Terminology

Marriage Coach

A coach is commonly thought of as a person who trains an athlete or a team of athletes. A coach can be considered a private tutor or instructor.
As a marriage coach, my focus is the marriage relationship. I serve as a facilitator, encourager, detective, and synergizer or synthesizer.

FACILITATE: I copartner with you for a specific period of time to prompt you to remedy and strengthen your relationship. Together, we unmask what is hidden or unknown. We remove or alleviate to the best of our ability what’s holding you back from a greater level of intimacy and marital satisfaction.

SYNERGIZE: My skills / experience + newly agreed upon strategies and techniques + your implementation of those newly agreed upon techniques + your effort = your progress and success. You WILL experience minor, short-lived improvements. BUT, we are building a foundation for LONG LASTING results. This takes awareness, continuous effort and maintenance.

ENCOURAGE: I will encourage you along the way.

TEAM BUILDER: Coaches build stronger, more effective teams who can win at the game of marriage.

Motivational Marriage Coach

My goal is to inspire you to build an amazing marriage. My positive energy provides the groundwork for you to discover reasons for making improvements. I am motivational because I not only want you to feel good about your marriage, but to feel inspired to take action steps to create a great marriage. There is no stigma, shame, or embarrassment in marriage coaching. Instead, it is a sign of strength that someone is working on personal development for their marriage.

I cannot “motivate” you. Motivation comes from within. You must have a strong reason to act or accomplish something.

Your Marriage Matters Movement

Your Marriage Matters Movement was founded with the intention of building a community centering on the value of lifelong, happy marriage. “We’re out to change the world, one amazing marriage at a time.” Marriage reform and encouragement for long-lasting, solid marriage is not going to come from government programs or legal reform. It will come from individuals doing their part to ensure the longevity and satisfaction of their own marriage.
Join the movement by visiting marriagecoachlynn.com.

Marriages are a pivotal part of society. We know it. Marriage is important to us individually because our well-being is directly attributed to our most significant relationship. Let’s embrace the notion that we will do whatever it takes to keep our marriage intact. If both husband and wife agreed to this, we would all be rolling up our sleeves and working hard  to eradicate trouble and threats to our marriage. Membership is free and open to anyone who supports the institution of marriage, whether you are single, divorced, married or widowed.

You will not be spammed with dozens of emails. Instead, you will receive an occasional email and free books. The first book in the Your Marriage Matters series is exclusive for members and is titled, “Make Your Marriage Great: Clean of Heart.”

Your Marriage Matters Book Series

This is a three-part series. Book 1 (Make Your Marriage Great: Clean of Heart) is exclusive for members of the YMM Movement. Expected publication date: 4/30/18. Two more books are expected to be published at the end of 2018 / beginning of 2019.

Your Marriage Matters Podcast

General description of the podcast and its purpose: Author Lynn M. Griesemer, Founder of the Your Marriage Matters Movement, KNOWS what makes marriages fail and why marriages succeed. She can’t wait to share secrets, tips and techniques on how to build an AMAZING marriage. With its debut on 2/26/18, this revolutionary podcast will offer the following series this year: The Sound Relationship House, Communication, Dangers of Pornography, Sex, Husbands / Fatherhood and more. 15 minutes. Every Monday. “We’re out to change the world, one amazing marriage at a time.” www.marriagecoachlynn.com

 “Your Marriage Matters Podcast” Facebook Group

This group is intended for YMM Podcast listeners. Join the group and initiate discussions, post suggestions for episodes, and offer encouragement on the journey to lifelong, happy marriage. Let’s build a community, strengthen our culture, and change the world, one marriage at a time!

Marriage Coach Lynn Facebook Page

I share general information here. The YMM Podcast Group is a forum related to the podcast, while this page contains a variety of topics, tips, quotes, practical advice, links and information.

Marriage Coach Lynn Youtube Channel

The purpose of this channel is to create videos that can be helpful to you as you strengthen your marriage. Some are conversational and casual; some are thought-provoking. You will find various playlists / series, including “Let’s Get Personal,” “Motivational Mondays,” YMM Podcast episodes, “Book Reviews,” and more.

“Let’s Get Personal”

This playlist appears on my Youtube Channel, “Marriage Coach Lynn,” and consists of videos that are made when viewers send me questions and I provide my thoughts. Variety of topics. Most videos are less than 5 minutes.

“Motivational Mondays”

Another playlist on “Marriage Coach Lynn” YoutTube Channel. Each Monday at 6:00am, I will release a short video with a thought or suggested exercise for you. In most cases, the exercise parallels what was presented in the YMM podcast on that Monday. Listen to the podcast and then refer to the “Motivational Mondays” video that corresponds with the same podcast episode date.

Date Night

Planned or spontaneous, elaborate or inexpensive, a date night is when a couple spends quality time together. A date night does not have to take place in the evening – it can be any part of the day. You can define it how you would like. Maybe it’s an hour; maybe it’s a complete evening or half day. It is usually without their children and may involve others.

In a culture where people choose to be busy and burdened, couples are foregoing date nights, with the average date night occurring once a month or less! Please don’t forego date nights! If you continue to neglect time for you as a couple for many years, when you do have time (when the kids are grown? When one of you retires?), you might look at each other and realize that you should have had more “dates” over the years.

When our children we young and it would be too expensive or complicated to find a babysitter, I would make a special, candlelit, almost gourmet dinner for my husband. The children would witness this and sometimes help, but they mainly spent time in another part of the house. We did this 4-5 times a year and it was fun!

Mini-Date Night

The idea of the mini-date came from my friend Julie Gathman. As she explains it, “Sometimes when there is an errand to do, my husband says, ‘Come on, let’s go together… it will be a mini-date.’ This signals a small shift in focus.  We take a break from our routine, from whatever is currently stressful, and purposely do something together. It’s all in the attitude.”

A mini-date has no expectations, no planning, usually no cost; it’s a no-pressure activity. Consciously doing something together allows you to give and receive the companionship fulfillment that is one of the main reasons you got married. This can be especially important if one of you has the primary love language of companionship or “quality time.”

The kinds of activities are simple and spontaneous: a short walk, running an errand together, buying snack foods and eating them in bed, making soup, sitting in the living room talking.

The idea of date night has become popular during the past several years, but I would guess that many couples do not regularly plan a date night because it can be arduous and costly especially if babysitting is required. While date nights are great in theory, they often seem too daunting to do on a regular basis. Date nights sometimes cause stress because of high expectations.

If you have a houseful of young children and a full time job, a string of mini-dates might benefit you more than date nights during a particular season in your marriage. Have patience – you can look forward to longer dates and travels together as the children grow up. A mini-date is intended to be uplifting and serve as a break. Have fun! Please refer to “Reenergize Your Marriage in 21 Days” on Amazon or Smashwords website. https://www.amazon.com/Reenergize-Your-Marriage-21-Days-ebook/dp/B0794H7CN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519443257&sr=8-1&keywords=reenergize+your+marriage+in+21+days

Mini Marriage Boost

These are quick little ideas that can change the direction, offer relief, or increase fun. Boosts can overlap with mini-date nights, but are different because boosts can be favors, events, occurrences that can be initiated by one spouse and involve family members.

Examples:

(1) PUT DOWN THE PHONE. Make a rule that at the dinner table there will be no electronics, no cell phones, no ipads, no screens, but more conversation.

(2) On the spur of the moment, get up, go to the couch and sit and chat for a few minutes.

(3) Husband can surprise offer to drive son or daughter to soccer practice and pick up – something the wife ordinarily does, saving her time. Although you aren’t doing an activity together, any time a busy mom is given a few coveted minutes is music to her ears.

(4) Get up and go out for ice cream, or to a juice / smoothie bar.

What are your ideas for a mini- marriage boost?

“Make Your Marriage Great.”

This is a phrase I’ve been saying since 2010, usually inserted at the end of a talk, video or podcast. “Make your marriage great” is a declaration that invites each one of us to become more aware, more responsible and more accountable for our part in our marriage. We have the power to decide to make our marriage great. If both spouses focused on this phrase and put forth the effort, they could easily make their marriage great.