“But, I don’t have any expectations.” Has anyone ever told you that? Someone Eric and I love dearly tries to convince us of this “fact” often, but I am not ready to believe it. ~smile~ So far, I have not met a human being who does not have at least a few expectations of others or life. We expect our neighbors to drive with common sense and not hit our children. We expect doctors to provide medicine and accurate diagnoses when we are sick. We expect the sun to rise in the morning. Even those with the lowest of expectations can find something they expect out of this world, no matter how small or … [Read more...]
She Taught Me to Simplify my Marriage
The different people we meet throughout our lives each paint a portion of our story. When we look back on our beautiful portrait, we see the work of hundreds – maybe thousands – of people. Some only brush a single stroke and others fill in the smallest details of our canvas. My late mentor, Miss Betty, added many colors and designs to my life and I credit her, in large part, with my love of marriage and relationships. From the time I was seven and moved in across the street, to months before my 34th birthday when we lost her, she displayed to me what it meant to be a Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 … [Read more...]
Simplifying the Parenthood Discussion
The happiest and holiest children in the world are the children whose fathers succeed in winning both their tender affection and their reverential and loving fear. And they are the children who will come to understand most easily the mystery of the fatherhood of God. – John Piper One of the earliest conversations I recall having with Eric during our courtship’s infancy was about children. He wanted six and I wanted four; so, we settled on six. ~smile~ Those were the days when I thought life would go the way I expected, and it had not yet occurred to me that our future path might be different … [Read more...]
Simplifying Your Response to Insanely Angry Moments
There’s a woman in my church who has been married fifty-five years. Fifty-five years. She said, "Henry, not once in fifty-five years did I ever think about divorce. Not once. I thought about murder though." – Henry Cho, comedian Two years ago, I wrote a post called, Why Couples Should Stop Saying, “Divorce is Never an Option.” If you have not read it, I encourage you to click over when you finish this post and check it out. For a long time, I held the philosophy that once I was married, I would never even consider divorce. So, I was embarrassed, ashamed, and amazed when I found myself … [Read more...]
Your Ever-Changing, Never-Changing, Future Spouse
As the saying goes, “A woman gets married hoping her husband will change, and a man gets married hoping his woman never will.” Surely, this is not always the case. Some men marry women they deem a work in progress, and some women find men they consider perfect in every way (they will learn the truth soon enough! ~smile~). Regardless of what men and women desire when taking those sacred vows, two truths are constant – men (and women) do not change; and, women (and men) do change. When Eric and I were young and in love, I thought he was perfect – mostly. ~smile~ He tended to be a bit, shall … [Read more...]
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