This year we’re trying to do something different. We’re not too different from most folks in that we’ve exchanged thoughtful cards, I’ve given Selena roses, and on a few occasions, jewelry. But this year, our entire focus has changed to treasuring each other. My tendency is to wait until the last minute, buy something to make up for lost time, and hope Selena feels loved. As…
Our 7 Most Read Posts of 2015
This past year has been incredible. For us, it’s been a year of change, a year of momentum building, and a year of immense growth. Though God is present and working in every moment, in the past year His work has been especially evident to us. There have been hard times for sure (the loss of friends and family, sickness, and stress), but God was always…
Trust Your Gages: Navigating Storms in Marriage (part 2)
In my last post I explained how I was flying home late one night and the foggy weather coupled with darkness made it impossible to see where the plane was landing. I got a little nervous but had to remember that the pilots have a whole suite of instruments (gages) that tell them everything they need to know for a safe landing. Many times in…
Trust Your Gages: Navigating Storms in Marriage (part 1)
I was traveling for work recently and the flight home was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had lately. It was a long day of travel with the last leg being a late flight, scheduled for arrival at 10pm. Darkness coupled with foggy Seattle weather made for a particularly perilous landing…or so I thought.
3 Surprising Truths About Losing & Finding True Intimacy
Every couple wants greater intimacy. There’s nothing like feeling truly connected to one another – like you’re walking in sync, your hearts are beating to the same rhythm, and you don’t know where you end and your spouse begins. It’s truly, truly remarkable. I’d even say it’s a miracle. What is it about the marriage bond that allows us such astounding intimacy? Why are we wired…
Tragedy, Community, and the Church Being the Church
Tuesday night I visited the family of a high school friend, Matt, in the hospital. Matt was hospitalized the Sunday prior because of an unknown congenital heart defect that resulted in catastrophic heart failure. I got to visit him in his room that night I went to visit. We prayed with him briefly and just stood beside the bed trying to make sense of everything. What…
The Truth About the Lies We Believe
The other day, Dela brought her little children’s Bible over for me to read to her. She loves looking at the colorful pictures. Her and I started reading about original sin in Genesis and about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As I was reading it to her, and we came to the part where God was confronting Eve about her sin (eating the fruit from the…
5 Things Having a Daughter Has Taught Me About Loving My Wife
Having a daughter has taught me more about being a good husband than I ever thought possible. The idea is simple: what if I saw my wife through God’s eyes? How would I change how I treated her? Loved her? Cared for her? As you can imagine, seeing your spouse through God’s eyes changes everything. Everything. This post will hopefully show you just a few of the…
Her Story: God’s Redemption After My Abortion
The videos released about Planned Parenthood on social media are disturbing for reasons we are all aware of. Ryan and I have been praying (a lot) about how to respond to you; the readers, our FM community…on a marriage blog. We’ve questioned if should respond on social media or would we be adding to the noise? However, as Christians, Ryan and I can’t be silent, because in the…
5 Creative Ways to Love Your Husband
In response to many inquiries we’ve received, here are a few creative ways I’ve discovered to intentionally and authentically love my husband. They aren’t the end all be all, but my hope is that they will help spur other creative ideas, as well as remind us, as wives, how our words and actions can inhibit or spur on our husbands. Intentionality, creativity, consistency and sincerity…