I lost my wife to cancer at age 30, and was left with two small children. I had a lot of time to reflect on the subject of marriage. I came to realize how valuable marriage is, and truly began to look at marriage from God’s perspective.
Now, after 30 years […]
Last year my husband went to a week-long creative leadership training. I love those kinds of things and was eager to hear all about it. One of the biggest takeaways he learned was this: be careful not to assign intentions to someone else’s actions.
As he explained it to me, I realized that I sometimes […]
I had a friend from Dallas Theological Seminary ask if she could do a Prepare / Enrich marital assessment on my wife and me for a class that she was taking. We gladly agreed. Knowing that my friend is a very competent counselor, I knew she would pick up on some of the reoccurring […]
Right now, we’re in full swing getting ready for Christmas next week. (If you’re still looking for gifts for your spouse, click to this post that will give you some ideas.) I hope you have a great time celebrating the birth of Christ with your family and friends!
With the end of the year approaching, it’s […]
The transition from “married” to “married with children” challenges our goal to build a God-centered marriage instead of a me-centered or child-centered marriage. It is difficult to avoid the dangers of spouse-neglect or self-neglect. We should explore ways to parent together as a team, and find balance in the middle of the busyness.
The transition from […]
One of my favorite books is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. If you haven’t read it, definitely put it on your reading list. We often give it as a wedding gift. The premise of the book is that we all have a primary love language, a specific way in which we feel most […]
Prayer is one of the most effective spiritual tools we can use in our daily lives. Yet we sometimes forget to tap into it.
When I was a new bride, someone gifted me The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. It helped me to realize a few things:
It isn’t our job to change […]
How well do you and your spouse handle conflict?
While conflict isn’t usually fun, it is an inevitable part of relationships because all relationships are comprised of sinners. We don’t always see eye to eye. We hurt each other. We misunderstand each other. We say the wrong thing. We react in our anger. We’re selfish. […]
My pastor gave a message a few months back and asked this question: “Is your family child-centered or marriage-centered?”
He then went on to say that our families need to be marriage-centered, not child-centered. At first I balked a bit, Of course our marriage is child-centered, those children made us a family.
But then it hit […]
I love listening to podcasts. They are a great way to learn, be inspired and receive encouragement. I like to listen when I’m driving alone or doing chores like dishes or laundry.
One of my favorites is the Focus on the Family podcast. Last summer I listed to an episode where they interviewed author Gary Thomas. […]
