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Showing posts from January, 2017

Married Money

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Before marriage we manage our own money and finances. We decide what is risky and what is not, what we will spend, save or give. After marriage, our money gets married. What? Never heard of that before? It's true. If you are one with your spouse, everything that you have is now married too. Let's chat about what that means. Married Debt Your debt gets married when you do. You now owe more if your spouse has debt. Your credit score is now averaged and their debt burden is yours to share. Make a plan as a couple to get out of debt completely. It is very possible. One thing that you have to agree on is to not make new debt! Married debt, when out of controls, reproduces new baby debt. The babies are never cute. They suck the life out of you and your spouse and keep you up at night. See a debt counselor and consolidate into reasonable payments for your budget. Live simply to accomplish this. You don't need what you think you need! Married Spending In marriage,

What we learned about Love and Sex in Marriage

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We have been married for 15 years. That is a lot of close up "getting to know you time". In those intimate times together, we have had our share of really great sex, ok sex, make-up sex and "I'm doing this just for you" sex. Like most couples, these times have varied in length of time, location and type. Here are a few things that we would tell another couple about their married sex life. Make a Commitment When I asked Maurice what his biggest piece of advice is, he mentioned how important it was to not commit adultery. This would require that the male in the relationship must guard his eyes and mind. Watch what you watch and listen to. Temptation abounds, so it is best to assume that you are not as strong as you think you are whether male or female! You have to let your spouse know that you are there for them when they need you. In I Corinthians 7:2-5, the Bible tells us that the best way to avoid cheating is to have lots of sex often. Remember that your bo

Loving Correction

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The Bible tell us to pursue things that lead to peace. Let brotherly love continue. That includes correcting someone when they are in error. It is the loving thing to do. To allow someone to keep going down a sinful path is not God-honoring. Let's look at the Bible. 2 Timothy 2:22  So  flee  youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with  those who call on the Lord  from a pure heart.   23  Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant  controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.   24  And  the Lord's servant [ e ]  must not be quarrelsome but  kind to everyone,  able to teach, patiently enduring evil,   25  correcting his opponents  with gentleness. God  may perhaps grant them repentance  leading to a knowledge of the truth,   26  and they may come to their senses and escape from  the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Arguments occur when people impost their will and desires on someone else. It is, there

How is your Love Life?

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Love is such a misunderstood word. It's an emotion, an action, a noun, a verb and unfortunately, whatever else that we say it is... We were created to love and to be loved by others. It is a beautiful thing to observe two people in a loving relationship. Whether that is family or friends or spouses, love SHOWS! Even pets that are well cared for are healthier and happier. Your physical heart health is improved through loving relationships. Did you know that?  So when we ask you how your love life is...what we are really asking is How good are you at loving others and letting others love you? Many times we are impressed when others show us love in a way that we understand and appreciate. How about when their love is misunderstood. We often have received the cutest little insignificant objects from our sons as an act of love to us on their part. Its not our favorite thing, or in our favorite color. We have no use for whatever that was that they created in the art clas

20 Tips to Love your Family Better

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How could you love your family better without saying " I Love You"? Here are 20 ways: Share Jesus with unsaved family members. The best way to love is to introduce them to God. He IS love. Spend quality time with individuals. I make dates with my sons individually. Celebrate birthdays. It is their own special day. Make it a big deal just for them. Learn to do something they enjoy. Your family will appreciate it. Hug them every day. Physical affection is a must for family. Touch is a very important thing. Buy someone in your family a gift just because. This gesture shows that you are actually thinking of them. Support their endeavors (music, sports, art, academics, business, etc..). They should always be able to count on you! Play a game with your family. This is still a great way to bond with your family. Go out to eat together. It makes great memories. Ask them how you can be praying for them. Ask them to be specific. Either pray right then or keep and list and

Love: In Sickness and in Health

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Remember that part of your wedding vows when they say in sickness and in health? Well I got to that part of my vows this past week. First Maurice got sick with a very bad cold and missed some time at work, then being his wife of course, I got sick right behind him. Thankfully, by the time I got sick we were all on our Christmas break. However, the kids were home from school and there was a ton of laundry in the basement. You know how that is. It was also a good time for me to reflect and to read the Bible and pray. Once again, I stumbled onto Luke 11. This is the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus.  I saw love in this chapter in a way that I never saw it before. Notice that there are three verses in which love itself is mentioned. In verse 3 it says "..he whom thou lovest is sick". In verse 5 it says "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus". In verse 36 it says "..then said the Jews behold how he loved him!"

What Loving your Children Really Means

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In the book of Titus chapter 2, women are specifically told to love their children. In today's society, however, we find that so many children go unloved. They are not nurtured, fed, educated or properly cared for. Child abuse is at an all time high unfortunately. Children crave love and affection and it is the parent's responsibility to give it. It is bibilcal. Sometimes, due to many factors, we may find it hard to love our children despite our best efforts. We try and fail by our own standands. Let's look at some bible examples. We do not have to go far to see them.  I can imagine that Adam and Eve felt as though they failed as parents. When there is murder in your own household, you could imagine how devastating that could be. Then, just in the next book of the bible, we see so many children killed by the Pharaoh trying to destroy the deliverer that would come out of Egypt. Parents struggle to protect their young to no avail. There are tons and tons of stories in th