I know you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat! It’s time for our FREE Intentionally Awesome Date Night resource of the week! Today’s workbook is about Important Things. We are daily bombarded by urgent things. Some of these things are important; others are not. When we attend only to urgent things, important things can fall to the wayside. What happens to the important things that never become urgent? You decide. Click this button for your FREE pdf workbook! Urgent/Important Get ready to stop putting out fires so you can live more intentionally. Happy Dating! In case you missed it, you may want to go back and check out our series of posts on How […]
Parenting from the Flight Deck
Back when I was a flight instructor, I taught my students two different ways to fly: pilotage and dead reckoning. Pilotage is looking at the map and determining location based on landmarks. Dead reckoning is flying the plane using instruments (think compass headings, ground speeds, and math). Most private pilots use the two methods simultaneously in order to reach their destinations. The best way to make sure an airplane is on course is to set the compass heading, then look out into the horizon (10, 20, or 30 miles) for a point along the route like a tower or group of buildings to which you can fly directly. Once you have a focal point, you keep your eye on it […]
Intentionally Awesome Date Night: Expectations
Hello, friends! It’s time for our FREE Intentionally Awesome Date Night resource of the week! Today’s workbook is about expectations. We all have expectations that are logical and reasonable to us, born out of who we are, what we’ve experienced, and how we see the world. Expectations are human. When life doesn’t match our expectations, we’re left with frustration, disappointment, anger, and conflict. What if you could clear the air and get on the same page with your spouse so that your expectations are more in line with each other’s? What would that do for your marriage? Find out. Click this button for your FREE pdf workbook! Expectations Having done this exercise before, I expect you will be […]
Cereal Aisle Parenting
My mission is quite simple: my wife tasked me with picking up instant oatmeal–not the 5-minute kind I bought last time–for tomorrow’s breakfast. How it came to this I may never understand. I look down at the fluorescent white reflection haloing my 3-year-old, who is making cherub-sized snow angels on the cold tile floor. His face is as red as the Fruit Loop box he so desperately wants. Rage explodes from his body with ear-piercing shrieks. My pulse quickens and I can feel each throb in my neck as the cereal aisle council draws near to assess the situation. Their chief approaches first: an overweight, pajama-clad female in her late-40’s carrying a family-sized box of Pop-Tarts. The others form a […]
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 3
Part 3: Conversation Starters So now that you’ve created space for date nights and laid some ground rules, it’s time for some resources to help you and your spouse connect again. Here’s a free printable workbook of questions to get you going on your first date: Grow Together, Dream Together Enjoy reconnecting with your Beloved! Let me know how the conversation goes in the comments below. 🙂 Tune in next Wednesday for another free date night resource!
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 2
Part 2: The Ground Rules Now that you’ve created space for a date, you’ve got to lay some ground rules. Agree upon these rules before you ever start your date. Set expectations up front. If you have to, put them in writing and sign them! Hold each other accountable. Rules for Dating Your Spouse: 1) Unplug Turn off notifications and put all devices away, out of sight. The only call or text that should get through is one from the babysitter in case of emergency (unless you have someone close by who can handle emergencies or you’re staying home, then turn off your devices altogether). How many dates have we spent just staring at our phones half the time? Unplugging […]
How to Make Date Nights Awesome, Part 1
Connecting as a couple while parenting in this day and age can be tough. At the end of busy days juggling work and kids, marriage can easily fall to the back burner, crowded out by constant pressing needs. We can spend all our time and resources on important things and have nothing left for each other. But marriage is the most important relationship God has given us! When we nurture it, we’re more prepared to face the constant bombardment of other needs that come our way. We’re in a season where we don’t get much time together during the week, so we have to be really intentional with what little time we do have. Date nights are a life line […]
On Community, from The Grapes of Wrath
I snagged a copy of Steinbeck’s famous novel The Grapes of Wrath at a used bookstore a few weeks ago. Because we recently watched Ken Burns’ documentary on the Dust Bowl, Mick picked up the book while the images were fresh in hopes of being able to read it in context. He shared this rich passage with me, and I immediately saw parallels for what Christian community can be as we embrace this shared life together. Enjoy. The cars of the migrant people crawled out of the side roads onto the great cross-country highway, and they took the migrant way to the West. In the daylight they scuttled like bugs to the westward; and as the dark caught them, they […]
Midnight Sonnetesque
Now sleepily I lie, and wearily, drearily sigh With heavy eyelids, breaths, and limbs I dream. I’m floating down the Thames upon a stream of boats—But hark! Is that? A baby’s cry. Oh no! I sigh and moan and grip The bedsheets up around my head. I really want to stay in bed, But out I tumble—up!—and trip Into pajamas waiting there, Beside the bed, upon the chair, Where in the dark no need to see Have I, for it is certainty That I’m on call each night to feed My baby girl. I’m all she needs.
Sustenance
Spirited solicitude Swinish suckling Small shape Soft smells Sustained swallows Smooth strokes Serene soothing Submissive surrender Safe snuggles Sudden smile Sleepy satiety Satisfied sighs Sweet slumber