Always be joyful. Never Stop Praying. Be thankful in all circumstances. Say what? How in the world do you do this? When I read these commands in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, I really wondered if they were doable or impossible. After spending time studying these verses, I realized they were doable.

My husband and I go to counseling. Yes, you read that right. Counseling. There are several reasons why we go. In today’s blog post, I will share the reasons.

Confession time. I spend too much time on my phone.  Text. Facebook. Email. Voxer. Instagram. Twitter. I love social media but too often I find myself wasting time on it and feeling frustrated as a result. And unfortunately that frustration leaks out and those I love are affected too. Which is why I knew I needed to read Calm, Cool, and Collected: 5 Digital Habits for a More Balanced Life by Arlene Pellicane. In today’s post, I will share the three things I learned from this book.

Failure. Just reading that word used to make me cringe. The key words are ‘used to.’ Failure is still not my favorite thing but it has become a friend to me. Why? Because I can learn so much from failure. At the beginning of the year, I set goals and felt very optimistic about them. And then life happened. I realized I needed to let go of some goals and make some changes to the ones I kept.

What is your marriage like? Is it average or amazing? Your marriage can get to amazing in five steps. Today's blog post is about the third workshop I attended at the Hearts at Home conference. It was called 5 steps to an amazing, mind-blowing marriage and led by Julie Baumgardner.

Marriage is a beautiful gift but it can also be difficult. Maybe you can relate? A real marriage is one where each person is being perfected. The second workshop I attended at the Hearts at Home conference was No More Perfect Marriages. It was led by Mark and Jill Savage. I learned so much and am excited to share it with you.

One of our family goals this year is to read one parenting and marriage book per quarter.  Last week, I shared about the parenting book Jonathan and I read together called You Can’t Make Me by Cynthia Ulrich Thomas. Today, I will be sharing about the marriage book we read together called Kiss Me Like You Mean It by Dr. David Clarke.

Marriage is one of the most beautiful relationships but it can also be one of the hardest. My husband Jonathan and I have been married for 16 ½ years and are still going strong. We have had many ups and downs in these years but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If I could give wives one piece of advice, I would tell them to focus on changing themselves. “Wait! What? Change me? Why? He is the problem!” This is the response so many women have given over the years, myself included. It wasn’t until I realized that I was the problem that things began to change.

If you would stop and take the temperature of your marriage right now, what would it be? Cold or hot? When a bible study opportunity came across, I asked myself this same question. Jonathan and I have been married 16 years and still going strong. Our marriage is a blessing though not without its challenges. So, when the bible study The Husband Project was presented to me, I jumped at the chance to see what it was all about especially if it could help our marriage to thrive even more.

I love projects! I enjoy the process of putting it all together and having a finished product. Some projects take a really long time while others are done quickly. As I looked through the list of workshops, the name “The Husband Project” really jumped out at me. The description had me hooked. I desire to make Jonathan more of priority and communicate to him that he is my top relationship. This workshop would be helpful in this desire. In addition, I love Kathi Lipp and was excited to hear her speak. The top three points that I gleaned from this workshop were: Fill up your husband, Flirt with your husband and Have fun with your husband.