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10 Ways to Show Gentleness in Marriage
Gentleness in Marriage - it's a strength that's often overlooked. My husband had me in tears this morning. We got home late last night, he hadn't finished his daily blog post, so I went to sleep while he worked into the wee hours of the morning ... So when I got up ,...
Cooking as Encouragement
What recipes do you “go to” to make your spouse feel special? Sometimes food can be more than food…
What are you offering?
Encouragement is like a glass of clear, clean, cold water - it refreshes. What would you call the glass of dirty water with "floaties"? (it's not encouragement) Which are you offering your spouse? Inspire with Hope - Encouraging by looking forward with optimism....
Book Review: Choosing Gratitude
There are 840 hours from the writing of this blog post till Thanksgiving Day in the United States. (35 days - about 5 weeks) Because our family heritage is Canadian, and we grew up celebrating Thanksgiving in October, the USA Thanksgiving weekend sneaks up on Robert...
Soak in the Beauty
The days can become hectic - disjointed - spastic - frazzled... How can you and your spouse regroup - renew - recharge? Take a break with your spouse - soak in some beauty: Go for a walk. Enjoy the beauty God has provided in nature. Visit a museum or art...
The “I CAN” Perspective
"Hearers interpret our questions and comments from their own perspective. Perhaps we should spend a bit more time encouraging and building confidence in others so they have the ability to see things from a “can do” approach." ~ Dan Rockwell - Leadership Freak - from...
Encouragers start conversations.
If you were to use one word to describe each block of time in your day, which words would you use? Wake - pray - read - exercise - shower - eat - drive - work - walk - eat - work - drive - eat - visit - TV - read - pray - sleep. Now - how would you describe...
Mission, Vision & Action
The year Robert and I were married 25 years, we went away for a week on a retreat. We decided to plan for the next 25 years – what would our mission be?
Comfort & Encouragement
Two weeks ago our family said goodbye to a wonderful friend - Katie. She lived with us for 14 years, 2 months and was the perfect gift from God for us. Katie was our dog. From the time she was an 8-week old puppy, she bonded with Rob. She was the first one to greet...
Book Review: The Meaning of Marriage
For the last month or so a book has been sitting beside my computer - The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller. This husband and wife team have been married for over 36 years - working as a pastor and wife first in Virginia, and since 1989 in New...
Encouraging Words: Kindle
Kindling. Small bits of wood or twigs used to start a fire. I must confess, I love fire. Anything from a contained fire in the fireplace, to a campfire, or a huge, soaring bonfire, all put a smile on my face. (Fortunately, Robert is a bit more conservative and...
Encouraging Words: Lighten
Question: What do you think... Is she adding to her spouse's group of boxes? or Is she removing a box - ready to carry it herself? This is an odd image - when I first saw it, I perceived it as a story where she was accepting a box to carry from the load her spouse...
Are you sure you encourage?
Since January 23rd, Robert has been playing with a new 'toy' to motivate himself to focus on being more active. It's called the FitBit. What is a FitBit? It's a small, wireless device that tracks how many steps he takes every day. The data is sent wirelessly to a...
Encouraging Words: Reinforce
Did you know that the first "not good" in the Bible was about Adam being alone? Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. (Genesis 2:8) The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a...
Encouragement Barriers
I'm working through one of Robert's leadership courses from John Maxwell - Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. (Robert is a Leadership Coach with John Maxwell) This book/course explores the concept that effective leaders do more than just communicate a message -...
Cutting Through the Crap
I apologize for the coarse language - but there are times when our lives resemble a maze through the meadow muffins*... Like people, relationships continue to grow and change. Every marriage has seasons. Some are tranquil. Some seasons are more chaotic than others....
Entering Your Day: Being deliberately & reverently married.
Married. How do you enter your day being reverently and deliberately married? “Therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.” I've begun...
Book Review: You Are a Writer
I love to learn. Well - if I'm being candid, then I'd say I love to learn in certain areas. Relationships, marriage, encouragement, writing, history, and other sundries. (math, economics and finance are not one of these topics - I'm being candid here, after all.)...
Encouraging Words: Befriend
Social networking has made this verb - befriend - a phenomenon. However, in the social media sense we call it "friending" or "friended" or some other incorrect grammatical phrase. (I'm not even going to touch the term "de-friend"!) Befriend: to make a friend to...
Clear Communication Makes It Easy to Encourage Your Spouse
A farmer went to an attorney to get help in acquiring a divorce. The lawyer said to him, "Do you have any grounds?" The farmer replied, "Yup, I've got about three hundred acres." The lawyer said, "You're not understanding me. Do you have any case?" The farmer said,...
A quiet power couple.
Remember the post about failure? About Failing Forward? My husband and I have been talking a lot about a certain couple - a quiet couple. They experienced a lot of failure in their life. They were slammed by the media. He didn't receive full recognition for his...
Encouraging Words: Edify
Edify: To build up - strengthen - establish. I don't know about you - but this is NOT a word I use most days. Or any day. Sometimes I read it in a Biblical context, but I don't think I've ever used it when describing my relationship with my spouse. And yet. When I...
Building Strength – Surprise
Keep the excitement alive. Push away predictability and boredom by occasionally surprising your spouse with something new. And remember, it needs to be about them and not you. ~ from 7 Ways to Build Strength into Your Marriage Do you ever surprise your spouse? Wait!...
Something Sweet
Encouragement comes in many forms and sometimes our spouse just needs something sweet... In honor of National Cherry Month, I bring you some links to yummy Cherry desserts*: Cooking with Elise - Elise makes Cherry Panna Cota, Chocolate Cherry Paninis, and a few more!...
Planning & Encouragement
Yesterday was February 14th - Valentines Day. Many couples created a plan to celebrate - did you? These couples planned a dinner - either at a restaurant or at home. They planned to purchase gifts and cards and flowers. I also imagine they planned on adding other...
Supportive Spouse – Who?
Yesterday I started a blog post to highlight a supportive spouse - Susannah. Her story is so rich, I couldn't finish in one day - in one post. (I kinda surprised myself.) We left off at an attitude-changing event when she was engaged. ~~~~~~~ Susannah and her fiance...
Encouraging Words: Support
Sustain & Maintain - Prop - Brace - Uphold In her time - like ours - Christianity was practiced but not often lived. As a young girl she attended church services with her parents and often imagined that the deacon looked like a gigantic robin and his singing just...
Building Strength – Know your “Why”
Define your “why”. Creating a shared vision and defining what a meaningful life means to both parties is the best way to build strength. ~ from 7 Ways to Build Strength into Your Marriage* When a husband and wife team have a shared vision - and then pursue this...
Who influences you?
One of my go-to questions when I interview couples is: Is there a person who has had an impact on you as a husband/wife? Sometimes couples immediately identify someone who has impacted their marriage life for the positive. Often it'll be parents or grandparents....
I Love You – Letters
Imagine a book filled with letters - from a husband to his wife. In these letters, spanning the course of about 50 years - 1952-2002 - he tells her how much he loves her and talks about how her love makes him feel: ...Your gift to me is uninsurable. No appraiser can...
Who gets to the door first?
Fawn - the writer and heart behind The Happy Wives Club posted this quote: There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps. ~Ronald Reagan This...
Getting to Know Your Spouse
Getting to know your spouse. How do you do that? How do you ... get to know all about your spouse? get to like your spouse? get to know that your spouse is "your cup of tea"? get to know what to say to your spouse? get to know how to feel free and easy with your...
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