The Mission Of Your Marriage

December marks the end of a year-long marriage mentoring relationship my wife and I entered into with a couple from church. We started out under the auspices of marriage enhancement and quickly realized we were bordering on marriage crisis.

We are so glad we took the time to let an older (more experienced) couple mentor us in this way...I can truly say it has made a difference.

Along those lines, here is a great website from Marriage Missions International dedicated to "revealing the heart of Christ within marriage". They have a ton of good articles on many different aspects of marriage.

Of particular interest to me is this short how-to on creating a mission statement for your marriage and family:

The Mission Of Your Marriage And Family

The Little Pink Card

Man, I wish I had known about this a week ago!

Here's some handy gift guidance for the husband who needs a little help when selecting a present for his wife...a camp I am firmly in!

This little card (found out about it on the Building Camelot blog) has all the essential info you need to make an informed purchase in the "heat of battle". Is it lame to have to consult a little card to know what perfume to buy your wife? Yes! But not as lame as not buying it all because of your own ignorance...

While I am not willing to pay $9 plus shipping to have a professional one made, I will be putting this little idea to good use with a DIY card for my wallet.

The Little Pink Card

Marriage Alive

Here's another marriage and family educational organization, dedicated to providing resources and training to help congregations and community groups build better marriages and families.

Their teach-right-out-of-the-box marriage education program, 10 Great Dates is used by churches, community marriage initiatives and other groups around the country and internationally as a low- key, fun, male-friendly, yet skilled-based program that appeals to the masses and to couples in any setting.

I have not read the books or gone through the series, but it does appear to be Christian-based.

Marriage Alive Website

Pure Intimacy

Here's a website from Focus on the Family that brings together a lot of information in one place on sexuality, with specific sections for ministry leaders, couples, and parents.

Of special note is the section on the "Theology of Sexuality", something that ultimately informs all of our decisions around this topic: the movies we watch, if/when we let our kids date, even how we vote.

As the site says:

Although the Bible employs other analogies for God’s relationship to His people, the most common is that of bridegroom and bride. If we are created in God’s image, does this heavenly relationship have any bearing on our earthly relationships? It holds more meaning than most of us have ever imagined.

Pure Intimacy

Fireproof

I'm a little slow on the uptake when it comes to movies. Apparently this is a "Christian movie" (think Facing the Giants) that broaches the subject of marriage...and how to save it.

This seems like the type of movie I would typically wait to see on DVD (I get to go to the movies so infrequently, I like to save it for more visually epic films) but this might make a great date movie.

Check it out:

Welcome To FireproofTheMovie.com

Love and Respect

I have not read the book or been to the conference, but just a glance at the website and watching a couple of the videos makes me think this might be worthwhile...kind of reminds me of a Christian version of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" (which I investigated prior to becoming a Christian and have come to find out is very new-agey).


Love and Respect - Presented by Dr. Emerson E. Eggerichs

Love Their Mother

Mother's day came this year in the midst of a lot of other activities going on in our lives so my wife didn't get the usual royal treatment.

But, it strikes me that I don't need to have a special day to demonstrate appreciation for her. Here's a quick little article to remind us that our wives deserve special treatment from us every day of the year.

Of particular interest for this blog is the "Model for Chivalry" item.

FATHERS.COM - What Children Gain When You Love Their Mother

I Am Husband (too)

I've heard it said that a new blog is created every half second...but I'd venture to guess that a very small percentage are by guys blogging about loving their wives.



Believe it or not, that's just what the new blog iamhusband.com is about.

Men are, by nature, forgetful creatures. We get settled into our routines and often forget that there is anything else going on in the world. As husbands we can forget that the "anything else" is often "someone else" and we end up hurting the feelings of the one we love most. Our marriage goes stale and we're not even quite sure what happened.

Check it out at: http://www.iamhusband.com/

The (non)Romantic

Yeah, so I blew it this year.

Valentine's Day came and went and sure, I mananged to get a card...but I really didn't put in the effort to perform a romantic gesture for my wife. I've managed to do some cool things for her in the past, but I just couldn't muster the energy this year.

Maybe it was the over-hype that V-day gets nowadays that turned me off, or maybe I'm just getting old and jaded. Either way, I feel like I kind of let her down.

Here's a site I'm checking out to revive my romantic side and get some good ideas. I believe the author to be a Christian as he has written fatherhood articles that have been published in Christian web magazines, but I have not confirmed.

http://www.theromantic.com/

Romance for Your Wife

Here's an good article from Fathers.com that recommends one of the new habits to start this year (come on, admit it...you made a list of them didn't you?) is to make it your pursuit to romance your wife on a daily basis.

What a child's house looks like on the outside isn't nearly as important as what it feels like on the inside. Every child has a deep desire to see a committed, loving relationship between the two people he loves the most.

The author gives a brief reminder why "loving your wife" is so important for your kids and gives 10 simple, specific ideas to help get you started.

FATHERS.COM - The Best Gift for Your Child: Romance for Your Wife

Weekend to Remember

Weekend to Remember is a weekend marriage conference held by FamilyLife that teaches God's design for marriage and family. The environment is fun, non-threatening, and sometimes hilarious. And it's a wonderful time for couples to refresh good marriages or heal troubled ones. There are over 150 conferences in cities all across the U.S. each year. Registration is open to individuals, couples, or groups. Whether you're engaged, newlywed, or remarried, enrich your marriage and begin a godly legacy for your family by attending a conference in a city near you.

Weekend to Remember

Rescuing the Drowning Marriage -- Stuart Scott

Recently Dr. Stuart Scott spoke at our church about Biblical counseling for marriage problems. I have been wanting to check out his book The Exemplary Husband for awhile but have not had a chance yet.

In the meantime here are some study notes from one of his conference appearances. Looks to have some interesting points, verses, and diagrams:

Rescuing the Drowning Marriage -- Stuart Scott