of your grief." - Dr. Kim "Be present with your spouse when they're grieving, don't put pressure on yourself to say the right thing, your presence alone will help them." - Dr. Kim "Be honest when you're communicating with your spouse about your grief." - Christina "Blaming is not going to heal anything." - Dr. Kim "After a life-altering event you have to find a new normal." - Christina SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES You can check out Lysa Terkeust's book It's Not Supposed To Be This Way here. You can check out Craig Groschel's book Hope In The Dark here. Check out the devotional Dr. Kim mentioned here: Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love: Daily Meditations to Help You Through the Grieving Process Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 19, 2019 • 37min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #6 | Ep. 378
We are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages. We will be breaking them down starting with #8 and working our way towards the #1 marriage issue. In this episode Dr. Kim & Christina talk about the 6th biggest issue in marriages this year which is: stress. So many of us deal with stress on a regular basis. Being stressed out makes it hard to be a good spouse. It's hard to be intentional in your marriage or really even focus on your marriage at all when you are consumed with stress. It's bad for our health and our mental space. Stress piles negative emotions on to our marriage and steals joy. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina talk about what stress does to marriages and how to deal with stress in a healthy way as well as some tips to help you eliminate any unnecessary stress in your life. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "People died of diarrhea back then." - Dr. Kim "Deciding what you can and can't do something about can help you be realistic about what you're stressed about." - Christina "If there is nothing that you can do about something, the best (but not always easiest) thing to do is pray about it and leave it in God's hands." - Dr. Kim "Our emotions are good indicators but they're not good truth tellers." - Christina "Ask your spouse to come alongside you and help you deal with your stress." - Dr. Kim "Take the time to empathize with your spouse when they're stressed." - Dr. Kim "To the moms: the best thing you can do for your kids is to take care of yourself." - Christina "Don't buy into the lie that stress is just the way you are; there's an answer to stress." - Dr. Kim "God gave you a spouse to walk through life with, don't push your spouse away in times of stress, embrace them." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 14, 2019 • 31min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #7 | Ep. 377
For the next few weeks on the podcast we are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages. We will be breaking them down starting with #8 and working our way towards the #1 marriage issue. In this episode Dr. Kim & Christina talk about the 7th biggest issue in marriages this year which is: boredom. With time, some spouse's become bored with their relationship. Boredom in marriage is a dangerous thing to dwell on and can easily slip into even bigger issues. It also doesn't help that our culture is telling us that monogamy and marriage is boring. But marriage does NOT have to be boring. There are real, practical things you can do to keep boredom at bay and protect your marriage from boredom. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "Connection = Zero Boredom in marriage." - Dr. Kim "You don't have to be screaming and yelling and throwing things at each other for you to go to marriage counseling." - Christina "Boredom can happen if we're not intentional about giving to our marriage as much as we're taking from it." - Dr. Kim "Be intentional about having fun with each other, even when life gets busy; remember there's something that got you to the altar in the first place." - Dr. Kim "Find creative questions to ask each other." - Christina "There are going to be times you get bored in your marriage, it's about recognizing when that's happening and committing to reconnecting so you don't stay bored and disconnected." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 12, 2019 • 31min
Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019: #8 | Ep. 376
For the next few weeks on the podcast we are doing a series on the Top 8 Marriage Issues in 2019. These 8 issues are the top 8 issues that Dr. Kim has seen this year with marriages in the counseling room. We will be breaking them down starting with number 8 and working our way towards the number 1 marriage issue in 2019. Today we are kicking off the series with talking about the 8th biggest issue in marriages this year which is: jealousy. Jealousy puts a real strain on your marriage. When you have jealous feelings it affects you, your spouse, and your marriage. In this episode Dr. Kim and Christina talk about this issue and how to deal with it in a healthy way. You may think jealousy isn't a struggle for you, but there are some subtle ways this often plays out that doesn't always get noticed and addressed. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "A lot of times jealousy can be tied to insecurity or discontentment." - Christina "Paul in the Bible is a great example of being content with whatever he had and whatever situation he was in." - Dr. Kim "You can get so consumed with jealousy that you neglect your marriage." - Dr. Kim "Jealousy affects your ability to be present in your marriage." - Christina "If you are willing to be honest with yourself and why you're jealous, these jealous feelings can be an opportunity for God to grow and teach you." - Christina "You have to run your race, you can't run someone else's race." - Christina "If your spouse is struggling with jealousy, it gives you an opportunity to come alongside them and help them work through those feelings." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 7, 2019 • 27min
Helping Your Spouse With Boundaries | Ep. 375
Can we implement boundaries with our spouse? Is it loving? Is it Christ-centered? Boundaries in marriage may seem counterintuitive to some, but we believe it should be normal and natural in a marriage. In this episode, Dr. Kim and Christina share about boundaries with your spouse: why you need them, examples of what they might be, and how to implement them. If you have never thought about boundaries with your spouse, we hope this conversation is helpful to you and that it provides you with some great talking points that you and your spouse can explore as you work to have a healthier, happier, holier marriage. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "You can help your spouse see that they might need to set a boundary with someone by asking them questions." - Dr. Kim "You can encourage your spouse to learn about boundaries but also be willing to walk with them through what that will look like." - Christina "Always offer your thoughts on your spouse's situation as a suggestion, not as a solution to their problem." - Dr. Kim "You might need to set a boundary with someone if you're taking on their consequences." - Christina "If you've never set boundaries before start setting them in safe places first." - Christina "Remember that if someone doesn't respond to the boundaries that you set in a healthy way, you can only control yourself, you can't control how they will react." - Dr. Kim "It sounds silly but role playing setting boundaries with your spouse can be really helpful for them to prepare for those hard conversations." - Christina "Let your spouse know that you are not going to stop loving them if they set a healthy boundary with you." - Christina SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES As we approach the holidays, it's so important to make time for your spouse. Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Nov 5, 2019 • 42min
Boundaries With Your Spouse | Ep. 374
Can we implement boundaries with our spouse? Is it loving? Is it Christ-centered? Boundaries in marriage may seem counterintuitive to some, but we believe it should be normal and natural in a marriage. In this episode, Dr. Kim and Christina share about boundaries with your spouse: why you need them, examples of what they might be, and how to implement them. If you have never thought about boundaries with your spouse, we hope this conversation is helpful to you and that it provides you with some great talking points that you and your spouse can explore as you work to have a healthier, happier, holier marriage. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "Boundaries with your spouse can actually draw you closer together." - Dr. Kim "Having boundaries in your marriage isn't meant to be a punishment, it's meant to be freeing for you and your spouse." - Christina "You can't have true intimacy without boundaries." - Christina "I tell singles that I counsel, you have to show the person you're dating the real you at some point during the dating process." - Dr. Kim "It's unloving and unwise to not set boundaries where they need to be." - Christina "To rescue people from the natural consequences of their behavior is to render them powerless." - Dr. Henry Cloud & John Townsend (from Boundaries book) "It's so important to talk about boundaries in your sexual relationship." - Dr. Kim "Boundaries helps you understand your marriage relationship better." - Dr. Kim "Your spouse's comfortability should matter to you more than what you want for yourself." - Christina "Boundaries are about controlling the only person that you can control: yourself." - Christina "Don't set boundaries to manipulate or control your spouse." - Dr. Kim "If you're in an unhealthy relationship, be prepared for setting boundaries to cause a lot of conflict." - Dr. Kim "A boundary without consequences isn't a boundary at all." - Christina SPONSORS Thank you to Honoring Intimates for sponsoring this podcast episode! Honoring Intimates is a safe place for believers to learn about marital sex and shop for the highest quality lubricant, lotions, and lingerie items at reasonable prices. There are no inappropriate images on the site and the company uses mannequins to display their lingerie. Use the code "AWESOMEMARRIAGE" to receive 20% off your entire order. RESOURCES As we approach the holidays, it's so important to make time for your spouse. Plan to spend some quality time with your sweetie by grabbing our FALLing For You Date Design here! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here!

Oct 31, 2019 • 32min
Boundaries With Your Time | Ep. 373
Everyone has the same amount of time - 24 hours in a day. But so many of us struggle to manage this time well. Some of us say yes to way too many things and then that leaves us burnt out and miserable. Others of us don't use our time wisely enough and don't steward their time well to get done what they need to get done. In the fast paced, hustle glorified, culture that we live in where everyone has access to you all the time it can be really hard to set limits on our time. But if we don't plan well, our time will just pass us by. But if we do plan well and set up healthy boundaries, we can have healthier relationships, a better marriage, and get off the "hustle til you're burnt out" game that way too many of us are playing. In this episode, Dr. Kim and Christina share about the importance of setting up time boundaries and how to implement them. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "You have to be an example for your kids of what it looks like to prioritize your spouse." - Dr. Kim "You have to manage your time to plan for the future." - Christina "Make sure your schedule reflects your priorities." - Dr. Kim "Make a habit of doing the things that are important to you." - Dr. Kim "When we feel like we're constantly busy we often don't take the time to do things that are going to have long-term benefits on our marriage." - Dr. Kim "There's no shortcut to having time with your spouse; you have to make quality time with them happen." - Dr. Kim "We had to learn to say no, even to good things, if they would get in the way of us spending quality time together and investing in our marriage." - Dr. Kim "Decide as a couple where you want you want to prioritize your time and then build the rest of the things you do in life around that." - Dr. Kim "It's a red flag that you're not doing a good job of prioritizing your marriage if you haven't talked to your wife in so long that you forgot what her name is." - Dr. Kim "Take the time to address red flags in your marriage as soon as you see them; it will save you so much time in the long run." - Dr. Kim SPONSORS Thank you to Plant Package for sponsoring this podcast episode! With Plant Package, the prep work of gardening is done for you. Plant Package is delivered straight to your door with easy instructions on how to plant your fun new plant that even someone with a black thumb could execute! Plant Package selects durable seasonal plants, an appropriate and stylish container, sends just the right amount of soil and plant food, and includes instructions for assembly and plant care. The Plants can thrive indoors or outdoors – the choice is yours! Use the code "awesome" to receive a FREE Starter Kit with your order. Starter kits include gardening gloves, a gardening shovel, and farm hand's soap. Simply select "ADD STARTER KIT" and enter the code AWESOME on the payment checkout page. RESOURCES Need help building unity in your marriage? Snag our brand new resource Diary of An Awesome Marriage: The Couple's Unity Building Journal today! This resource is a 23 page PDF, with 9 sections on common areas that marriages. Each section has questions for you to reflect on, pray about, answer, and then discuss with your spouse. Get closer by getting more unified on the things that matter! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here! Dr. Kim's new book, 14 Keys to Lasting Love, came out earlier this year. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, what are you waiting for? Order here now.

Oct 29, 2019 • 45min
Boundaries With The Opposite Sex | Ep. 372
What does it look like to honor our marriage, protect our marriage, and still have honoring relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ? So many couples want to know what is okay and not okay when it comes to friendships with the opposite sex. In this episode, Dr. Kim and Christina share about safe boundaries, why they are important, and how to implement them practically. NOTEWORTHY QUOTES "Establishing boundaries with the opposite sex is one of the ways we accomplish the goal of having an awesome marriage." - Dr. Kim "Having boundaries in place with the opposite sex protects you and your marriage." - Dr. Kim "Never say you can't be tempted; we are all sinners and can be tempted." - Dr. Kim "Boundaries aren't a lack of freedom; they're ensuring the safety of your marriage." - Christina "You're not going to have a good marriage if you're only thinking about yourself." - Christina "A good thing to ask yourself is, 'Am I ok with my spouse seeing this text or email that I'm sending to someone of the opposite sex?'" - Dr. Kim "It's much easier to ignite a flame that's already been lit than to start a new fire; don't keep in touch with your ex boyfriends and girlfriends." - Christina SPONSORS Thank you to Plant Package for sponsoring this podcast episode! With Plant Package, the prep work of gardening is done for you. Plant Package is delivered straight to your door with easy instructions on how to plant your fun new plant that even someone with a black thumb could execute! Plant Package selects durable seasonal plants, an appropriate and stylish container, sends just the right amount of soil and plant food, and includes instructions for assembly and plant care. The Plants can thrive indoors or outdoors – the choice is yours! Use the code "awesome" to receive a FREE Starter Kit with your order. Starter kits include gardening gloves, a gardening shovel, and farm hand's soap. Simply select "ADD STARTER KIT" and enter the code AWESOME on the payment checkout page. RESOURCES Need help building unity in your marriage? Snag our brand new resource Diary of An Awesome Marriage: The Couple's Unity Building Journal today! This resource is a 23 page PDF, with 9 sections on common areas that marriages. Each section has questions for you to reflect on, pray about, answer, and then discuss with your spouse. Get closer by getting more unified on the things that matter! Become a Marriage Changer and receive some sweet exclusive benefits. Learn more here! Sign up to get Dr. Kim's One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day via email, text, or podcast here! Dr. Kim's new book, 14 Keys to Lasting Love, came out earlier this year. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, what are you waiting for? Order here now.


