Is Your Spouse
Your Best
Friend?

I received an email from The Gottman Institute, and it was too good not to re-post. Just a few weeks ago I talked about cultivating a friendship with your spouse so they become your best friend. Some of the leading experts in marital relationships agree! According to Gottman, “Here are some ways you can strengthen the friendship in your relationship today.”

Parents, Wake Up!

“When acceptance is the highest value, when avoiding condemnation online is worth more than the truth, the truth will be swiftly discarded. Online likes, followers and reputation – weak, empty values - dominate the teenage world because teenagers are not being taught alternative (values)…by the adults in their lives.” -Daniel Idfresne (a senior at Brooklyn Tech in New York).

My Shield

When I was in PK there was a boy in my class that bullied my best friend. It made me mad, and I told him I was going to bring my daddy to school the next day to protect my friend. Not sharing this plan with my father, I asked my mother if daddy could take me to school the following day. Of course, he was delighted to do so, and proudly marched me into my classroom as an unknowing accomplice to my plan.

Table Ministry

Why is the dinner table so important in a home? Why do so many invitations of hospitality revolve around a meal? Because there is something supernatural that takes place when people gather and break bread.

The table is the physical symbol of the Kingdom. “And I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table…” (Luke 22:29-30 ESV).

4 Quick Points
to Know about
the Thank You
Note

Remember as children, during holidays, we would spend what seemed like hours creating homemade craft projects for our parents? It might be a paper Christmas snowflake sprinkled with glitter or a cutout heart for Valentine’s Day. We would address it: To: Mom or To: Dad.

4 Tips on
Holiday Travel
with Young
Children

The holidays bring travel for many! Whether you have plans to visit family or you are taking a road trip with the children just to get away, traveling with young ones during Christmas can be a challenge. Here are my top tips for smooth sailing this holiday season with your little ones in tow:

5 Tips on
Entertaining
with Young
Children

Amid the busyness of the holiday season, it is important to slow down and find time to have date nights with your significant other. Whether you are looking for a more active date or something simple and easy, this list provides ten ideas perfect for the cooler weather and holiday season.

10 Winter Date
Night Ideas

Amid the busyness of the holiday season, it is important to slow down and find time to have date nights with your significant other. Whether you are looking for a more active date or something simple and easy, this list provides ten ideas perfect for the cooler weather and holiday season.

Does God Care
About
Manners?

When hosting a dinner party, the placement of guests at the dinner table is very important for the overall success of the evening. Presumably, your guest list is compiled with those you feel will enjoy each other’s company and have something to contribute to the overall atmosphere you are creating. Yet, even with a successfully curated list of attendees, the placement of each person around the table is something that should not be thrown together at the last minute.

Seating for a
Dinner Party

When hosting a dinner party, the placement of guests at the dinner table is very important for the overall success of the evening. Presumably, your guest list is compiled with those you feel will enjoy each other’s company and have something to contribute to the overall atmosphere you are creating. Yet, even with a successfully curated list of attendees, the placement of each person around the table is something that should not be thrown together at the last minute.

A Holiday
Survival Guide:
Be Intentional

I recently bumped into a friend at the store, and as we began talking, she expressed how she struggles with the holidays. When January rolls around, she feels like she somehow “missed out.” I understand this feeling because I have often felt this way. Life was so busy with the preparation of celebration, that I missed the joy that awaited each of us this time of year.

What Do I
Wear to the
Party?

You just received an invitation to a great party, and the attire says: Shabby Chic; Razzle Dazzle; Cowboy Couture.

WHAT????

Word to hostesses: when listing the attire on the invitation for a party, make it clear. Do not let your creative thoughts have you writing a description that requires an interpreter. We do not want to force our guests to solve a riddle to understand what is expected of them. There is a phrase I like to quote, “To be unclear is to be unkind.”

7 Things
Children Must
Know to Be
Successful

Want to set your children up for success? Then look no further than the habits of successful people you know, whether that be in the corporate world, media, or within your own circle of friends. Experts agree that there are certain common traits all successful people possess. This is great news because it means we can emulate those that have come before us.