GPS to a Joyful Marriage

I hope you all had a somewhat joyous Christmas.  Despite the many problems that often come with this time of year, there is still a wonderful sense of love that shines through the muck! For my last post of 2014, I want to share a devotional from my second favorite book that I've referred to numerous times this year - "Jesus Calling", by Sarah Young.  I would HIGHLY recommend it!  The devotionals are very short but powerful! From "Jesus Calling", December 31: As this year draws to a close, receive My Peace. This is still your deepest need, and I, your 'Prince of Peace', long to pour Myself into your neediness.  My abundance and your emptiness are a perfect match.  I designed you to have no sufficiency of your own.  I created you as a jar of clay, set apart for sacred use.  I want you to be filled with My very Being, permeated through and through with Peace. Thank Me for My peaceful Presence, regardless of your feelings.  Whisper My Name in loving

As I tried to gather my thoughts for this weeks blog, I couldn't seem to find the words.  I looked back at previous Christmas posts and found this one to say everything that was on my mind. December, 16, 2013 ‘Tis the season to be jolly’.   Hmmm.  The older I get, the less jolly I feel  at Christmas time.  It seems the real reason for the season, the birth of Jesus, is slowly being pushed aside to make room for all the commercialism that now dominates this holiday.  I don’t like it. There has also been a lot of skepticism over the past few years about the roots of the celebration of Christmas, and so I decided to investigate it myself.  It seems that Christmas, initially called the Saturnalia Festival, started as a pagan holiday.  Romans adopted it with hopes of turning people to Christianity. From “Christmas, the Real Story”            In the 4 th  century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it.  Christian

Last week in my article on thankfulness, I touched on the struggles many of us face during the holidays.  It can be a depressing time for a number of people who would prefer to sleep through these jolly times.  I feel compelled to share, again, on another avenue to depression that is a major part of this holiday – what we eat.  I know I have shared numerous times in the past about the power of sugar and how it causes depression in me.  Last week I discovered another food that gives me the same reaction – so it’s not just sugar.  I’ve known that any foods causing sensitivities or allergies can create inflammation in your body - the whole reason I started this food journey.  What I didn’t know was that inflammation depletes your serotonin levels which causes depression.  I’ve been aware that nuts upset my stomach, so I eat them in very small amounts.  Last Sunday I bought some fresh-off-the-tree pecans that I couldn’t keep my hands off of.  I ate way too many for two days in a r

'Tis the season - the season for many to struggle financially, emotionally and physically.  Christmas brings high expectations of an experience that many of us may never achieve. That “Hallmark moment” we see on television is not the norm for most families. With dysfunctional childhoods, divorce, loss of family members, and difficult financial times, this celebration season brings depression to a large number of people.  Rick and I always see an increase in our counseling sessions at this time as marriages are pushed to their limits. We’ve propelled this once humble holiday into a money-making, commercialized, stress-filled time of pursuing the perfect Christmas.  Meanwhile, the true meaning of Christmas has been subtly pushed aside. Now I know there are naysayers about celebrating Jesus’ birth on this day that started as a pagan holiday.  I say if we keep our focus on Jesus, the rest just doesn’t matter.  I choose to be thankful for the birth of our Savior and for what He

Mark Gungor (Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage) talks about the difference in keeping score between men and women.  Just for getting out of bed in the morning to go to work, a man may believe he earns 100 brownie points.  Giving his wife a dozen roses should easily earn him 500 points and hold him over for a few months without any other attempts to make points. (So he thinks.) Points equal doing your job as a husband. The more points accumulated account for a happier wife. From a woman’s perspective, though, a dozen roses will earn him one point as would a single rose or even a new car.  Men can make their wives the happiest by taking the time to figure out exactly what makes her feel the most intimate towards him.  (Sorry guys.  It’s probably not anything from Frederick’s of Hollywood.  That’s your idea of intimacy.) It’s usually the simple acts, not the fancy cars or vacations, that will make us feel the closest to our man.  And by the way, gentlemen, more brownie points = mor