Fierce Marriage & Family Update #1

It’s funny, we get pretty personal on this site about our marital struggles and epiphanies, but on other things we tend to under-share. I think we assume that not many folks would be interested to hear the nitty-gritty details of our everyday lives, or perhaps we just don’t make time.

Either way, we see the FM community as a valuable extension of our family and friends – so I feel it appropriate and necessary to provide a very quick update on what’s going on in our lives, hearts, and minds.

I think I’ll try to make these updates a bi-monthly occurrence, so I’ve titled this one Update #1. If I’ve missed anything you’re wondering about, please feel free to ask me about it in the comments below.

With that said, if you’re interested, read on! If not, no hard feelings.  :)

What we’re thinking and dreaming about

The biggest thing on our hearts & minds for 2015 so far is to focus more on making Fierce Marriage our jobs instead of maintaining it as a side gig. This means we need to figure out a way to make it self-sustaining – to provide enough income for me to stop working. There is so much need in the church for biblical counsel in marriages – there’s too much work to be done to keep this as our side gig. I met with a pastor friend yesterday and he confirmed what we already suspected. We feel the urgency more than ever.

So, Selena and I figured the most biblical way to do that was to ask our readers for support. We’ve done that at length on our partnership appeal page. The response has been encouraging! We’re about 25% toward our monthly goal (currently at about $1,000/month, we’re shooting for $4,000/month). We’ve got more work to do on that front, but it’s an awesome start and we’re extremely grateful!

Aside: The most unexpected blessing has been the moral support of the small group of early partners. We’ve had some fun dialogs via our dedicated Facebook group (we invite all partners to join), and I’m just starting to realize that it may be the best benefit we get from the whole arrangement!

If you’re passionate about Christ-centered marriage ministry, we’d be humbled and grateful if you’d consider partnering with us as well. If so, click here.

Moved Closer to Home

We’ve moved closer to family, into a (small, but awesome) 1 bedroom apartment in Gig Harbor, Washington. It’s been great, and we’ve downsized even more than before (how is this even possible??). However, we’re learning the beauty of simple living, where less truly is more.

We even got rid of our TV, which has made for some fun conversations after Adelaide goes to sleep. Normally, we’d just zone out and watch reruns of the The Office, but now we’re reading much more and talking about unexpected things. We’ll probably post about some of those conversations in the near future…

Family Happenings

We’re enjoying being closer to family, and our move was more timely than we thought. We recently found out that Selena’s grandma has brain cancer, and the prognosis isn’t looking great.

We spent Christmas Eve in the hospital with her and the family rallied together to make a Christmas dinner memorable in the hospital conference room. It was a memory we’ll never forget, and we think grandma enjoyed it as well! 

Another baby?

We’re not pregnant yet, but we’re talking about having another baby this year (God willing). We have days where we’re enthusiastic and excited about the possibility, then there are other days where we think it’s the worst idea in the world (we’re usually very short on sleep on those days).

It’s in God’s hands, and He’s much better at family planning than we are. :)

Fierce Marriage Workshops

We are finalizing details for our first ever Fierce Marriage Workshop! It will be a one day event at Storehouse Church in Puyallup, WA. We plan to speak three times, have one husband/wife breakout session, and answer questions via a Q&A panel. It’s shaping up nicely, and hopefully we can learn how to replicate it at other churches around the country.

The goal is to get ourselves and our readers out from behind our computer screens (and phones) to discuss real-life marriage issues and build relationships. We have no idea how it will turn out, but we’re excited nonetheless!

If you’re in the Northwest and would like to attend, please email me to let me know you’re interested ( ryan  [at] fiercemarriage.com ). I’ll make sure you get instructions to register when the page is ready!

Other Fierce Marriage Initiatives

We’re working on a few tangible things to equip churches and individuals to build stronger marriages on Christ. Here are some of the items we’re working on (a more detailed list can be found on our partner page.)

• Online pre-marriage course
  8-12 weeks of marriage essentials for newlyweds and engaged couples.
• 30 Day Couple’s Devotional
  I’m currently writing a devotional that aims to reset and reboot marriages. Scripture, commentary, questions, and exercises. Should be fun.
• Our 1st Book
  We’re studying, writing, studying some more, and writing some more. We hope to finalize the first few chapters and finish our proposal over the next two months.
• Online resources
  We’ve got a database of 100s quotes ready for the world – all Christ-centered and encouraging. Just a few things are needed before making them available. We’re also trying to find better ways to make our images accessible to those interested.
• More
  This is a short list. There’s more we’re working on, but those are the main things.

I think that covers it. Questions?

Did I miss anything you were wondering about? Please feel free to ask us anything in the comments below and I or Selena will respond. Thanks for reading and being a part of the FM community.