The goal for the day was simple...Get food for dinner and prepare a delicious meal for our friends who were coming over (while still social distancing). I had gone to the store and had everything that I needed...except for the fish. I was planning on making fish with mango salsa, a yummy salad, and coconut lime rice. (Your mouth is watering right now, isn’t it? Mine is…). When the warm weather hits, this is one of my favorite dishes. Anyways, I was planning on getting tilapia, but the … [Read more...]
Choosing Your Spouse Over Your Checklist
We published an image of a quote on our social media not too long ago, and it struck me in just how profound it is. The quote, by D.L. Moody, is this: “If I wanted to find out whether a man was a Christian, I wouldn’t go to his minister. I would go and ask his wife...if a man doesn’t treat his wife right, I don’t want to hear him talk about Christianity.” I started to analyze myself through this lens...if I were to ask Jess how I was doing, what would she say? Where am I doing well? Where … [Read more...]
How to Love Your Spouse Through Their Rough Day
There I was in my car in the garage processing through the events of my day. You know those days where everything just seems to go wrong? This was that day. From dropping a smoothie onto the floor in the morning to having a rough interaction with a friend to work being rather difficult. The day just felt like it would never end. I remember feeling completely beaten down and frustrated. I was overwhelmed and depleted. But what do I remember most about that day? I remember Adam … [Read more...]
7 Game-Changer Questions to Fight Disconnection in Your Marriage
Have you ever gotten to a place in your marriage where you felt completely disconnected from your spouse...and didn't have a clue how you got there? In these times, it can be so easy to ignore the problem and become apathetic. In the moment, ignoring things seems like the better, easier option. However, this will only cause more distance between you and your spouse and more disconnection. The idea that we need to be pursuing our spouse and our marriage is not a new idea. As Ryan Frederick … [Read more...]
10 At-Home Activities to Do as a Couple
Let’s be honest. The past few weeks have been a bit insane. Have you been going a bit stir crazy? Have you craved being with your friends or family? Do you miss hugs? Are you finding yourself losing track of days and time? Us too. In the midst of being under “shelter in place” orders though, we have a beautiful opportunity to be intentional in our marriages and put our homes on a solid footing. Part of using the time well is being intentional with our time together and growing as a … [Read more...]
4 Ways to Take Charge of Anxiety
Army. Green. Couch. Can you picture it? Now hold onto that image and I’ll come back to it. If you have read my posts for any length of time, you know that I struggle with anxiety. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I realized how much I can fixate on things… sometimes really silly things. When we made the decision to leave the Bay Area, we gave away most of our furniture. We knew we would be staying with my parents and we had absolutely no place to store the furniture that we had … [Read more...]
Faith in the Midst of Uncertainty
I t was dinner time when we found out that Washington had issued a “shelter in place” mandate. While we live in Idaho, Adam works in Washington. And Washington was the first of the two to issue the mandate. Like many of you who have these state rules right now, we were (and are) faced with the very real possibility that Adam may face a layoff depending on how long businesses are required to stay closed. The short-term regularity of Adam's paycheck is uncertain, my grad school has been put … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Grow Your Marriage During COVID
This last week has been insane. I feel like I woke up on Friday last week and the world had started to end. Grocery stores were being emptied, in-person church services had been canceled, schools were closed, and my graduate program was put on hold...and I couldn’t find a single darn roll of toilet paper. The feeling was surreal. I almost feel as if I’ve been placed inside a movie or TV show. I’m waiting for someone to come up to me and say “Just kidding! You’ve been pranked!” Adam and … [Read more...]
Abandoned, Alone, and Afraid
Abandoned, alone, and afraid. These three words have been the theme of my feelings over the last month or so. We're in this weird stage of life where so much about our current situation feels unsettled and nothing is secure. Our finances, not having a home base, our jobs...there's very little stability (not our marriage, just life in general). For someone who craves stability and control, this has been an interesting season for me. In the midst of all of that though, I've spent this last … [Read more...]
Building Momentum in Your Marriage
"File:Маховик.jpg"by Vitold Muratov is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Having a great marriage isn’t based on one moment, one action, or one success, but rather a pattern of right actions (and corrected wrong actions) over time. This may seem obvious--doing the right thing is commonly best practice--but the effects are less obvious. It’s the momentum of all of these small actions that keeps a marriage strong through the hard times. In one of my favorite business books, Good to Great, Jim Collins … [Read more...]
