Once upon a time, I was spontaneous and fun. In fact, my husband would say it was one of the characteristics that attracted me to him. I was ready to go anywhere at a moment’s notice. I was always looking for a chance to be creative and romantic. Constantly, I was surprising Mark with impromptu scavenger hunts and silly poems. I was full of energy and ideas. But then what always seems to happen…happened. Life caught up with me. We…
We all have challenging times in our marriages when we have to make tough decisions, and sometimes that can cause conflict. My marriage is no exception! When to start having kids. Whether or not to quit good, stable jobs to go into full-time ministry. How to discipline our children. What to spend our money on. Whether or not to adopt. How to run a ministry while raising a family and dealing with serious health issues. Mark and I definitely don’t…
Communication is the glue that holds a marriage together. But I can tell you that during our 28 years of marriage, there have been countless times when Mark and I have come a little unglued. Early in our marriage, I struggled to navigate the sticky communication situations we sometimes found ourselves in. I had to start by figuring out how to communicate…about communication! As crazy as it sounds, I learned that to improve our couples communication, we had to talk…
There is a lot that goes into making a marriage great, and it’s important to talk about the basics like loving your husband well, making him a priority, and spending time together. But there is a huge part of marriage that we can be afraid to talk about realistically. Yes, I’m talking about sex! When you have kids, employees, and friends to serve and love, it can be hard to have energy left to love on your husband. Yet of…
For years, I was the family cook. I knew everyone’s favorite food, the meals that could get my kids running to the kitchen, and the meals I had to force my little ones to eat. I’ve always loved to cook. As time went by and I returned to work, Mark began to help out with the cooking from time to time. If I was going to be home late, he would jump in and prepare a simple meal. And then,…
I think David is one of the most fascinating people in the Bible. He was a man after God’s own heart, yet he fell so far short in many ways. One of them was in his role as a father. As much as he loved his children, he did not always guide them as he should have. His son, Solomon, followed David on the throne and asked God for the gift of wisdom. He received it, but lost it as…
Flour on my forehead and egg yolk on my elbow. A splash of milk on my cheek and a tiny bit of sugar on the tip of my nose. I don’t know about you, but this is what I sometimes look like when I cook. In the midst of craziness, I love learning what ingredients go well together, learning how much is too much, and even learning how to change a recipe up to suit my tastes. It can be messy,…