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The Humble Beginnings of a Married Life
I was married at twenty-two which for many, in this day and age, seems wildly young. Not only did I marry young, but when my husband and I married, we were already parents. It basically went something like this: I graduated from college, took off my cap and gown, got into a hospital gown to…
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The Smothering Expectations of Modern-Day Feminism
All throughout my 20s and some of my 30s, there was a great war being fought within my mind. It was an unnecessary battle but one that had been waging since my college days. The war was between two Amys: Amy 1 felt it was her moral duty to get out in the workforce and…
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So What’s It Like Being A Catholic Military Spouse?
Growing up, I always thought I would meet a Kansas man at college, get married, and settle down in my home state. Never once did I contemplate the idea that I would leave its borders and live elsewhere. I was born in Kansas and I thought I’d live out my days in Kansas. Seems God…
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Do Your Kids A Favor: Don’t Set Your Marriage On The Back Burner
I have been married to my best friend for 18 years. Eighteen beautiful years. The first time I saw my husband, I knew he was the one. It was like, “Yep, there’s the rest of my heart sitting there across the room.” Dustin and I both had significant others when we met, but…well, you see…
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What Is The Purpose of Marriage? Is It Whatever You Want It To Be?
So, last Thursday, I wrote a post commenting on the recent poll from the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. The poll showed that only 30% of Millennials and Gen Zers believe having children is important. That means 70% don’t which is a startling number. In my post, I gave my opinion on why I…
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I’ll Ignore Your Sexual Sin, If You’ll Ignore Mine
Years ago, back when I was a young college student, I was sitting one day in a lounge chair reading the student newspaper in the library on campus. During breaks between classes, I always went to the library and read the newspaper front to back and then I would tackle the crossword puzzle found on…
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Help! My Marriage Has “Lost That Loving Feeling!”
Recently, I’ve had a lot of people private message me about their marriages. They are writing about marriages that have lost affection, ones that are void of love, and marriages that are teetering over the edge of a cliff poised to fall into destruction. It’s heartbreaking. There is a real and true pain that comes…
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Q & A: Does the Church Only Allow Catholics to Marry Other Catholics?
A few weeks ago, I was asked about my thoughts on whether Catholics should marry people who aren’t Catholic. Since I’ve been moving, I haven’t had the chance to really sit down and write my thoughts out. I’ve finally found a few moments between the boxes, painting, and organizing our new home. First, I wasn’t…
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My Journey: Living Together Before Marriage
When my husband and I were first dating, we literally spent all our time together. You know how it is in those first new days. It’s intoxicating. When we started dating it was the second semester of our junior year and classes just got in the way. Homework? What homework? All we wanted to do…
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Why I Love Being Catholic: Joseph From Kansas City
I’m so excited to bring you March’s featured guy, Joseph. His wife, Chloe, was January’s female voice on why she loves being Catholic. I was listening to a podcast they did together on Chloe’s podcast “Letters To Women” and I found myself smiling the whole time listening to them share their love story. While listening,…
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Your Marriage Isn’t a Business Contract, It’s A Sacred Covenant
My husband and I started dating the 2nd semester of our junior year of college. We were first friends and I’d been to his house before, but I’d never seen his bedroom. He lived in a house with one other guy and it was a typical college bachelor pad. The first time I went into…
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The Fear of Being Replaced in Your Spouse’s Heart
When I was a teenager, I watched Braveheart for the first time. In the beginning, William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) falls in love with a beautiful peasant girl, Murron. Early on, the two lovers are sitting on a hill and the way that William talks to her and looks at her sure makes…
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Behind Every Good Marriage Is A Lot of Effort
My husband and I celebrate our 16th anniversary this week and every year I’m amazed at how I grow in love for him. I would humbly say that Dustin and I have a wonderful marriage. It’s not perfect and we’ve had our share of trials, but we are still best friends, still committed to each…
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Q & A: How Do I Navigate a Relationship With Someone That Is Different Than Me?
I wrote last week about how I learned to love and forgive a family member that was completely different than me. Here’s that blog if you’d like to read it. From that blog, a question was posed to me. I’d like to take this blog to answer it. Question: How do you navigate a relationship with someone…
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The Joy in Putting Down the Electronics
I grew up in the 80’s, back in the days when MTV was good and big hair ruled supreme. I’m the first born and quite a bit older than my siblings, so there was a good deal of time in my early days where it was just me. My parents didn’t have much money when…
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Sharing the Truth of Chastity with Your Teen
When I was maybe 12-years old, my grandmother gave me the birds and bees talk in the car while driving me back to my parent’s house. There I was trapped with no where to run and all I really remember about the “talk” was my desire to melt away into the seat. Hearing my grandmother…
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When I Put God First In My Marriage, Nobody Competes For My Love
Many years ago, my husband was trying to explain to someone how your relationship with your spouse, if you have one, is more important than any other earthly relationship. The other person quickly said, “No, it’s with your kids.” To which my husband said, “It doesn’t mean that you love your kids less, it’s just…
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How Am I #Rocking Motherhood? The Challenge To See How I’m Doing Motherhood Right.
Recently, I was challenged by Sara over at To Jesus, Sincerely, to talk about how I’m “rocking motherhood.” At first, I felt all squeamish inside, because I was being asked to “brag” on myself. I know that quite often I have mom fails and blunders. I do, though, think it is good to humbly…
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Don’t Hold Your Husband Back From Challenging Himself or Your Children
A few weeks back, the window on my husband’s car wouldn’t roll back up. It made this awful grinding noise and I feared the repair bill that would follow. My husband has had the car for a long time and it’s starting to wear down. But, instead of taking the car to the shop, my…
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My Spouse Doesn’t Care If I Look At Other People! I Promise You They Do.
Recently, I heard a story about a guy who went on an anniversary vacation with his wife. They went to a beach location and the guy said, “I’m not gonna lie, I was looking. I was at a beach and my wife knows that guys look. She’s cool with it.” To which my husband responded,…
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Is Married Life More Valuable Than the Single Life?
Recently, I had a single woman comment on one of my blogs about marriage. I honestly don’t know her story, but it was very clear that 1. She was single involuntarily. Â 2. She did not enjoy being single. 3. She felt as if married life is held up and celebrated, leaving her feeling “subhuman”…
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Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Men Based Off Of The Five Love Languages
What do you get a man for Valentine’s Day? There aren’t too many men I know of that like stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers or fancy jewelry. Quite honestly, Valentine’s Day seems more for the ladies. I pity the man who has a birthday on Valentine’s Day. Actually, I have an uncle whose birthday is…
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Our Words Have Power: Are We Using Them to Speak Love and Life?
I was in the parking lot of the BX (Base Exchange) the other day with my kids. Â As I was placing my goods in the car and getting my son buckled in, I heard loud shouting and cussing coming from somewhere in the parking lot. Â I couldn’t really hear what the person was so upset…
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The Beautiful Journey of Growing Older With Your Spouse
I’ve been my husband’s personal barber now for 17 years. We started dating in Air Force ROTC in college and to save a little bit of money, we thought it would be a good idea for me to start cutting his hair. I’d never donned clippers before, but it seemed like a great idea. That…
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The Beauty in Sacrificing Our Bodies for Love of Another
I love beautiful things.  Mostly I love finding beauty in human stories; those stories that bring tears to our eyes, because they are so good, so true….so beautiful.  I love listening to my grandmother read a poem or a card received from a loved one.  If it moves her, tears well in her eyes and…
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October’s Featured Married Couple: Lindsay and Vinnie “Marry Your Best Friend”
If October’s Featured Married Couple doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, well, you may need to see a doctor.  Lindsay and Vinnie just celebrated their one year anniversary on September 5th, but their marriage has the wisdom and beauty of a veteran couple.  Reading through their answers gave me a renewed hope in the future of marriage–there…
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What Do You Mean There’s No Marriage In Heaven?!
There are many things in the Bible that cause a lot of emotions in me. Sadness, gratitude, awe, devotion, immense love, confusion, and, sometimes, anger are all emotions I have felt when reading different passages. There is one thing in the Bible, however, that almost always gives me heart palpitations when I read it. I get a…
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July’s Featured Married Couple: Ernest and Sarah "Love is a Choice"
July’s Featured Married Couple is Ernest and Sarah.  I met them while we were stationed together at Edwards AFB and now we are stationed together again.  Small world…even smaller Air Force.  They are a beautiful couple that have been married for 13 years.  They met at the Air Force Academy and married three days after graduating…
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Military Life Is Not A “His/Her Turn,” Situation–It’s An Our Turn
“So, when your husband retires from the Air Force, it will be your turn then, right?” I hear this a lot as a military spouse. Â We are still several years away from my husband retiring, but we are on the tail end of this wonderful, crazy life. Â I knew when marrying my husband that the…
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Featured Married Couple of the Month: Erin and Michael “Cooperating with God’s Grace”
June’s Featured Married Couple of the Month is Erin and Michael from Louisiana. Â Like last month’s couple, I have never met them, but I follow Erin’s blog and have truly enjoyed reading her thoughts. Â I first came across a blog of hers written on miscarriage and I could relate on so many levels. Â Erin blogs…
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Teaching Teens About Authentic Love
“You don’t know what real love is!” How many teenagers have heard this statement from their parents? Â I know I did. Â While parents may be right in this statement, it is unfair to treat teenagers as if they don’t know, especially when parents haven’t taught their kids what real love is. I was a late…
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Monogamy: Unrealistic? Unnatural?
I research a lot around the internet and since I blog and write about marriage, dating, and relationships, I often run into secular or atheistic beliefs with regards to these topics. Â I also run into a lot of “Christian” websites that miss the mark on Christ’s messages by leaps and bounds. Â I’ve seen a lot…
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Featured Married Couple for March: Shawn and Dawn “Marriage is a continual ‘Yes’”
In our world, especially our culture, we are bombarded with negativity surrounding marriage. Â We hear over-and-over of divorce, 5-minute marriages, and even disdain for the sacrament of marriage. Â I want us to celebrate marriage and show couples that are bringing to life what marriage truly is–a beautiful, messy, difficult, totally-worth-it blessing. Â I’m going to feature…
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Hey, Married Couples, Submit Already! (Oh no, she did not just say that!)
We all read the Bible a little differently. Â The Bible is so rich and deep that even the same verse can speak in different ways on different days. Â At different times in our life, different passages will speak more to us than others. Â Overall, though, when reading the Bible, there are four ways to read…
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67 Shades of Love
Romance and love are a beautiful thing, aren’t they?  Here we are, a few days removed from a holiday all about love and romance.  But, how do we know when someone really loves us?  What is true romance?  Is it chocolate, flowers, date nights, and love notes?  Yes, in some ways it can be that.  But,…
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Why I Love Being Married
Dustin and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary this coming Monday. Â Each year of our marriage has brought new joys, new challenges, new growth for both of us, and, yes, sometimes sadness. Â Through these years, I have only grown in my wonder for the beautiful sacrament of marriage and I feel blessed to walk…
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Is Chastity Too Extreme?
I’ve really struggled with this blog.  Not because I feel wishy-washy about the topic, but because, to me, it’s so important that I’m not sure I can give it due justice.  I’ve recently heard a lot talk regarding this issue and it’s left me…well, disheartened.  Fear crept in over the negative attention I know it will…