Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Marriage”
It started out with an innocuous comment, as most miscommunication often does. I had a red crinkly blouse with white flowers that I really liked. Such a cheery color and the crinkle material gave me the (false, I’m sure) impression that I looked thinner than I was. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about, right? A blouse, or jeans, or …
It’s that time of year again. When the fear of unmet expectations looms as Valentine’s Day draws near. I’m as romantic as the next person. In fact, I think I’m a romantic at heart. My mom told me once that I viewed the world through rose-colored glasses. I was twenty at the time and planning my first wedding. Looking back, …
I have a theory about relationships. God puts people in our lives to help us grow in some way or another. It’s the idea behind Proverbs 27:17—Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage theorized it in another way, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy rather than happy.” Although my focus …
Are you one of those people who hold week-long celebrations for your birthday? Or, maybe you prefer to have a birthday month. I’m not inclined to celebrate a day let alone a week, but every year, my husband and I acknowledge this week (July 31st to August 6th) as our anniversary week. You might wonder why that is—or not—but I’m …
My poor husband has been more than patient with me when I’ve used his lack of gift-giving skills in past posts. I’ve discussed The Five Love Languages and used his score of zero in gift-giving as an example of how we’re wired so differently. Just a reminder, the first Valentine’s Day gift he gave me as his wife was a …
If you readjust the pillows on your bed so they’re just right (more than once), you may be in the same psychotic boat as me—a Type-A personality. Okay, I’m not really a Type-A, but I definitely lean precariously in that direction. Just the other morning, I actually rolled my eyes and took charge as my oh-so-patient husband put my flower …
Do you remember the first Valentine’s gift your spouse gave you? I do. I had all these expectations built up, even though we agreed to get each other an inexpensive symbol of our love. Or at least that was my idea. I don’t think Chris got the memo—at least not the “symbol of our love” part. He latched onto “inexpensive.” …
It was on Sunday, during the first session of a Bible study my husband facilitates on marriage, that it struck me—I am a nitpicker. The book we’re studying is Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. His premise is that God created marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy. Nitpicking is definitely not an attribute of holiness. And, …
A lot of the godly lessons I learned about marriage came with 20/20 hindsight—where I failed in my first marriage. You can learn a lot in 22 years of doing things wrong. I once attended a church where the pastor’s catch phrase was, “You can either live and learn or learn and live.” His point being that we can live …
I didn’t have to hear the words the young woman tossed at her husband to know they hit their target. The muscles in his jaw clenched while his eyes dropped to the floor, embarrassment etched onto his face as clearly as if it were written in indelible marker. I didn’t have to hear the words, because it wasn’t necessarily what …
