Hello Again!

Summer has been a busy time full of ups and downs. I am still looking for a full-time job and trying to figure out what I am meant to do. One child broke her arm and has had to sit out of soccer... but she still made the team! We all went on a mission trip to Fort Worth, Texas in June. That was an incredible week as a family serving the Lord! Then our kids both spent time with their aunt, uncle and her boys and then also spent time away from home at camp and friends' house. Now we are looking towards the start of the school year as the girls begin high school and junior high! In May, we attended a Strong Bonds marriage retreat put on by the National Guard. I am so excited to say that we get to return to the next retreat in a few weeks. This time we get to help with the sex panel (question/answer time) and I get to share my couple's almanac with the group! I am busy getting my things gathered for this event- I am getting my pre-printed couple's almanac questions ready to post for sale.

Weekend Retreat: Strong Bonds

My husband and I were fortunate enough to attend a marriage conference put on by the National Guard. It was held in Lake Ozark, MO at Lodge of the Four Seasons. A gorgeous place! We arrived on a Friday afternoon and stayed until noon on Sunday. A date night was even a part of the weekend itenerary. I plan to blog more about the details of different sessions in the coming days, but for now will say if you ever have the opportunity to attend a marriage conference, DO! It brings a focus back onto the marriage and energizes the relationship. This particular weekend was put on by chaplains from the Missouri National Guard and offered to guard soldiers and their spouse. There were 33 couples this weekend. Topics included altruistic(unselfish) love, speaking/listening techniques, differences between husbands and wives, sex discussion (I even sat on the panel to field questions), finding the hidden issues behind negative feelings/events, problem solving, five love languages, and MORE! Thanks go to Shawn, Joe, Elliot and Jack for leading us this weekend. It was incredible! Part of the weekend was also receiving resources for later. The book set, For Couples Only and the book on Five Love Languages were among the takeaways. A wealth of resources. Well, I need to go for now. More tomorrow...

Hello Again, FINALLY!

It has been a long while since I last posted... but all is well on the home front! My husband and I are planning on attending a marriage workshop put on by the Army National Guard in a few weeks and I mentioned this to our daughters the other evening. Consider the fact we have always told them that we are 100% committed to our marriage and that divorce is not an option for us. Well, our oldest said "why? are you having marriage problems?" This was the prime opportunity to share a life lesson with them, without "preaching" to them. I told her no, we don't have marriage problems. I could have left it at that but decided to share a bit more with her. I said "why wait until there might be problems? Isn't it better to go to a conference to try to prevent problems then wait until problems happen to fix them?" She thought about my answer and thought that sounded good, but still asked "so your not going to get divorced?" Mind you, we have discussions but never really have arguments or fighting that might indicate issues. I shared that it is better for us to go now so we can continue to keep our marriage strong. She was good with that! It got me thinking a couple of things... 1) Couples need to be proactive in protecting their marriages and 2) Kids of any age worry about their parents relationship/marriage. So what can be done? 1) Be Proactive! Go on dates, talk about your feelings, share stories with one another, serve the Lord together, hold hands, say I love you, take the time to smile at your spouse, exercise together, go on family outings, eat dinner together, send texts during the day, discuss goals for the future... I could go on and on! 2) Be an example to your children and others! My husband and I try our best to be good role models for our children, their friends and the kids we work with. We talk things through, make time for each other, let our kids know the importance of marriage, share our views of marriage (during tv shows, movies, music), show affection toward one another (even when they say GRRRROOOOSSSSSS!), let them know of our future plans, include them in making family plans and more! They need to see how much we love each other... who they choose as a spouse has a lot to do with what they see/experience at home. To me the biggest thing a couple can do is to be selfless towards one another... put the other person first. Life is not all about ME! This is such a strong example for children. When they see loving compromise, working together, sharing differing ideas and putting others needs first (not to the extreme) they begin to form opinions/ideas of what they want in a spouse. Have a wonderful day and stay strong through your JOURNEY of LOVE!