Marriage & Family Archives » Page 51 of 87 » Excellent or Praiseworthy

Happily Ever After?

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. — Matthew 5:3,4 In just about every…

The Wedding Prayer

Year after year I saw my mother putting a copy of a “Prayer for a Bride and Groom” into an envelope and sending it as a wedding gift to some young couple whom she knew. I didn’t pay much attention. I knew it was a special prayer she had found in a magazine years ago, and had made many copies so as to be ready to send it when she would get a wedding invitation. Then it was time for my own children to get married, and out came the copy of the prayer as her gift. This time I paid attention.

“It’s My Calling!”

When we were writing the first draft of the HomeBuilders Bible study, Making Your Marriage Deployment Ready, we did what was suggested and got a copy of the Command magazine published by Officer’s Christian Fellowship in order to track down an article by Anne Borcherding entitled "Share My Calling." The article begins with Anne telling the reader about a conversation she had with her husband, Rob, when he explained: "‘This isn’t just a job for me. This is my calling, and I need you to share my calling.’ As he described his commitment to the Army, my husband’s voice was filled with emotion. It grabbed my attention. Rob and I were attending an intensive marriage retreat before the first of three deployments to Iraq. God opened my eyes that day to an essential element of both Rob’s service in the military and our marriage.”

Moving Experiences

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights. The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. — Psalm 121:8 Some PCS moves you anticipate—others come as a surprise. Some moves are a relief—others…

S.T.A.N.D. for Your Marriage

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights. “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and…

“They Don’t Want to Hear It!”

My husband and I had two similar conversations recently—one with a young sailor and the other with a young airman. Both are Christians, happily married, and growing in their faith. Both wanted to invite others (neighbors, friends at work) to attend a local marriage seminar our church was sponsoring. Both said the same thing to us, “It seems all of these folks are struggling in their marriages—I hear about it all the time!!—but they won’t come to the seminar. They’re not interested. They don’t want to hear anything about it!!”

“Dad, I just want you to hold me!”

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights. The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” —Jeremiah 31:3 I remember my Dad, an imperfect but very faithful man. Married…

Bitterness and Marriage

Disagreements are a natural part of marriage. We should always try to resolve them gently and quickly, but it is also very human of us to let things go on for longer than they should. And if we leave it too long, the strong desire to blame the other person for all our problems can become a habit–and then a constant part of our relationship. This entrenched and hostile blaming is bitterness.

Seemed Innocent Enough . . . . .

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights. But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. — Proverbs 6:32 It seemed innocent enough. He was driving to military training in another state---and stopped…

Saying Goodbye

Perhaps before deployment you spent sweet time with each other going over all the good memories of wonderful times together. Then you gave a “charge”—to be careful, remember that they are loved, know that you’re grateful for them, and promise to stay in communication whenever possible. And of course you made plans for your reunion and spoke of how wonderful it’ll be to be back together again.