“Married with Benefits” was such a fun video project we worked on together in the first few years of marriage. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to release this web series. But I wanted to keep this page showing some of the fun still shots from the work we did.

It was a series of short videos about marriage and the issues that may come up.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Friends with Benefits.” It should be no surprise to anyone that we are not fans of that phrase and what it means.

Chris and I have it in our hearts to change the tune… to help people understand that you can be “Married with Benefits” and how being married is a good thing. Why is it—in today’s society—that feels like such an unpopular message?

We embarked on new territory for us. We are not actors, and yet were shooting our own “web style” series.

We depict a couple—Josh and Jessica—who have a lot of challenges in their marriage so we can show what not to do. It was meant to open up discussions of what went wrong. Some episodes will have a follow-up tag scene that shows a potential resolution.

(Screen shots from the episode called: “Christmas Every Day?”—an episode shot at the ranch in North Carolina where Chris and I got married.)

We are fans of the way Jesus taught things:

He told stories and parables quite often, rather than only preaching all the time.  Neither one of us are preachers, but we do enjoy public speaking together to share messages we feel God has put on our hearts. We hope to mix up our talks with these dramatized videos about marital issues.

Even though we won’t be releasing it, it’s fun to share here a behind the scenes peek of producing, writing, directing, acting, editing etc. (Yes, we are trying to do everything ourselves. Are we nuts??)

(In “Fighting Fairless,” Josh lets Jessica know he’s been “keeping a record of everything wrong she’s done since their wedding day.” How well do you think that goes over? This episode was adapted from a hilarious church skit written by Rene Gutteridge.)

In the series, Josh and Jessica do not get along very well (which is very different from the real Chris and Cheryl). We enjoy pretending to get into fights to play our roles.

(There are those endearing moments when they realize they’ve done something wrong and try to do what they can to make it right, like in this episode called “The Gift of Marriage.”)

In our series, we tackle such issues as using unfair fighting practices, when thanklessness harms your marriage, what happens when you forget to keep romance alive, why you shouldn’t make decisions without consulting each other, making room for your spouse in your life, communication problems, expectations, the need for quality time and many more.

(Production still from when we were shooting an episode in downtown Burbank. It’s called “The Honeymoon’s Over, Now What?”)