Do you remember the first days of your relationship with your spouse? If you were like me, your heart would flutter at a meaningful glance, flirtatious comment, or in my case, the handsomest guy I had ever met knocking on my door holding Belgian chocolate chip ice cream and asking if he could pray with me! After years of marriage, kids, demanding jobs, and hectic schedules, those fluttery feelings are distant memories. That doesn’t mean we can’t be romantic, it just…
February is here! January was focused on setting goals for work, but now that that’s done, it’s time to set goals for the truly important things in life – my family. February is the month we celebrate love because of Valentine’s day, and we certainly are all about love in the Merrill home—Megan is getting married! I know a sweet sadness is waiting for me. There will be sweetness in the celebration of my oldest daughter, and sadness in her leaving home. With…
I don’t know about you, but when I got married, I had a few expectations of the way things were going to be. Mark and I had plans and goals, and we were blissfully on board our marriage train to chase our dreams. But like every other couple, we learned pretty quickly that life can derail you in an instant! An unexpected pregnancy, a job change, financial struggles, sickness, any number of things can swiftly change the plans you thought you…
Early on in our marriage, our biggest issue was criticism. Mark thought it would be very helpful of him to point out all of the ways I could do things better, more like him. He is now quick to admit that he tends to have a bit of a critical attitude, but he didn’t realize it at the time. He honestly thought he was just helping me! But as someone who needs affirmation and thrives on compliments, I interpreted his…
Guess what? There’s no such thing as a perfect marriage! No matter how great a relationship may look on the outside, every couple has struggles because every person makes mistakes. If you’ve read many of my blog posts, you know that Mark and I have made our share of mistakes. Instead of making excuses for our behavior, we have tried to learn from what we’ve done wrong so we can grow as a couple. Our marriage isn’t perfect, but we are…
Join me on Periscope tonight at 9:00 pm EST to discuss: Will Your Child Stand for What They Know is Right? I recently posted a video of me and my friend Lesley doing a Periscope session where we talked about the 3 R’s of discipline. Today, I have 3 more letters on my mind to share with you: 3 A’s for an awesome marriage! I am sure that every married person who is reading this post wants an awesome marriage.…
Last month, countless lives were turned upside down when hackers posted the personal information of an alleged 32 million users of Ashley Madison, an online service that promotes and facilitates adultery. The website’s slogan reads, “Life is short. Have an affair.” The site claimed to have 39 million members and much was discussed in the news about the men who were found on the list. But I also couldn’t help wondering, who are the women having affairs with these men?…