Known & Loved: Feelings, Needs & Truth Cards for Couples

A free, print-at-home card deck for couples: name what you’re feeling, uncover the need underneath it, see the truth over the lie, and take one real step toward each other. 80 cards across 10 categories, plus an instructions booklet with ways to use the deck — daily check-ins, a weekly marriage meeting, a monthly Communion Night, and steps toward reconciliation after conflict.

What’s In the Deck

Each card pairs a feeling, the need underneath it, and a short line naming the lie (the “stronghold”) and the truth that answers it. Ten categories:

  • Fear → Safety
  • Shame → Acceptance
  • Pride → Humility / Being Known
  • Anger → Respect & Boundaries
  • Grief / Heaviness → Comfort & Hope
  • Abandonment → Connection & Presence
  • Jealousy → Trust & Assurance
  • Poverty / Scarcity → Provision & Enough-ness
  • Addiction / Compulsion → Freedom & Self-Control
  • Lying / Deceit → Truth & Honesty

How to Use It

The instructions booklet walks through several ways to use the deck together: a 5-minute daily check-in, a themed pull for a specific season (parenting, ministry, a hard season), a weekly 30–45 minute marriage meeting, and a resolution sequence for turning insight into action. It also includes ground rules for honest sharing, steps to reconciliation after conflict, two affirmation exercises, and a question bank for going deeper.

Print the card sheets, cut them apart, and keep a few blank cards on hand for feelings or needs the deck doesn’t cover.

Communion for Couples

New: a short shared liturgy adapted from our Communion Celebration Guide, rewritten for two voices instead of one. Read it together before sharing bread and juice at home — it’s built to close out two moments already in the booklet:

  • Communion Night — a new monthly or quarterly mode: pull a few cards, talk through what’s alive this season, then close at the table instead of with a to-do list.
  • Steps to Reconciliation — after working through an apology, close by receiving together what’s already been paid for, then share communion instead of just ending the conversation.

Free Downloads

All three files are free — print at home on regular paper or cardstock.