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Tom and Debi
Our Book Offers Daily———Encouragement
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Category Archives: Growing Strong Marriages
What’s Your Marriage Forecast?
Weather. We depend on it for so much of our activities. Will we do this or that? It all depends on the weather. No one wants to eat outside when it’s too cold or too hot. Nor do we plan … Continue reading
Rituals or Routines
We all have them; habits or routines that we do with little or no thought. Some are more meaningful than others. Compare drinking your morning coffee to brushing your teeth. Both are necessary, but morning coffee is a ritual all … Continue reading
Posted in Boredom, Cherish, Christian Marriage, Dating Your Spouse, Growing Strong Marriages, Intimacy, Priorities, Spiritual
Tagged Marriage help, Rituals, Romance, Routines
2 Comments
Why Not Now?
I’ve been thinking how challenging communicating about hard things can be in marriage. – Maybe you don’t agree on your budget limitations. – Maybe you are hurt over something your spouse said, but you’re afraid to tell them. – Maybe … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Marriage, communication, Conflict, Difficulty, Growing Strong Marriages, Keeping It Real
Tagged #tripwithlifelongfriends2024, fighting for your marriage, hard conversations, Leaning In, prayer for my marriage, pulling away, Why not now
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Spiritual Intimacy in Marriage
This week is what Christians call Holy Week. It is the beginning of following Jesus’s final journey on Earth to the cross. It is the most important week of the year. If Jesus didn’t die and 3 days later rise … Continue reading
Pruning Your Marriage
We recently did a hard pruning in our yard. All plants were cut back, except for our azaleas that are showing off this year. They will be pruned later. The first cut is always the hardest. Once you start you’re … Continue reading
5 Words
We need to say these 5 words probably more often than we do. It’s a sure way to end an argument and the best way to restore intimacy. These 5 words have the ability to reset your marriage. It can … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Marriage, communication, Conflict, Forgiveness, Growing Strong Marriages
Tagged 5 Words, Forgiveness, powerful words
2 Comments
3 Questions to Make Valentine’s Day More Intimate
Valentine’s Day is typically either an annual event in your home—one focused on the kids giving cards and conversation hearts to their schoolmates, or it’s a token holiday including a card, flowers or chocolates for your wife. We can take … Continue reading
Posted in Biblical Encouragement, Christian Marriage, Emotional, Growing Strong Marriages, Intimacy, Prayer
Tagged 3 Questions for Valentine’s Day, Emotional intimacy, Valentine's Day
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Fairytale or Adventure
Tom and I are watching The Crown on Netflix. We started it a long time ago, but never finished it; our life demanded our attention elsewhere. In fact we forgot about it until our pastor mentioned it one recent Sunday. … Continue reading
Valentine’s Day Blessing
Driving home today was stressful as Interstate driving usually is. We saw truck drivers weaving in and out of lanes as if they were Nascar drivers. It was alarming and revealing. I’ve never paid attention to truck drivers—the ones who … Continue reading
Posted in Cherishing, Christian Marriage, Encouraging Your Spouse, Growing Strong Marriages, Romance in Marriage, Valentine's Day
Tagged Gratitude, interstate driving g, truck drivers, Valentine's Day Ideas
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Learning Curve
Tom and I have been learning about difficult issues in marriage that we didn’t know happened. We realize how we have been spared many heartaches in our 45 years of marriage. Not that we didn’t have our own to deal … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Marriage, Difficulty, Forgiveness, Keeping It Real, Troubled Marriage
Tagged Blame-shifting, Conflict in Marriage, Humility, marriage
1 Comment
When Marriage Needs a Reboot
My Smart Phone is only smart when it works. When it starts doing weird and unexplainable things, we’ve all learned it needs a reboot. Marriage is no different. We can know all the right things. We can even have years … Continue reading
Posted in Biblical Encouragement, Christian Marriage, Difficulty, Growing Strong Marriages, Repentance, Troubled Marriage
Tagged Breathing life into a struggling marriage, Rebooting your Marriage, Repentance
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Detour
Have you ever been on the way to a familiar place, so much so that you hardly paid attention to the drive? We do this most of our lives passing the same places for the same reasons. Until…a detour sign … Continue reading
Christmas Reflections
No matter how long you’ve been married, there is something special about pausing to remember. Christmas provides a great opportunity to do so, since it happens the end of the year. Our pastor always asks these questions in December, “Look … Continue reading
Roots Remain
Oak trees are beautiful. We moved into our neighborhood 31 years ago because of the mature oak trees. They provide much needed shade from our intense Florida heat. Tom had a tree removed out of necessity in our front yard … Continue reading
Foodie Fridays – Passport Dinner Club
We began our first dinner club with four other couples who enjoyed food as much as us, and who also happened to be dear friends. We enjoyed our season of Dinner Club while it lasted, about 7 years. The idea … Continue reading
Importance of Friendship in Marriage
There is one thing of most importance in a healthy marriage and that is friendship. I recently had a conversation with a young single man contemplating how to pursue a healthy relationship with hopes for marriage. I told him foremost … Continue reading
Like A Fine Wine—Marriage Needs Time to Deepen
Time. Time ticks away the days. Some days can’t pass fast enough. Others you wish you could make them last forever. Our time spent away together was the latter—It was restful, beautiful and full of good food and God’s blessing.. … Continue reading
Longing and Desire
Longing for something makes it precious. The longer you wait for it the sweeter the reward. We have been longing for time away. Time to re-connect. Time to be us. And today it begins… We are leaving on a long-awaited … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Marriage, Growing Strong Marriages, Travel, Vacations
Tagged Cruise vacations, Desire, Longing, marriage
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Foodie Fridays – Farmer’s Market Inspiration
During the quarantine Tom and I got creative at using all the leftovers of a meal for another meal. For instance, leftover potatoes would be chopped and thrown into a chowder or fried up and served with morning eggs. A … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Marriage, Dinner Dates, Foodie Fridays, Money and Finances
Tagged Brussel Sprouts, Cooking, Farmers Market, On the stalk, Roasted, Winter Garden
1 Comment
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