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Asking for Help
I don’t know exactly when it started, I just remember feeling angry and frustrated with my husband – almost every single day – for weeks. One evening after a pretty intense “discussion,” J.J. told me that no matter what he did or how hard he tried, it was never enough. He was right. I constantly found fault in him as a husband and as a dad. But the fact that he implied I was impossible to please … well that sent my already-unreasonable emotions reeling. I grabbed my coat and stormed out the front door. Hot tears streaming down my cheeks, I replayed our conversation in my head. Determined to…
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5 Ways to Bless Your Husband at Mothers Day
Mothers Day is for moms, right? Yes….. But it is also a perfect time to bless your husband and better your marriage as you do. Here are 5 easy ways: 1. Take a walk down memory lane. Go out for coffee or another favorite beverage. (While I’d go for a coconut-mocha latte, my man would choose raspberry lemondade) Take along some pics from when you first became parents. Reminisce together about your children’s’ births. About when they were tiny. But also talk about what life was like BEFORE you heard the pitter-patter of little feet at your place. What do you miss most about life B.C.? {before children} But, what…
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Everybody’s Workin’ for the Weeknight: 4 Reasons to Love Weeknight Dates
“Do you think they’ll still have tickets?” my husband Ted asked over our dinner of Pollo Tropical chicken and guava BBQ riblets. As you can tell, we’re big spenders on date night. “I think so,” I thoughtfully responded. “After all, it is a Wednesday night. How busy can it be?” Of course, in the back of my mind, I wondered the same thing. We were headed to see the film Divergent. At that point, it’d only been in theaters for six days and the show started in less than 30 minutes. Plus, we planned to see it in IMAX. Not necessarily because we wanted to, but because the time best…
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The Secret Behind 60 Years of a Loving Marriage
She was only seventeen. Young, strong and determined. He was 19 and enlisted in the Navy. But they were both in love and so they married. They soon started their family and were blessed with four children: two daughters and two sons. As he was quite the adventurer – bush pilot, missionary, and pioneer – their lives were never dull. And she was always right there by his side. She looked after him. She stood by him. And she loved him through it all. Eventually I met and married their youngest son and so I got to call them Dad and Mom too. Now those two have been married for…
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The Security of Our Story
Hearing our love story gives our children the assurance that they were meant to be. “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. Psalm 139:16, NIV Carrying plates to the table, mashed potatoes and gravy piled high, I watch as my teenage boys plop down in their chairs. Peeling black paint reveals my secret – the original white enamel. I smile, remembering this was the first piece of furniture their dad and I bought together. We’ve sat around this table sharing stories and meals with these two boys for almost two decades. Tonight we’ll sit and talk and linger…
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We Kissed Fighting Goodbye
Living near the Oregon Coast, sooner or later you’re going to see it – two seagulls fighting over a dead fish. It’s a lot of squawking, biting, flapping, snapping, and tugging. But as soon as you get near, they take wing and float peacefully on the breeze as if nothing happened. If you hadn’t seen it, you’d never guess that two seconds earlier they were trying to peck out each other’s eyes. It’s a scene too common in Christian marriage. It reminds me of the old couple my friend and I rented a flat from while in college. She dazzled everyone with her singing voice and extensive women’s ministry, and he…
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Hang On A Second. I Gotta Die.
“[I assure you] by the pride which I have in you in [your fellowship and union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily [I face death every day and die to self].” 1 Corinthians 15:31 (AMP) My 15-year-old son has a fondness for iPod games; ones where a creature has to jump, twist, dodge and dart in an effort to stay alive. Often he plays them on our short commute to school each morning. As we drive, we go over pick-up instructions. (At the middle school after football practice? Or at the high school if there is optional weight-lifting that day? And what time?) I also give my “Be…
