Could Your Husband Cope?

Could your husband cope if you were laid up for a while? The impression I get from many women, particularly those around my age group or older, is that their husbands wouldn’t know the first thing about how to cook a meal, do the laundry or do any of the other household chores that need to be done, especially when the wife is laid up. This puts pressure on the wife to keep going, even when she should not because she is too sick. Mick thankfully has done a great job over the last few weeks and given the ongoing … Continue reading

What They Need Most

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been taking an online organization course. I’ve always been the kind of person who makes to-do lists, and I like to stay organized. Now, note that I like to stay organized – I didn’t say it always happens, and the last two months have been absolutely crazy busy for me. As I sat contemplating my to-do list and following the course’s homework assignment of thinking about my priorities, I contemplated my family. I wanted to start listing all the wonderful things I was going to do for them, from color-coordinating their closets to fluffing … Continue reading

The Christmas Get Together with Family

As Beth pointed out Christmas gatherings with family can be stressful especially given many of the complicated family situations these days. As Mick said today when we were talking about family Christmases and the way some people go overboard, it’s time for us to take a step back and reevaluate what Christmas is all about. Like Beth, I see lots of people who are stressed and wishing Christmas was over. I had someone say it to me yesterday. Well, I’m one of those people who love Christmas. I love buying gifts for loved ones but then we have never gone … Continue reading

Expressions of Love

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it’s the little things in life and in marriage that make all the difference. What sort of things? Here are a few examples from our week. Enjoying an Experience Together The other day Mick and I rose early, got in the car and drove to the nearby beach. There we watched the sun come up and walked along the beach. What a beautiful start to the morning. Of course we snapped photos too to help imprint the time even further in our memory banks. Encouragement and Support On Monday night … Continue reading

Shopping with Your Spouse

Do you and your spouse shop together for clothes? Or do you simply go and buy your spouse’s clothes? Or do they go on their own and buy clothes? I’ve heard of women who want to buy all the clothes for their man without any input from him. Their attitude seems to be ‘what he would know about what looks good on him. I’ll tell him what looks good.’ Such an attitude undermines him and refuses to allow him to think for himself. The reverse would also be true if the husband went shopping for the wife and chose all … Continue reading

Buying Gifts for In-Laws

When it comes to buying gifts for in-laws, it invariably gets left to the woman to do the gift buying. This can be fine if she has a good relationship with them and knows what they like. If she does not, it can be disastrous. There is nothing harder that trying to buy a gift for someone when you don’t know what they like. Often you don’t know what they like, so you wander around the shops. But it’s near to impossible to know what to buy if you haven’t got a clue what you’re looking for. You can spend … Continue reading

To The Gym: My Training Session, I Thought

I had an appointment at around 10:30 a.m. with the trainer, so I got there early to walk the treadmill. Yes, I was anxious to start. Included in my membership was a one-hour session with a personal trainer. Of course, I decided to take advantage of it. I had researched fitness for years and practiced it. I had thought that I was doing the right exercises for my goals. Now it was time to see how close I was or if I was really far off. My session was cancelled. My trainer came over to me and explained that she … Continue reading

What Would You Force Your Spouse To Do?

I know the word “force” seems a little strong, and generally speaking in a healthy marriage you’d never think of “forcing” your spouse to do anything, but there could come a time when force is needed. For instance, say your spouse was witness to some injustice, either at work or on the streets, but they were afraid of speaking up. You know speaking up’s the right thing to do, but you can’t seem to convince them. Until you get the bright idea to force them to, either by driving them to the police station or setting up a meeting with … Continue reading

Is Baptism Required for Salvation?

This question has brought on long, drawn out debates. There is no doubt whatsoever that Jesus does command that we are baptized by fire and by water to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5). Though most Christians acknowledge this, the question is, whether or not baptism in addition to reception of Jesus Christ in one’s heart and confession of the mouth, is what saves us. Some denominations baptize babies with the belief, as good parents, they are allowing for the Holy Spirit to touch their child’s life since their baby or child is too young to request the baptism … Continue reading