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Matthew Efird is a husband, father of four boys, business owner, and author of Even Though We Will, a book written from a dad's perspective on child loss. In 2019, he and his wife Hannah learned their second son, Noah, had trisomy 13, a lethal diagnosis, and in March 2020 they held him for 57 and a half hours before saying goodbye. In this conversation with Aaron, Matthew traces how the ordinary rhythms of faith, mentorship, and community they had built for years became the ground they stood on when the news came, and why everybody grieves, but not everybody...

Brad Rhoads spent the first year of his marriage convinced his wife's unhappiness was her problem — until two men in his church told him he was succeeding at the things that mattered least and failing at the things that mattered most. He's now a pastor, author of The Grace Marriage (Moody Publishers), and the founder of Grace Marriage, a ministry equipping churches with ongoing marriage discipleship. In this conversation, Aaron and Brad discuss the difference between a performance-based marriage — where love is given and withdrawn based on behavior — and a grace-based marriage built on the gospel. They...

Jennifer Pepito has been married 36 years, homeschooled seven children for 30 years, and written The Inspired Homeschool — but a clarifying moment in her story came when her grown daughter told her what actually caused trauma growing up. It wasn't the hard circumstances. It was the conflict between her parents. In this conversation, Jennifer and Aaron walk through what chronic complaining does to a husband, how unresolved fear and disconnection create an atmosphere children absorb even when no one is talking about it, and what it actually looks like to cultivate a joy-filled, thankful home in the middle of...

Dr. Genee Francis is a licensed therapist and Assistant Director of Content and Programming for Windshaped Marriage — and after 18 years of marriage, two kids, a two-year estate battle, an unexpected hip replacement, and a decade in couples' counseling, she has a reframe for every couple who says they can't communicate: it's not a communication problem. It's an intimacy problem. In this conversation, Genee and Aaron talk through the prayer rhythm that gave her a window into her husband's grief when words failed him, why so many couples feel alone even inside a church, and what it actually takes...

A biblical view of children, motherhood, and the home. Emma Waters, a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation and author of Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today's Women of Faith, joins Aaron to share how one conversation about kids revealed a deep fear of becoming a mother, so deep she broke up with the man she loved. A mentor's challenge sent her into Scripture: either you're right that children will ruin your life, or the Bible is right that they are a blessing. Emma and Aaron talk about why the trad wife movement and girl boss feminism are...

What does it actually mean to have a marriage after God? In the finale of our 30-week marriage devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith share the pivotal moment early in their marriage when, sitting in church feeling hopeless, God brought Aaron to Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, "not as I will, but as you will," and asked him whether he could lay down his will for his bride the way Christ did for His. That surrender didn't fix everything overnight, but it changed the posture of their hearts and became the foundation of Unveiled Wife, Husband Revolution, and...

Christian marriage in Hollywood: Dan and Peggy Rupple have been married 48 years while working inside the entertainment industry, and Aaron asks them how. Dan nearly landed a spot in the original Saturday Night Live cast before a midnight encounter with the Beatitudes led to his salvation and the birth of Christian comedy. Peggy has battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma six times over 35 years. Together they founded Master Media International, and Dan's new book, Glimpses: Viewing the Media Through the Lens of Faith, is available at mastermedia.com. They talk about why Hollywood is in crisis, what the top 25 box office...

Courageous parenting in unprecedented times: Aaron sits down with Isaac and Angie Tolpin, hosts of the Courageous Parenting Podcast and founders of Be Courageous Ministry, on the launch day of their new book, Courageous Parenting: Biblical Parenting in Unprecedented Times. Parents of nine, the Tolpins unpack why the word Christian has lost its meaning, why two-thirds of kids walk away from church by 18, and how keeping families together in worship builds lasting faith. Angie shares the moment God disciplined her before a conference talk and why hearing hard truth from your child is a test of humility. Then the...

How to heal your marriage when your spouse isn't working on it: Belah Rose, founder of Delight Your Marriage, has coached over 500 couples and says even one willing husband or wife can change a marriage. On the Marriage After God podcast, Aaron Smith and Belah walk through her Delight Your Marriage framework (men need respect, admiration, and wholehearted intimacy; wives need to feel safe, known, and cherished), the 1–10 marriage health scale for how open to be right now, and the SHORE apology framework: Specific, Humble, Own, Repair, Exonerate. Belah shares her testimony of a first marriage that ended...

Being unveiled in marriage means being fully known by God and by your spouse, with nothing hidden. In week 29 of their 30-week Marriage After God devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith tie the Husband After God message of walking in victory to the Wife After God message of being unveiled. They start at the cross, where Christ defeated sin and death, broke down the dividing wall (Ephesians 2), removed condemnation (Romans 8), and tore the temple veil so we can know God face to face. From there they get practical: why belief drives every daily choice, how Aaron found...