If you’re married, you likely stood up at the altar on your wedding day and made vows to stick together for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. And maybe, like many couples, your vows have been tested because of an injury, illness, or chronic condition affecting your daily life. The challenge of chronic pain puts a unique kind of stress on a marriage—it can bring you together and grow your relationship in new ways, or it can wear down the joy and closeness that you share.

Our returning guests for this episode are Chris and Jamie Bailey. They have walked their own road filled with medical issues, back pain, and other chronic conditions. In this episode, they offer their unique insight into building a strong marriage despite difficult circumstances.

Chris and Jamie share with us:

• The importance of choosing to depend on God and each other
• How chronic pain and health issues can negatively impact your marriage
• Ways to stay connected and keep stressors from stealing your joy
• Practical ways to help and encourage your spouse dealing with pain
• And ways to prepare your marriage now to withstand whatever the future may hold

We hope this episode brings you encouragement today!

Links:

• Listen to our other episode with Chris & Jamie
• Connect with Expedition Marriage on Instagram and Facebook
• Check out the Restoring Connection Course

Our Takeaways:

1) Fight to stay connected. The natural tendency when we are first married is to adopt a “divide and conquer” mentality. However, this can drive us apart as we get comfortable doing things ourselves. It takes practice to learn how to work together and avoid being isolated. If we practice doing things alone, we will be good at being alone in our marriage. We need to be intentional about practicing doing things together!

2) Keep your focus on joy. Stressors are a thief that will steal your schedule, connection to each other, future, and so much more if you let it. These stressors could be chronic pain, marriage problems, a difficult season of life, or any number of things. We have to fight to protect our relationship by focusing on joy.

3) It’s normal to grieve what you have lost. If you are walking through chronic pain, the future will look different than you may have imagined. It’s okay to grieve the things you have lost and take time to process your emotions. (And, if you are the spouse of someone grieving, you don’t have to rush in to fix things, and sometimes you can’t! Be sure you allow your spouse to express how they feel and be a supporting presence as they process.)

Meet Our Guests