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Serving Together to Encourage
It's easy to be complacent. But, complacency leads to inertia. It's easy to be self-focused. But, focusing only on yourself leads to selfishness. It's easy to be agenda driven. But, letting the agenda control your life leads to stagnation. Being complacent,...
Forget making lemonade out of lemons – Make Souffle!
One of Robert's favorite desserts is pudding. He doesn't discriminate between flavors or styles - banana, tapioca, vanilla, flan, chocolate, rice pudding or caramel or butterscotch - they're all good. However, he does have a favorite. Lemon Souffle Pudding Lemon...
Your Spouse. A Gift from God.
Your spouse is a gift. Not perfect but immensely valuable. How will you encourage her or him today? Offer hope, faith, love, prayer, and support.
4 Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before You Encourage
Encouragement definitely is more than "rah-rah" cheer-leading... but it isn't magic. Ever wonder why your encouragement isn't making the impact you hoped? Here are four questions to ask yourself before you open your mouth, or take some action to encourage: 1. Am I...
Adventures in Marriage {5 benefits when you get out of your comfort zone}
These days we're babysitting. Correction. Puppy-sitting. Our son and daughter-in-love have adopted a puppy. And by default, so have Robert and I. Our son has a business, and this dog is going to be his business' mascot. (Once it learns to do its business outside!)...
Adding Some Grace into Your Marriage: Book Review
I've been carrying this book with me for a while It's been: in the truck as we did errands in my bag as we went to Canada sitting on the table at my Mom's diningroom in my lap-top case at a conference in Detroit beside the bed in the most comfortable hotel room I've...
The Tangy Taste of Encouragement – Take Action!
Cooking is not my favorite thing to do. Like most married people, responsible for feeding the mouths in the house, I've perfected a few favorites. And when all else fails, there's always sauce from a jar dumped over spaghetti. Yes - I can hear all you chefs, and...
Grabbing the Moments
Sharing what we learn and read is important. And even though Robert and I work from home, one room away from each other, we can spend an entire day on separate computers only meeting in passing with a kiss in the hall. So sometimes we go on errands together. We grab...
Crossing it Off – A Date from the Bucket List
Sometimes we have goals in life. Big and small. Other times we have dreams which may not be realized, however just pondering the possibility provides a thrill. At times we make a point to go after our goals - to cross them off the list. How about you and your spouse?...
A Toast to Durham – 12 Dates in 12 Days
Part of our experience having a date 12 days in a row. We discovered a lovely little bistro owned by a husband and wife team, and visited the main library in Durham, North Carolina.
Dare to Celebrate – Build a Strong Marriage
It doesn't matter the circumstances of life - celebrating with your spouse builds a healthy marriage. Birthdays are an ideal excuse to celebrate that special person God created just for us. August 27th is my birthday. September 7th is Robert's birthday. There are 11...
Be Connected and Encourage
Being connected. That would be good, right? What happens when you're feeling a connection to your spouse? Lots of benefits: A close connection with your spouse will make encouraging him or her much easier... You'll go the extra mile when with a close connection to...
Who are you trying to attract?
What you wear will either encourage or discourage …your spouse. And influence those around you. I’m suggesting we all need to be deliberate in some areas of our appearance. 3 Things When this initial post began it had 3 points – and was much too long. So I divided it...
An Outward Sign You Are Married
Our 1st-world culture is image obsessed. We see evidence in kids going back to school, in advertisements in magazines and on television. I'm sure you're not shocked - it's not like adorning our bodies is something new... How about you? Are you a stylish person? Do...
Be a Friend – Encourage Your Spouse
As a husband or wife you do more than have an intimate, sexual life with your spouse, raise your children, pay the bills, and live and worship together, don't you? Your spouse is also your friend. A real friend. But what does that mean? What does it mean to be a real...
Stop Talking. Start Connecting.
Start connecting - but how? Are you tired of "pass-the-salt" conversations? Encouragers start conversations that make an impact. [Tweet "Encouragers start conversations that make an impact. Here's how..."] Part of connecting with your spouse is exploring ideas and...
Friendly. Positive. Tender. Agreeable. Soft.
When is it important to be kind? Is it a one-time action that can be noted and celebrated? Perhaps being kind needs to be less of an event, and more of a way of living. Practice kindness today with your words... Be conscious of your words and tone with your spouse...
Just Be Happily Married
This weekend Robert and I visited Charleston, South Carolina. And I kept bumping into married people. (Yes, I know - lots of people are married, but it's not always evident!) As we checked into our hotel on Saturday night, a giggling couple came through the door...
Encouraging Together – Doing for One
Our lives can be filled with every day events, and childcare, and busy-work, and maintenance, and ho-hum mindlessness... Is this enough for you? Do you want more? Sometimes feeling encouraged happens when we - as husband & wife - work together. Do you want to make...
When Comfort Doesn’t Serve
What happens when a group of ladies gather? It depends on their focus. On Saturday March 2nd I had the opportunity to gather with a group of ladies. To be candid, a few weeks before I'd accepted online to attend this meeting, but hesitated that bright Saturday...
Encourage Uniqueness
Husbands and wives are different. Just being a male and a female ensures you won't be alike. Physically that's true. There are books written about how men and women think and process ideas differently. ( Books like: Men Are Like Waffles--Women Are Like Spaghetti:...
Encouragement 101- Encouragement Is Not Cheerleading
Encouragement Is Not Cheerleading Not usually. At least encouragement is not cheerleading in the form we know… When cheerleading first began in the late 1800’s in the United States, it was an organized group promoting school spirit at sports events. Today cheerleading...
Come on – try it with a smile!
Smile. Just give it a try... Sometimes we forget a smile from someone we love can be the best encouragement! It's not rocket-science, it's not a huge sacrifice, it costs nothing, it's not about an attractive face or perfect teeth or the right light in the room - It's...
It’s all do-able.
Once there was a woman. A wife. A mom. An astrophysicist. A blogger. I found her blog by that rabbit-trail of first one blog, then another, and another and another. (You know what I mean if you love to read what other people are sharing.) As I read her blog, I needed...
Support with Action – An Attention Experience
Attention Experience - An observation. I overheard and watched a young engaged couple begin a conversation. They started by sitting across the table from each other. Then they smiled into the other’s eyes. The young woman said, “Hi.” And smiled again. The fellow...
Taking Care of Your Heart
We're headed into that heart month - February. Flowers & cards. Chocolate. Dinner for two. Intimacy. What about your heart? I'm not talking only about emotions... I'm talking about the physical muscle! How is that muscle beating in your chest? (The one that...
Encouragement – Pass It Along
Encouragement. First step: Are you and your spouse good at encouraging each other? you both do the normal stuff like say "please" and "thank you" you both listen intently when your spouse speaks you both offer hope when times are tough you both support each other...
Using Touch to Encourage
Our senses provide a plethora of input. When you’re in love, seeing your spouse – even a picture of the one you love – brings a smile to your lips. We buy our spouses smelly stuff like cologne or perfume or lotion to delight the senses. We feed each other strawberries...
Some of my favorite things…
Hello. I'm Lori. And I'm a book-a-holic. Big books, small books, any books, all books, every book, many books, children’s books, picture books, booklets, cook books, non-fiction books, marriage books, hymn books, happily-ever-after books, travel books, poetry books,...
Decorated or Meaning-Filled
When we homeschooled I was privileged to spend some time with a mom with 12 children. Yes. You read that correctly. Twelve. And she was pregnant with another. Her husband was a violinist in the symphony - I knew this because of the framed music, and photos of him in...
Planning with Your Spouse
There are three areas often forgotten in this season of festivity. Maybe they’re overlooked. Or perhaps these three items are just plain ignored. It might be different in your household, but from experience and observation of others, I believe these three areas are best addressed proactively.
I’m sorry.
We're heading into a season of human interaction. The Thanksgiving Weekend - for those in the USA. Christmas - New Year. All year long we interact with others, but this time of year the interactions have overarching expectations. We're supposed to be having fun, and...
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