Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for Couples

I saw this article in an email and thought I would pass it on to you today. I highly recommend the following ideas for couples who are serious about their relationship.

Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Couples

In an article appearing in Associated Content, Sally Albright suggests that the new year is a good time for couples to be reminded of some simple but powerful ways to strengthen their relationships. To that end, she presents her Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for Couples:

#10: Exercise Together
Exercising together as a couple can make getting more exercise fun, and you and your spouse can truly have a "healthy" relationship.

#9: Cook Together
Cooking dinner together is a great way to spend time together.

#8: Play Games Together
Take the time to have some fun with your spouse by playing games together — especially in the colder winter months.

#7: The Little Things
Sometimes, it's the littlest of things that really matter. Something as simple as setting the coffee machine to brew in the morning or opening the car door for your spouse can really show how much you care.

#6: Get Romantic
The types of romantic gestures you do really depends on what your spouse considers to be romantic, whether it be bouquets of flowers or cuddling together and watching a football game on TV.

Click here to read the rest. Tye out.

How NOT TO wind up in the doghouse this Christmas

Make sure you listen real carefully to the female voice in the background. I love this video. I think it could be especially to helpful to some of our your and newly married friends. Enjoy!

Fireproof - the movie

Someone just sent me this vid from the Today Show about the new movie Fireproof. The star, Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains) was interviewed by two women - I don't know who they are. During the interview I want you notice the women's response to Kirk's comments about his marriage and his integrity. They are practically drooling over these "archaic" concepts of commitment and love. Interesting, especially in light of the current culture. Watch this:


Men's Fraternity kicked off this past week with over 180 men in attendance in three sessions. Our topic this season is Winning at Work and Home and we are going to be talking a lot about a man and his relationship with his wife, or even significant other. This movie, though I have not seen it yet, seems like one that ties in perfectly with what our men will be studying this year. It is my prayer that every single man in our church AND Cedar Rapids could attend this training and then begin applying the concepts that make for healthy relationships. Please join us!

Biblical Mahood - my Sunday message

Yesterday I shared the talk at our church, New Covenant Bible Church. I talked about the biblical definition of manhood which you can read in the my last post.

The message went well and I had a lot of favorable comments. Everyone tells me that I am really funny. I don't try to be funny, it just comes natural.

Click here to listen to the message. Tye out.

Happy Anniversary Judy!!!

Today my wife and I are celebrating our 22nd anniversary, although we actually had the celebration part Wed-Thu in Walnut Creek, Ohio. See previous post.

As I look back over our 22 years together there have been some really cool times and some really difficult times. We were married while still in College - not the best idea! But I was looking at six years of school to get a four year degree - i rn't tu smart - and waiting another four years didn't seem like the right thing to do.

In our early days of marriage I was very self-serving and much of the difficulty was because of this. Years later I would take Eph 5:25 seriously and begin loving my wife unconditionally.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.... Ephesians 5:25 (NET Bible)

I am most certainly not the husband I want to be, but by God's grace and with his strength I am trying to become the servant-leader, loving husband my wife needs from me.

Happy 22nd sweetheart! I love you so much and thank God for you daily! Tye out.

Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3:7 (NET Bible)

Celebrating 22 years of marriage!

August 3, 2007 will mark our 22nd wedding anniversary and to celebrate we had the opportunity to travel to our fave hotel in Holmes County, Ohio. In fact, I was fortunate enough to be able to get the honeymoon suite at The Carlisle Inn in beautiful Walnut Creek, Ohio. Click here for pics!

Holmes County is home to the largest Amish settlement in the world. (check out Wikkipedia or VisitAmishCountry.com) There are lots of shops and plenty to do there, or plenty not to do!

Judy and I headed down around noon after a visit to the nail salon - her first ever visit! (and certainly not her last) It is about an hour drive from where we are staying in the Cleveland/Akron area. We went to Berlin to eat lunch and do a little window shopping. Then there was the homemade ice cream - wow! Click here to see a picture of the John Deere powered ice cream churn available at Lehman's Hardware, another great place to visit when staying in Holmes County.

About 3 o'clock we checked into our room - the honeymoon suite- which was a total surprise to Judy!. Click here to see pictures if you haven't already.

We had supper at the world-famous Der Dutchman Restaurant with a beautiful view of the valley. Then we did a little window shopping across the street and then back to our room to sit on our private balcony and watch the sunset. I feel so blessed!

It was an awesome 24 hours to spend time together. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and mother to our children...more on this Friday on our actual anniversary. Tye out.

Judy's first blog post

My lovely wife Judy is not much for blogs, even mine. But today something happened that SHE deemed blog worthy. You see, today was "change the brakes on the van and volvo day" after a full day at Panera. While I was rushing around getting the jacks out and all the tools, she was out in the garage trying to talk to me and she was kind of getting in the way. So in an effort to solve a problem (and be funny) I took some chalk and drew a circle where she could stand and be safe. : ) (please click on the pic for a brief slideshow)

So introducing Judy Male and her first ever blog post. And she writes:

Now explain something to me. Why is it when a woman is in the garage a man draws a circle for her to stand in and when a man is in the kitchen, he is all over the place? I was a little curious about this phenomenon. If I were cooking a large dinner a man would be in the center of the kitchen picking at the food that is being prepared before it is ready to be served and eating over the dish. Why I just walk into the garage to encourage my man that he is doing a great job of changing the brakes and offer him a drink, he puts me in a circle. Only to ask me later to come out of my circle to turn the wheel left (and I turned it right) and then pump the air out of the brake line. I just do not understand. Just wait next time when he is in the kitchen POW! Right in the kisser.

What an incredible post sweetheart! You are quite a writer! Tye out.

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart

I love Valentine's day because it gives me an opportunity to tell the women in my life how much I love them. I picked up cards and candy for each of my three daughters and wrote a personalized note to each. No card for Andrew - just Little Debbie cakes, his fave.

V-day started for Judy last week. I brought home a heart-shaped tin of chocolate to kinda get things kicked off. Then, on Saturday there was flowers - roses and carnations in a heart shaped vase.

Tuesday night we headed out for a little Valentine's celebration at a new restaurant for us - Texas Roadhouse. It was a great experience and we really enjoyed the atmosphere, service, and food. I was so happy to give Judy her Valentine's gift - a heart-shaped diamond necklace. I wish I could have given her more, but you know what they say - it's the thought that counts!

That brings us to tonight. I gave her a special V-day card with a note telling her how special she is to me. She really is! What a wonderful woman God has blessed me with. Happy Valentine's day to you and my wonderful family! Tye out.

The Power of a Praying Husband - "Her Fears"

Even the strongest, most godly women have fears. They fear many things that can become consuming at times. Since they are often not the primary wage earner, they must rely on their husbands for their needs. They fear for their children, whether of not their husband will be faithful, and many other things. Often, these fears actually become founded in truth at the loss of a job, sickness of a child or aging parent, or some catastrophic loss.

It is at times like this when our wives are feeling fearful that pure logic and rationale do not work. As men, we deal with our wives on a rational/logical basis, and they are dealing on an emotional basis. So, what do you say when your wife is overcome by fear? Listen to this quote by Stormie:

Do you know what your wife's greatest struggle is? Are you aware of her deepest fears? You may already have a good idea, but if you're not absolutely sure, ask her. Say, "Tell me what you struggle with or fear most in your life, because I want to pray for you about it."

Too often, women carry burdens in their lives that are far heavier than their delicate shoulders were created to bear.

Sometimes a woman fears that the difficult spot she's in at the moment is as good as it gets, and that things will never change. That hopeless mindset is torturous for any woman.... (p141)

I am going to spend time praying for my wife and her fears today. Tye out.

10 things to say to your wife

I'm reading The Power of a Praying Husband right now and came across something I thought could help the men reading my blog - all three of them. : )

Have you ever wondered what to say when your wife is upset or hurting in some way? I have. Often I take it personally not understanding that there are usually issues behind the hurt that I probably didn't have anything to do with. We try to reason, explain, rationalize and these do not work! Our wives are emotional beings and that frustrates us men.

So, here are ten things you might say to your wife when things aren't going so hot for her:

1. I love you
2. You are the greatest woman in the world to me!
3. You're beautiful when you're moody/upset.
4. Tell me what's on your mind and I promise not to get mad.
5. How have I let you down?
6. How can I make it up to you?
7. Have you been getting enough sleep? [I'm not so sure about this one]
8. What would make you happy right now?
9. I don't have all the answers. But God does.
10. Do you want to pray about this together?
(The Power of a praying Husband by Stormie Omartian, pp79-80)

I would probably add one to this list; "Will you tell me what you are feeling right now?" (Thanks Dixon Murrah!)

These are not simple formulas to plug in to your marriage for a quick fix. They are, however, some things to say when you're not really sure what else to say. Let me know if you have one that you would add to the list. Tye out.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Eph 5:25 NIV

Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Cor. 10:24 NIV

My 5 year plan and the power of a praying husband

I just started Stormie Omartian's book The Power of a Praying Husband and I can't wait to get into it. The truth of the matter is that I have not done a good job praying for my wife and family, although I have made improvements this year. I really want to go to the next level in my prayer life, so pray for me. Since I just started the book, I don't have a lot to review, but wanted to challenge you with this quote on page 25:

Whatever you don't pray about in your life you leave up to chance. And that's not good enough when it comes to your marriage.

I am wrapping up my 5 year strategic plan this morning and afternoon. I don't do ministry by chance - there's a plan. That made me wonder about my strategic plan for prayer and my marriage. hmmm. I think I'll work on my 5 year strategic plan for prayer next week. Any ideas?
Tye out.

Men's Retreat

The Amazing Race
(Click on picture for slideshow)

This past weekend we had our fall men's retreat at Camp Wyoming. It was a great time to be together as men and to talk about things men care about. I had the awesome privilege of sharing three talks with the men around the theme of the Amazing Race. Here's a brief overview:

Friday night we talked about Rejection and Redemption. We shared about how we may have been disqualified from the Christian race through unbelief or life circumstances.

On Saturday morning we talked about Reconciliation and Romance. What we need is a DIVORCE! Not a divorce from our mate, but our current marriage. I challenged the men to give thier wives a new husband and see if they would get a new marriage. We even shared practical ways to romance our wives and to love them as Christ loved the church and gave himself....

Saturday afternoon we wrapped up an incredible weekend with our last session Renewed and Refocused. Our goal is the prize of our heavenly calling. One day we will be rewarded in heaven for our work here on earth.

Thanks to Jeremy and Brian for putting together some fantastic challenge games which were a great hit!

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave.... Eph. 5:25NIV