I know what you’re probably thinking. “That’s an odd number!” Am I right? But this year is our Grandiversary. {BTW, I made that up, so you’re not uninformed. You’ve heard of a Grand Birthday, or a Golden Birthday, haven’t you? Well, if not, it’s the birthday that you have that falls on the day you…
Unfortunately, it’s possible to sabotage your marriage while living as an otherwise happily married Christian woman. I know this from experience. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was guilty of relying on my husband for the comfort and peace that can only come from Jesus Christ. That’s an impossible expectation and when my…
There we were, young college students living far from our families, clueless about this institution we’d just signed onto called marriage. After the honeymoon, it didn’t take long for us to realize we were polar opposites. I was from the North; he was from the South. I liked to talk; he liked it quiet. I…
The beginning of my relationship with my husband was built on a shaky foundation. The relationships that were to serve as healthy models during our childhood had instead given light to what we didn’t want. Barely adults, we stood upon a threshold littered with tiny shards of hope. Taking a leap of faith, at the…
The expectations we carry into marriage influence us in many ways. If those ideas and assumptions are met, the relationship is happy and peaceful. If expectations are not met, disappointment with the other spouse and disillusionment in the marriage sets in. Early in our marriage, I wondered why my husband wasn’t doing things I thought…
Dear Self, (A letter to myself on my wedding day, February 20, 1993) The day you’ve been dreaming about since you were little has arrived! Best of all, you and Paul can finally be together without saying good-bye. You won’t be dependent on the post-office and long-distance phone calls to make your relationship work. By the way, you…
1. Serve each other. If you are anything like us, our lives can be pretty crazy busy at times. We have 8 children who usually need attention in one way or another. It is really easy for me as a mom to get so caught up in caring for them and to put the…
My imperfections were glaring when I met my husband. At 19, I had already been divorced from an abusive man and endured indescribable difficulties. My young son had just turned one year old, and I assumed no one would ever truly love me. There was too much in my life that made me unworthy of love….
Marriage is wonderful. Marriage is also hard. When getting married, we all bring some things from our pasts into the marriage. But what if some of those “things” are remnants and products of a previous marriage? I’m a second wife to a second husband. I never thought I’d marry twice. When I married the first…
Several years ago, my neighbor was having a difficult time in her marriage. Her husband was leaving her and she could not stop crying. I remember finding her scrunched up in the corner of her sofa. My heart broke for her. I sat with her and I cried alongside her. I tried to…
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, and we were doing the usual things to prepare for the week. I was in the kitchen washing dishes when I heard a loud crash. My husband had fallen from a ladder in the next room! Knowing how high the ladder was, my mind immediately started racing. A flood of…
It was my Birthday and my husband took the day off. It’s always a treat to have fun days planned with him. He bought me this gorgeous sweater that fit just right! It was a big deal! I was having morning after morning breakdowns in my head because my clothes didn’t look right on me. Everything was…
My hubby and I are celebrating 19 years of wedded bliss choice today. Truly, loving someone is a choice you make. Daily. Because although the euphoria of “feeling in love” is typically what leads a couple down the aisle, that feeling never lasts. Somewhere between mortgages, diapers, laundry and sick days, it gets lost. You…
About five years into our marriage, my husband and I went through two years of turmoil. The big “D” word even came up. We are both Christians and believe that divorce is not an option but were pushed to the point of consideration. It was that bad. We were basically living as roommates…
