Episode 1: The Adventure Begins

Welcome to Tools for Marriage, where we explore communication, conflict, and connection . Hosts Trevor and Laura Black share insights, stories, and practical tools to help your marriage thrive.

Subscribe and visit us at https://toolsformarriage.com

Episode Format:

• Genesis (0:00) – How we got here, red ears and all

• Who We Are (1:24) – Introductions

• SYMBIS and TPMC (2:04) – Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts and The Pre-Marriage Course

• Coaches and Actors (3:13) – Our background as Marriage Nerds

• Marriage Nerds (3:29) – Key insights and what’s next

• Begin with the end in mind (5:39) – set the right trajectory, resist the drift

• Tools (7:29) – Key insights and what’s next

• The Two Becoming One (7:49) – children vs. marriage

• Starting a New Family (11:22) – writing your script together

• Some Tools (12:19) – Love Languages

• Gratitude (16:50) – rewire your brain

• Make Your Home a Refuge (17:43) – laugher, fun, and a soft place to fall

• Couch Time (18:33) – 10 to 15 minutes with no devices

• How Can I Make Your Day Better? (20:15) – a story of serving one another

• Date Night (21:20) – be intentional and continue to pursue each other

• Business Meeting (23:17) – sync schedules, finance discussions, trip planning

• Trips (24:20) – schedule them as it is important

• Marriage Retreats (25:19) – Marriage Matters with Doug Fields, be intentional about your relationship

• State of the Union / Summit (25:56) – How are we doing in our marriage?

• Being a Cheerleader (27:38) – encouragement in the good times and the bad

• Love and Respect (29:09) – a Biblical concept , how to cherish

• Keeping the Issue the Issue (32:16) – encouragement in the good times and the bad

• Positive Upward Spiral (33:52) – get the flywheel going in the right direction

• Effective Listening Exercise (34:29) – a tool on how to really listen to one another

• Fix vs. Listen (39:38) – seek to understand, could the fix be understanding?

• Feelings Pillow (40:49) – Identify your feelings, soul words and How We Love

• Conflict Card (42:55) – Rate the Depth of Your Disagreement, 1-10 scale

• Prayer of Blessing (44:42) – grateful hearts, strong relationships

• Thank you! (45:52) – follow along, subscribe, feedback

Episode Show Notes:

SYMBIS - https://www.symbis.com/

Doug Fields - https://www.dougfields.com/

How We Love - https://howwelove.com/

Love and Respect - https://www.loveandrespect.com/

Love Languages - https://5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/love-language