4127 Are You Sleeping with a Stranger?

Release Date: 07/18/2026

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

There is something about the turn of a season that invites us to look at our lives with fresh eyes. The leaves begin to shift, the air cools just enough to remind us that change is not only natural; it's necessary. And if we are honest with ourselves, sometimes the most important thing that needs a fresh look is not our wardrobe or our schedule. It is our marriage. So what if during this beautiful new season, you commit to falling in love all over again. Now, before you close this page and say, "Kristianne, my marriage is fine," let me stop you right there. This is not about fixing...

4189 Find Your Calm in the Chaos of Parenting

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

Every parent knows that moment when the house is loud, the demands are relentless, someone is crying, and you're not entirely sure it isn't you. Parenting was never meant to be quiet or perfectly composed, but somewhere between the sippy cups and the slammed doors, you can find your calm in the chaos of parenting. Not a calm that pretends everything is fine, but a calm that holds steady because it's rooted in something deeper than the moment. Raising kids takes every ounce of dedication and determination you have. It pulls from reserves you didn't know existed and asks you to pour out again...

4188 Unpack the Old

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

There is something about this time of year that stirs up a sense of possibility. The air shifts, routines reset, and whether you have children heading back to school or not, fall carries with it a quiet invitation to begin again. But you cannot step into something new if your arms are full of everything old; unpack the old and leave it behind. Think about the last time you traveled with too many bags. Every doorway became an obstacle. Every step felt heavier than it needed to. You spent more energy managing your luggage than enjoying the journey. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other...

4187 Love the In-Between

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

Have you ever paused in front of a mirror and thought, almost? Almost healed. Almost confident. Almost the woman you know you're meant to be — but not quite there yet. That pause, that space between where you were and where you're going, can feel like the loneliest place in the world. But what if that's actually one of the most sacred places where you need to love the in-between? Because most of us have been taught — by the world, by our own expectations, sometimes even by voices inside the church or community or your job or your family — that we earn the right to love who we see only...

4186 Lead with Your Gifts

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

There is something inside of you that the world needs. Not the version of you that has been shaped and polished by degrees, training programs, and years of professional experience — though those things matter. But it runs deeper. Before you ever sat in a classroom or clocked into your first job, God planted something in you that was never meant to collect dust; lead with your gifts. Too many of us have spent years building lives around what we've learned while quietly setting aside what we've been given. We show up to work with our skill sets. We volunteer with our expertise. We check the...

4185 And That's A Wrap!

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

You cross the finish line. You hit the milestone. You reach that thing you've been praying over, grinding toward, and believing God for — and you exhale. And that's a wrap. Or is it? When you accomplish a goal or finally touch a long-held dream, do you stop? Do you sit down, dust off your hands, and call it done? Or does something inside you whisper, "There's more?" It's very interesting how we see life. The moments can feel like a year, when it might have been only a day. But nothing worth having comes in a moment. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join...

4184 Come and See

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

There are seasons in life when the darkness feels closer than it should. When the weight of what you're walking through presses in from every side and you start to wonder if the light you once felt so sure of is still there. Maybe it's grief. Maybe it's uncertainty. Maybe it's a weariness that has settled so deeply into your bones that you can't remember what rest feels like. Wherever you are right now, whatever shadow has crept into the edges of your story, do something simple and holy — come and see. Come and see that the light has not gone out. Desire to be supported and encouraged by...

4183 Don't Let the Calendar Replace the Connection

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

You married your best friend. You chose each other. And somewhere along the way, the life you're building together started pulling you apart — not because the love faded, but because everything else got louder. You're not fighting. You're not even frustrated with each other most days. You're just missing each other; sitting in the same house but living in different rhythms. And that quiet distance? It didn't happen because of one bad day. It happened one full week at a time. So when life crowds in on your marriage, don't let the calendar replace the connection. However, the biggest threat to...

4182 Listening Is Love

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

It's not that unheard of to want to explain everything to your children. We carry decades of life behind us, and we think if we can just say the right thing at the right time, we can spare them the pain. But regardless of their age and stage of life, what they need is your presence. Not your lecture. Not your five-point plan. Your presence; listening is love. You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to be the problem-solver every single time. What they need from you is ears to hear. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . ...

4181 The Heat Is On

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

There are moments in life when everything feels like it's pressing in — the deadlines, the demands, the weight of expectations, and the relentless pace that never seems to slow down. And right in the middle of all of it, you realize something: the heat is on. Not just the kind that comes from outside pressure, but the kind that rises from within, the fire that tells you it's time to move, to grow, to step into the fullness of who you are and who you are created to be. No matter what happens in your day, at some point you have to be willing to go the extra mile, play full out, and do whatever...

More Episodes

People change. That’s a truth we all accept, or at least give a nod to in passing, yet rarely sit with deeply. Time moves on, circumstances evolve, and the very essence of who we are shifts in subtle and profound ways. So why does it feel so strange with the person you share a bed with—are you sleeping with a stranger?

When you lie down beside your spouse tonight, take a moment to ask yourself: Are you sleeping beside the person you once knew, or a stranger who lives in their skin?

Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https://createyournow.com

Change Is the Constant We Ignore

Twenty years ago, he might have been leaner, stronger—maybe a bit less wrinkled, less worn by life’s battles. Sure, the belly has appeared, and without complaint, I recall how my own body transformed through childbirth, sacrifice etched into every curve. Life demanded it. Bodies changed. Priorities shifted.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” This includes change—unavoidable, unstoppable change that touches us all, including our closest companions.

We talk often about the importance of change in personal growth, career, or faith, but rarely do we apply that lens to our marriage. How often do we stop learning about the very person we vowed to love fully?

If Life Is Always Changing, Shouldn’t We Keep Learning?

A spouse is not a fixed entity. They are not the person they were when you said “I do,” nor are they wholly the person they will be tomorrow. They are a living story unfolding in real time. So the real question isn’t “Are you sleeping with a stranger?” but rather, “Are you still a student of your spouse?”

The K.I.S.S. ~ Be a student of your spouse!

To grow alongside a partner, here are three ways to stay engaged, curious, and connected:

Ask Genuine Questions and Listen Deeply
Pause the routine and dig beyond the “How was your day?” Seek to understand fears, dreams, and daily victories. Proverbs 20:5 says, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” Reading beneath the surface invites intimacy with the evolving soul beside you.
Create New Experiences Together
Shared memories are the glue that holds couples through change. Try something new—a hobby, a trip, a project—so you can witness fresh facets of each other. Hebrews 10:24 exhorts us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Stirring the pot of your shared life keeps connection vibrant.
Practice Daily Gratitude and Affirmation
Don’t let familiarity breed neglect. Celebrate the quirks, the growth, the tiny victories. Speak words that build up. Ephesians 4:29 commands, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up.” Affirmation is the language of love that says, “I see you, truly, and I choose you every day.”

So yes, people grow and change. The person looking back at you in the moonlight may not be the same as twenty years ago, but that’s not a reason to turn away or feel strange. It’s a call to lean in, to rediscover, to keep learning. Because marriage is not about holding onto a frozen version of someone—it’s about walking together through seasons, time, and transformation.

Are you sleeping with a stranger? Or are you actively becoming better friends, deeply interested students, and loving partners to the evolving person beside you?

Remember the words of 1 Corinthians 13:7: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Endure the changes, learn the new chapters, and don’t settle for anything less than a connection that grows deeper every day.

"Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"

#RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage

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Cover Art by Jenny Hamson

Photo by Canva.com

Music by Mandisa - Overcomer

http://www.mandisaofficial.com

Song ID: 68209
Song Title: Overcomer
Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia
Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI)
One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -
Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The K.I.S.S. ~ Be a student of your spouse!

"Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"

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