Marriage
Top 10 Ways to Hold a Swing Shift Marriage Together
With the start of the new year, you may have new goals for your marriage. Here are some tips to help! 1) Close the door and hang out together for half an hour or more. Kids, this is grownup time. If no one’s bleeding, your request can wait. 2) Know the tuned-out look of the…
How Shift Work Hasn’t Wrecked My Marriage, Yet
We hope it’s true love forever, of course. But nothing can destroy a family schedule like shift work. My husband comes and goes at irregular hours. He misses family gatherings, major holidays, the weddings of loved ones. He shows up, derails “The Plan” (which is usually pretty mundane anyway) and claims time that, in the…
Waiting Game
Lately, it seems I’m spending quite a bit of time waiting. Waiting for projects to get finished. Waiting in carpool lines. Waiting for a letter to arrive. Waiting for a page to load. Waiting for the Next Thing. I’m not a very good “wait-er.” I feel impatience start rising from my toes and hit my…
Fireproof Interviews!
During ICRS, I had the privilege of attending the Fireproof screening and dinner with Kirk Cameron, Erin Bethea and many of the people who worked on the movie. It’s so hard to put the experience into words. The evening was filled with awe of what God could do with a church with a desire to…
Man-World
My son got into a tussle with a bully in the hockey dressing room this week. The kid had picked on one of the smaller boys, and Grayson had had enough. He stood up and gave him a taste of his own medicine. “See how you like it,” he told the tough guy. News of…
Excuse Me if I Wax
I’ve been waxing philosophical lately. I’m thinking deep thoughts of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, reflecting on eternal truths and life lessons. It’s the kind of thing that happens when you reach a major milestone in life. You see that mile marker coming toward you and suddenly you want to turn around and look back at…
The Goodest Mom
I was feeling pretty low yesterday. With some impulsive words I’d volunteered my already-stretched husband for a project he had no time for and it strained the air between us. Well, actually, we weren’t speaking to each other. Or looking at each other. And it’s funny how one failure seems to lead to another. I…
The Battle We Can’t See
If you’re like me, you most likely get pulled in multiple directions on a daily basis. Interruptions abound and your self-identity is as apparent and flittering as the steam on the bathroom mirror. And that’s if you even got a shower that day. You’re a mother, a wife, someone’s assistant-boss-you fill in the blank, the…
Valentine Help for the Romantically Impaired
No doubt many of you have husbands who are quietly planning a Valentine’s Day Extravaganza that will sweep you off your feet and make you fall in love all over again. This post is not for you. This post is for the rest of us, who are married to guys who are barely aware that…
The Most Dangerous Prayer
It’s birthed in the deepest recesses of our hearts, then moves with our silent yearnings to the hidden places in our thoughts. We dare to think it, until we finally submit and give words to this most dangerous prayer. “Lord, do whatever it takes to bring my husband/wife to Christ.” Among the unequally yoked there…