Walking Together Towards God

Ten years with one person is a long time these days. Statistics show that over fifty percent of U.S. marriages are lasting no more than seven years . That itch for divorce is real! When we reached ten years, we celebrated with a very romantic trip to a secluded, privately owned cabin in Hocking Hills, Ohio. It was just the two of us. How did we get to that point? Well, let us share our How To's. This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but we think that there are some things that we will share, that other couples do not make a priority. So here goes... 1. Put God first. We have said it before and we will say it again. God authored marriage and He holds it together. You MUST pray regularly for yourself and your spouse daily. 2. Be kind. Politeness goes a long way in a marriage. Treat your spouse like you would a stranger and it makes a huge difference. 3. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Always assume that your spouse has your best interest at heart and never intend t...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, KJV). A love that is patient, a love that is kind, a love that holds no record of wrong, a love that makes the impossible, possible; that love entered the world over 2000 years ago. As we prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate Christmas, we reflect on the magnitude of how we see God's love in his grace and mercy.  Looking to John 3:16, we rest our focus on the word love, a love reflected as a selfless sacrifice. God's love led him to come to earth and to die on the cross, knowing that some may never even choose to love him back. The love displayed through Jesus Christ is not meant to be only be looked at but to strive for. Each day we are on this earth is an opportunity to be more like Jesus. As we celebrate Christ in this season, we ought not to lose focus of our commitment to love. God has called us to love,...

This has been 10 years of gratitude with my husband and we are so thankful for where God has brought us from. In 2009 we had a different car and our boys were not yet teenagers. In 2009 we had been married for 8 years and there was still so much growing to do. We knew before we were matried that God called us to serve Him together. In these past 10 years, we have walked closer together towards God in ministry. Here is our walk through memory lane: *********************** We began our online Bible study for couples in 2009 on Facebook. We would continue it for four and a half fruitful years. Then, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in 2011. In that year we finished 3 years of homeschooling and sent the boys to public school for the first time. In 2012, we were speakers at a marriage conference and led a workshop together. God had begun opening doors for speaking engagements. The Titus Ten book was birthed in 2013 and made the bestsellers list! Wifestyle Image Netwo...

God has created each and every one of us with a specific gender. We are created with the specific gender for a specific purpose. When we enter marriage, gender is of paramount importance. A woman looking, acting and being female is God's design. A man who looks, acts and embraces masculinity is also God's design. We are designed in a different way  physically for God's purposes and for our pleasure. Being male is for men and being female is for women. Embracing our separate roles can help our marriages to thrive.  Have you ever notice that the more feminine a woman is the more attractive to a real man she becomes? The same goes for men. When they are truly masculine women are attracted to them.  God made us to be magnets for one another; magnets that are hard to very separate from one another.  In marriage, we reach one of the major goals for why we were created. It says in the book of Genesis that one of our goals is to reproduce and to multiply (Genesi...

 I started on the internet back in 1998 using free AOL dial up monthly passes and also using my Juno email account. In June of 2000 I posted an ad on Excite.com a singles classified website. Anita answered my "want ad". I thought "Okay she seems nice". So once or twice a month, we wrote each other emails. I wrote from Indiana to her in Ohio.                                                     Not the actual ad  That September I was going for training in Ohio for my new job. So I figured “Hey, maybe we can meet there”. It would be about half way for both of us. Long story short, she didn't meet me there, didn't call and I was very upset driving back to Indiana. A li...

At times, we have traveled away from each other. Sometimes it is for work, other times for a short break or vacation with friends. This past summer, Maurice was gone for a week and then I left for the following weekend. Our trips overlapped so we missed seeing each other for about 10 days! It was the longest that we have ever spent time apart. Let's be real honest here. In a marriage, you have to have safeguards to prevent sin from creeping in. Being away from your spouse for too long can quickly and easily lead to pornography, adultery, masturbation and other non-sexual sin.  God's made us all sexual creatures and His plan for us as a married couple is to be together in every way. You have to make a plan in order to prevent opportunities for temptation. We have had the same plan for years and we praise God that we have been able to remain faithful to each other even when we are apart. This is not a suggestion, you need a real plan, like, for real! Communication ...

Here on the blog we are so passionate about christian couples who minister together. We are on always on mission in our marriages. It is a ministry itself. However, sometimes God will call us to mission elsewhere for His glory. Today, we want to share our conversation with a missionary couple. Anita met Arrica on Instagram and they both quickly realized that they share a passion for evangelism. We hope that their perspective and conversation on marriage and evangelism will be enlightening and encouraging to you! ************************************************************************* Interview: Arrica Hess How did you meet your husband and how did you end up in ministry together? My husband, Matt, and I met in a high school math class in rural Oklahoma. He was a junior and I was a freshman. He drove past my house every day on his way to school and asked if I would like a ride. Since my only other option was a school bus that carried grades K-12 in on those country roads, ...

Here are FOUR quick ways to date while on vacation. We have always had a date day when we go on our family vacations. I mean...face it, most couples on family vacation could use a day away from the kids right? Our boys know our routine by now. They used to get jealous about our adventures, but our marriage is a priority and they needed to know that. This year we had a staycation and while our boys had a camp day, we took time for ourselves. It didn't take much to make it happen and some of our social media friends were impressed, so we thought we would share about how to make your next vacation date amazing! There are four things that we do consistently in dating (whether we are on vacation or not). 1. Make a plan. 2. Keep it simple. 3. Do something you both love. 4. Make it memorable. Make a Plan We are definitely planners. Maurice was raised an only child and Anita is a first-born, so planning is a thing for us. It helps to know about what day, time and activity i...

It is summer time and so it makes me think of fruit which is one of my favorite things to have in the summer. Fruit is unique because it must be developed. You can't just eat fruit any time of the year it has to be in season to taste best. Our lives are like that. Our marriages can even be like that. I want to live a fruitful life.  When our lives are over we went something to show for it. All of the struggle, the hurt, the pain should be developing something in us that we can pass on to others. Marriage ripens you.  It gets you ready for other things that you need to handle in life. You grow up and you grow deeper and stronger together. This weekend will be my parent's 44th wedding anniversary. Their union is ripe. Much wisdom can be gleaned from such a long relationship. Here are three things that their marriage has taught me: 1. It takes time and intention. 2. It takes patience. 3. It takes being connected to God. Nothing good comes easy, especially a g...

We wanted to share with you the testimony of what the Lord has done for us from August 2017 until now. Here is everything about our journey with Cancer. Our first blog on this was during this crisis. You can read about how Maurice found out that he had Multiple Myeloma and how we reacted. It was a trying time as the diagnosis was being confirmed through many tests and several painful procedures. After some chemotherapy treatments through the months following, Maurice decided to have a stem cell bone marrow transplant. That was an extremely stressful ordeal that the Lord guided us through with great peace and tremendous outcomes. It was quite a story so we had to blog about it ! Anita personally journaled her thoughts as a caregiver and was led to encourage other spouses going through hard times in another blogpost. Finally, Maurice wrote this testimony and shared it on facebook in 2018: Let me briefly tell you my cancer story and conclusion. During our family vacation...

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Jesus left us His Spirit to empower us to spread the gospel and make disciples. He gives us joy and a mission! When we set our hearts to be obedient to the Lord, the joy comes. God knows the intent of our hearts, so when our minds are made up to make disciples, we are empowered to do it! Just knowing that we are pleasing God should bring smiles to our faces if we are disciples are Christ. Here are three reasons why! Ambassadors of Christ Jesus are Joyful. Those who are sent into this world as a representative of Christ have a high and holy calling. It is not to be taken lightly at all. It is a joy and a privilege to serve the One great King. To be His servant is an honor. The goal of ambassadorship is to reconcile others to the Kingdom of God. God has predestined those who will bring Him glory and follow what He has instructed. We were made for this! Joy is found in Truth In 3 John 1:4, John states that he finds no greater joy than to see his...

Rejoice and again I say, Rejoice! Can I equate it to recycling? Just think about it. When we recycle, we are taking something that has previously been used and using it again (perhaps in a different way). When we think of rejoicing, we may often be concerned that it is redundant. We were joyful already, doesn't that count? It sounds like something a teenager might say; but true rejoicing is never redundant, it is recycled! This week, I struggled to find joy in my sorrow. With three funerals in two weeks, I found it hard to genuinely smile. I may have been a bit short with others and the happiness tank was low. How do you find joy in sorrow? The answer is in the Word. We do not sorrow like those in the world do who have no hope. ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13, KJV) We look forward to heaven and the glory that awaits us. Being full of hope brings joy. Remember that and recycle it. The older saints in my church used to say "When I think back over my life and all that the Lord has don...

Life is rich. We need to take the time to enjoy it, but what does enjoyment for the christian look like? Yes, I am really asking. When I was not in the Kingdom of God, my enjoyment came from vices and sin. the fun came from not being caught. It was fun to push limits and to join in with the risky activity of our so-called friends right? So first of all, let's be honest. It was enjoyable and made us temporarily happy. However, you may also have heard that happiness and joy are not the same. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly. The joy that we can experience in Christ is found in the gifts that the Holy Spirt imparts when we receive Him. In Galatians 6, we see that joy is in a list of fruit. So like any fruit, it will need to be nurtured and tended to in order to grow the way that it should. There are three key factors to knowing and experiencing true joy. First, no one can know real joy apart from Christ. Without a real relationship with ...

Traditions, holidays and celebrations - Oh, how we love them! From landmark birthdays to Christmas, we find reasons to rejoice, sing, laugh and give gifts. God implemented times of feasting and partying in the Old Testament. It was His idea to set apart spaces of time for events such as these. Holy days were times of remembrance and eating and great fellowship among God's people. They celebrated Passover, Esther's brave saving of the Jewish population and took days of rest. However, I wonder if our parties have changed into tradition and unspoken law that is more harmful to us than helpful these days. For example, some birthday traditions are extreme where people spend extraordinary amounts of money all in celebration of themselves. In some celebrations, people become so drunk that they cannot even recall the event they attended. Some christians and churches demand tradition and it becomes legalistic instead of celebratory. This should not be. Recently, I have read the bo...

God is greater than our hearts. he should be at the center of all we do if we claim to belong to Him. I learned this the hard way. When I first started dating, I was consistently led by my emotions. He was cute. I was cute. We would make a cute couple. We could get married, make cute babies, have lots of grandchildren, etc.. My heart would lead me down this whole trail of possibilities without caring about if it was the Lord's will for my life or not. Add hormones and you have a set-up for disaster! During one relationship prior to marriage, I was so emotionally attached that I lost hours and hours of sleep waiting for this guy to call me. Then I would fall asleep on him because I was afraid that I would miss something he said. Everyday was spent obsessing over our next date, next phone call or text message. I couldn't concentrate. I didn't read my bible daily anymore and if I did, I would cut it short because my mind and my heart belonged to this guy who didn't...

We play a lot of games in our home. With two boys growing quickly into men, we find ourselves working hard to keep the lines of communication open. Games are a great way to do that for us. We have been surprised at how often they will ask the most amazing questions. We have come to realize that games provide a fantastic opportunity to impart wisdom and character into the lives of our children (while we still have the chance).  There are two brands that we would like to recommend to your family. Harvest Time Partners (Harvesttimepartners.com) and Breakout Games (breakoutgames.com). They both offer various unique and fun games. They encourage group play, conversation and thinking skills that are crucial for young people to develop as they mature into adulthood.  Video games, online games, board games and ANY game is a great way to spark conversation, but the other way is just as easy and it's FREE! The second way to talk to your teens about marriage an...

We had college degrees and a heap of debt when we got married. We were living on love in our one-bedroom apartment in the city. We had taken no financial courses or seminars and were trying to live by God's principles. We understood that it was important to save, give, reap and sow. Here is the story of how we went from debt to homeowners. In July 2001, we were married. Maurice had already rented our apartment and I had started my first nursing job. With one income we survived for almost nine months when Maurice finally landed a great job in his field. Our first lesson was that we were ONE. I didn't plan on being the breadwinner, but my husband had saved enough prior to our wedding so that our financial life would not depend solely on me while he searched for the right opportunity. KEY POINTS: * Save lots of money before you get married (for AFTER the wedding and honeymoon). Do not go broke or in major debt for this one-time event. Focus more on the marriage than the w...