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Married Couples: Are We Too Busy?
We often find our identity in what we accomplish. Our activities and responsibilities can build up until we are crushed beneath them. Are we so busy that we miss out on beauty, relationship, and belonging? Have we become ‘human doings’ rather than ‘human beings.’ It’s hard to grow our marriage if we’re too busy to BE with each other. Busy Families JANINE: If you grew up on a farm like I did, you might remember the ‘breakneck’ pace of harvest or planting time. During those busy days, both Dad and Mom were working intense hours and running on little sleep. This extraordinary pace was for the short-term and my parents knew…
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30 Seconds of Passion
LARRY: When life gives you lemons (or a Covid pandemic) – make lemonade. When Covid hit, my wife Jula and I decided to turn our quarantine into a second honeymoon. We made the most of the extra time we had together by being romantic and talked about areas of our relationship that we’d actively avoided. Well …after about 6 months of this second honeymoon, life threw us a few curveballs and the proverbial ‘honeymoon wore off.’ Some months later, I had a dream where I got the idea of “30 Seconds of Passion.”
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Are We Broken?
When we are in the middle of a disagreement or are disconnected from one another, we may look around us and only see people doing marriage better than we do it. But no relationship is perfect and every relationship has its struggles. In all likelihood we are broken, but not any more broken than others.
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5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids
As we placed linen napkins on our laps for a fancy dinner, we realized life as we knew it was about to change. We were soon going to become parents. We’d enjoyed two wonderful years of marriage and wondered … would this be our last Getaway alone?
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Us Against the World
Marriage is not a 50 / 50 proposition. The weight of responsibility in marriage will vary unevenly between husband and wife from day to day. But what do we do when the load is not balanced for a long time or when we both don’t have much left to give each other?
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3 Steps to End the Bickering
Even the best marriages succumb to nit-picking over how to do the laundry or load the dishwasher. We differ over asking or not asking for directions and bicker over who’s to blame for being late or how we spend money. While these quarrels may seem trivial, in reality, they matter and getting to a solution beats bickering any day.
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5 Things Men Want
1. RESPECT: (KEN): When a man is asked, ‘Would you rather be respected or loved?’ most would choose being respected. In his book Love and Respect, Dr. E. Eggerichs explains this tendency. (JANINE): For years, I didn’t appreciate how important it was to Ken that I treat him with respect. I also didn’t understand how hurtful it was when I disrespected him. When I show Ken respect (by affirming his decisions, avoiding sarcasm or by not using a demeaning tone) it translates (for him) into feeling ‘loved.’ Another way to say this is: when a man is disrespected, he receives the message he is NOT loved. 2. SEX:
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10 Things Women Want
1) Learn her “Love Language:” And speak it often! (Learn more: What Language Are You Speaking? ) Janine’s love language is “Acts of Service.” So, when I vacuum or do dishes or cook, it fills up her ‘love tank’ – her mood brightens and there’s a whole different vibe between us. I can tell I’ve found a direct path to her heart.
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Stale Crackers
It first struck us when we had to throw away all the crackers in the pantry because they were past their expiration date – it’s been a very, very long time since we’ve entertained a group of friends at home. We usually don’t eat crackers, but we do like to entertain people who might, especially if there are cracker toppings and wine involved. Throwing crackers away was a sad reminder of all the gatherings we would have had but didn’t because of COVID.
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The Empty Nest Repopulated – 4 Ways to make it Great!
Julie: When our kids were small, it was easy to keep peace in the nest. Mama and Daddy bird had the final say and that was it. Ah, little kids, little problems. Things got a little trickier as those baby birds grew into fledglings. As our kids grew and stretched their wings, they asserted their increasing independence and often challenged our rules and decisions. As young adults who have left the nest, they are more respectful when they return home, but things can still get a little tense as we are still their parents and they are still our kids.
