She didn’t want to become a counselor. In fact, Nadine Stewart, now a certified marriage and relationship coach, switched her college psychology major after just a year because her vision of the role was so unappealing.

Fast forward several decades. Nadine and Duane married, pursued corporate careers and began raising their six children. But they also made a crucial good decision. As newlyweds they joined a church and befriended couples a few years farther along in their marriage. This wise move bolstered them with good examples and exposed the Stewarts to helpful resources.

It wasn’t too many years later that they looked up and realized they had become the older couple sharing wisdom and fellowship with others. A watershed moment happened during a drive home from a wedding. Inspired by a Dr. James Dobson message about generational impact, Duane and Nadine began discussing their life legacy. They were struck by a sense of urgency and considered how to build into their family more intentionally immediately.

“We imagined ourselves closer to the end of our lives,” Duane explained, “and wondered how we had done as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents? Would we say we lived a successful life? How would we define success? It was so powerful!”

The Stewarts put a pin on that future vision and drew a figurative line that connected to their present. They noticed that even a small gap in the trajectory would take them off course and realized they were not prioritizing the things that mattered most to them.

“We want our kids to have a strong relationship with Christ and live out their lives in honor of him,” Nadine said. The next day, she quit her corporate job so she could spend more time with the kids while they were still home. “We want to see them all in heaven, so we needed to instill wisdom, discernment and love for the Lord.”

Nadine and Duane also drafted a Marriage Mission Statement that they shared with their children. They agree that a concrete, agreed upon and prayed over mission statement helps them stay on track. “It is so much easier to weigh a decision against a specific destination. We know we are in alignment and on the right path,” Nadine said.

“We felt where we were was no longer where God wanted us to be, because it didn’t allow for growth,” Duane added. “We felt like a big change was coming, but we didn’t know what.” When they shared their new focus with a godly friend, he suggested Nadine lean in to helping people improve their marriages more formally. He had been sending people to talk with her already – now he suggested she pursue training so her work could be official. Immediately, Nadine had flashbacks of college and raised objections. She was raising six children. She didn’t have time to go back to school and get a master’s degree! He asked her a simple question, “Who said you need to go back to school and become a counselor? God didn’t ask for all those details, he’s just asking if you will obey. Allow him to direct you.”

His encouragement motivated Nadine to pursue several marriage and relationship coaching certifications and was trained as a Gottman Seven Principles Leader. She continues to add specializations, including Treatment of Sexual Compulsivity and Partner Betrayal Trauma and Cognitive Transformation 2.0 from the American Association of Christian Counselors.

Duane had been serving as a deacon and elder in their church. He realized there was a need to share the word of God with couples and to come alongside Nadine as she began to pursue coaching.

“You don’t realize how much you have to share until you start sharing,” he said. As Duane stepped up to minister to marriages, he found many of the courses or resources they were using were missing an application component. He and Nadine also noticed how closely secular research and resources dovetail with biblical wisdom. The Stewarts felt God calling them to start a marriage ministry to extend their reach. They launched A Purpose Driven Marriage in 2018, starting with A Purpose Driven Marriage podcast that can be accessed at their website. https://apurposedrivenmarriage.com/.

Nadine opened a couples’ coaching practice in 2019. While she works with both secular and Christian clients, she speaks about her faith openly and prays for the people God brings into her office. “It is amazing how God has allowed this to become a ministry where I share the Gospel,” she said.

As Nadine has now worked with hundreds of couples in person and online, she’s seen poor communication as the most mentioned issue. But she believes the problem isn’t really communication, it’s rooted in broken connection.

“At some point, connection was severed,” she explained. “There’s a need or expectation that hasn’t been met in a long time or an insecurity that’s been poked. Love and respect aren’t present. All these things can sever a couple’s connection.”

She describes her process with the familiar analogy of peeling an onion. She begins by talking about the problem that brought the couple in, then works to help them understand the why behind their situation. She’ll help them list core needs and visualize how their desires can interfere with each other.

“They both have valid needs, but when their love banks are so empty, they’ll enter self-preservation mode and not respond to the other’s bids to connect,” she explained. Nadine teaches them how to have conversations without criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling and contempt. Once a couple has reconnected, they’ll be willing to let go of the things they are fighting for, she said. Couples can request a coaching assessment right from the ministry’s website.

Nadine believes helping couples restore communication and connection are places where A Purpose Driven Marriage excels. The Stewarts have created several free resources couples can access from their website. They offer communication and conflict resolution style quizzes and a feelings chart to help people describe their emotions. There’s also a conversation starter list to help jump-start communication. “It’s amazing how little couples talk now,” Nadine said. “So many of their conversations are transactional. It’s not surprising that loss of connection is happening. Friendship is so vital, but so many don’t feel like their spouse is their friend.”

Nadine released One Question a Day to a Stronger Marriage – A Daily Question Book to Strengthen Communication, Connection, and Intimacy in Your Marriage in February 2026.

“Life gets busy—and meaningful conversations can quietly slip through the cracks.

Between work, family responsibilities, and endless to-do lists, many couples find themselves talking about life instead of truly connecting with each other,” Nadine wrote.

The book helps couples slow down and reconnect through intentional, guided conversations. Questions are a tool that allow couples to talk more openly, listen more deeply, and strengthen the emotional and relational foundation of their marriage in just a few minutes.

It includes 365 open-ended questions designed to:

• Improve communication

• Deepen emotional and physical intimacy

• Strengthen friendship and trust

• Encourage spiritual connection

• Create meaningful moments amid everyday life

• 35 Bonus Date Night Questions allow couples to go deeper

Because they’ve seen the value of the Marriage Mission Statement in their relationship, the Stewarts also created a resource to help couples develop their own.

“We want to help people have more control over their legacy,” Nadine explained. “We explain why it’s biblical and important to know your direction and purpose.” The Stewarts also learned their intentions didn’t always match their execution. “We start off the year setting goals and haven’t always followed through,” Duane said. They realized they lacked structure, so they created a goal tracker to help people better understand how they are moving toward their mission. The Goal Setting Guide is fillable and printable and points couples toward a weekly check-in and quarterly review.

“We designed this to be interactive so couples can accomplish something from it,” Duane added. People hopefully will use it to have a productive conversation.”

“There are few things that couples can do together that can create more bonding and intimacy, open up communication, and help give your relationship direction than goal setting. It’s AMAZING what a game-changer this little activity can be for your marriage. Setting goals as a couple is an intimate, bonding process that can open up a doorway to authentic communication like you’ve never experienced. And because it’s essentially sharing and pursuing dreams together, it’s been found to be one of the best-kept secrets of thriving marriages,” they describe on the website. “Get the guide today if you want to be focused and aligned as a couple, create a Marriage Mission Statement, turn your dreams into manageable steps, and create incredible connection and intimacy between the two of you.”

Nadine also created a communication course for couples from content they presented at church. The original Ultimate Communication Course was delivered live, online for six weeks. Topics include practical ways to deal with conflict, communicate and understand spousal roles. In 2025 the Stewarts completely revamped the course, added both video and workbook content and recorded new sessions. Couples can join a waiting list on the website to be notified as soon as it re-launches.

Embrace the opportunity to deepen your bond and cultivate a lasting partnership. A Purpose Driven Marriage will help couples turn their aspirations into reality and build a marriage that thrives.