How Premarital Counseling Might Help Marriages

What comes next? The other week one of the local radio station’s morning talk program held a discussion on marriage. A young engaged woman called in. She said that she signed herself and her fiance up for premarital counseling. She did so, she claimed, because her husband-to-be doesn’t know anything about what a modern marriage ought to be like. Her beloved was raised by his socially conservative grandmother. Now that they’re approaching their married life it came out that he believes she will do all of the work around the house and take care of the kids. We’ve looked at … Continue reading

Remarriage From a Child’s View

When I was eleven years old my mother remarried. At first I was pretty excited about her dating this guy. I finally had that father figure I had craved as a child. Then all of the sudden I realized that I no longer had my mother all to myself anymore. I felt like I was losing her. It had been just me and my mom for several years. We did everything together. We were inseparable. We stayed up late watching old movies in bed, we went to art museums together, we read books together, we went to the symphony together. … Continue reading

Preparing for Marriage from Childhood

We all know couples who have gone in for counseling before they get married to help them get their marriages off on the right foot. This kind of preparation is awesome. What we might not realize, though, is that we are actually preparing for marriage from the time we’re born. When we’re toddlers and small children, we internalize how our parents treat us. As we get older, we notice how they treat each other. These examples become our first and most impacting lessons in what constitutes a home and a family. If we were raised in an unloving home, we … Continue reading

The Value of Marriage

Someone asked me yesterday in an interview what I’m passionate about. One of the things I mentioned was I’m passionate about marriage and sharing what I have learned over my many years of marriage. Then last night, I was reading an article and it cited research showing married people live longer, suffer lower rates of depression, and victimization. Not only that but marriage contributes to greater wealth. I immediately thought about the old adage ‘two can live as cheaply as one.’ There appears to be some truth in it. Monash University in a study recently found family break ups rather … Continue reading

Choosing the Wedding Over the Marriage

When you think of marriage, what is the picture that comes to your head? Long easy days of spending time together, building a life together, compromise, love, fidelity, privacy, support, raising children, sex, security, faithfulness, companionship, intellectual stimulation, closeness, a long beautiful gown, being a princess for a day, being chosen, being the center of attention, tulle or silk, flowers, gourmet food? If the last part of that list seemed a little off to you, that is a good thing. So many young people, young women especially, focus on all of the things related to the actual wedding. Often, more … Continue reading

Food and Marriage

Have you ever thought about the importance of food and your marriage? After all, it’s something we need to have every day to survive. That means time spent preparing it and eating it and hopefully ensuring that you eat together as a family. Sharing a meal together can be an important time of catching up on what everyone’s been doing during the day, at work, at home and at school. Food brings people together. Food is an icebreaker for conversations. One of the best thing s we can do is invite others into our homes to share a meal. To … Continue reading

New to Food Blog but Years in the Kitchen

I’ve been cooking since I was around seven or eight years old and let me tell you that’s too many years ago to want to count them. I had a mother who encouraged me in the kitchen. Back then I cooked mostly cakes and sweet things but by my early teens, I regularly cooked meals for the family. So I guess by now I ought to have found out a bit about food to pass on. I will be writing 6 food blogs per month. For those who don’t know me, I might be new to the food blog but … Continue reading

Preparing for Spring Cleaning

I have to start my spring cleaning early around here. Between caring for young children at home and working at home around their schedules, it can take a while to get everything done. In addition, my plans for spending an entire weekend getting it out of the way usually butts up against all of the spring home improvement projects that my husband has on his list. And the coming of the nicer weather makes us all want to be outside to enjoy it. So, I’ve been sneaking up on spring cleaning this week by getting as much of my preparation … Continue reading

Preparing for a Powerful Snowstorm 2

The snow is falling, and we are all gearing up for a snowstorm that may leave us without power and without an easy way to get out of our driveway. If you missed the first post, click here: Preparing for a Powerful Snowstorm. We do have a generator (which is also gassed up and ready to go), but we can’t attach it to everything. If we will be without power for more than a few hours, we will attach it to the heat, the well pump and water treatment system, the upright freezer and the refrigerator. This will have our … Continue reading

Preparing for a Powerful Snowstorm

All along the east coast, from Delaware through the New England state, families are bracing for a powerful snowstorm that may bring many inches of snow. Already snow has landed in Georgia, an unusual occurrence. Cities and states are declaring states of emergencies, even before the first snowflake has fallen. Here in my little part of Pennsylvania, we are expecting somewhere around 12 to 14 inches of the white stuff. While we don’t usually freak out about snow, the reality is that once you get a prediction past six inches here, it is time to make the preparations to ensure … Continue reading