Marriage Monday: Simple changes that make a BIG difference

This past Tuesday, we read a letter in the Dear Abby column in our local newspaper. Signed “Happier Than Ever,” the author of the letter shared how a simple change in routine THAT COST ABSOLUTELY NOTHING transformed her marriage. After reading the column...

Best of 2010: Parenting Strategies That Work

Mark and I have been working with our teenage sons this year on the concept of “freedoms.”  We recently sat down with the boys and had a discussion about how we use our time.  We discussed three categories that our activities fall into:Things we...

Marriage Monday: Date Night Over the Holidays

Today’s Marriage Monday will be the last new one until the new year.  Starting Wednesday, Dec 23 through Tuesday, January 4 (the two weeks our boys are off school), I’ll be taking off two weeks of active blogging. During those two weeks,...

Encouragement coming your way!

You can catch some “living with less” encouragement this week in a couple of media outlets.Later this week, I’ll be continuing my weekly discussions with Sterling on K-Love about strategies for a “less is more” Christmas. And Wednesday...

Marriage Monday: The Value of "Download" Time

Mark and I have been reading a book together called Your Spouse Isn’t The Person You Married: Keeping Your Love Strong Through Life’s Changes by Paul and Teri Reisser.  Today’s Marriage Monday is focused on staying connected to your spouse...

Marriage Monday: Move from Me to We

The Bible says that when we get married the two become one.  Becoming one doesn’t mean that we lose our individuality. It does, however, mean that no longer make decisions without considering and/or consulting our partner.  Today’s Marriage...

Marriage Monday: Understanding Capacity

Every person is created differently. We have different personalities.  Different needs.  Different capacity levels.  Today’s Marriage Monday explores the concept of capacity in marriage.Mark says…Dictionary.com defines capacity as...

Marriage Monday: Love and Respect

Jill says…In the same way that a woman longs to be loved, a man longs to be respected. In fact, if a woman feels loved she will likely respect her husband. And if a man feels respected, he will naturally show love to his wife.Mark says…But the opposite is...

Marriage Monday: Protect Your Marriage

Mark and I spend alot of time mentoring broken marriages.  A large percentage of those relationships are broken because of infidelity. And most of the time those affairs happened not because someone set out to have an affair, but because there were no protective...

Marriage Monday: Evaluate your past

The marriage relationship is directly affected by the emotional health of each partner.  Once we get married, it’s important that we continue to grow emotionally, because it will strengthen our ability to relate to our partner.  Today’s Marriage...

Marriage Monday: The Power of Our Words

In marriage, our words can bring life or death to our relationship.  Our choice of words and the tone they are delivered with invest in or tear apart our marriage.  Today’s Marriage Monday is on the power of our words.Jill says…Seventeen years...

Marriage Monday: Introvert or Extrovert

Mark and I are complete opposites in so many ways.  He likes coffee and I like tea.  He likes spicy food…mild for me.  He’s a morning guy and I’m a night owl. He’s an extrovert and I’m an introvert.Today we’re going...