Relationships

Maintain And RECL(AIM) Your Relationships

Lisa May
15 Jan 2020
no comments
maintain

(Scroll down to leave a comment on how you maintain your relationships) The Christmas season is over, and the challenge of mastering our New Year Resolutions is upon us. Every year I take some time to reflect on the previous year; my accomplishments, failures, and all that I have to be thankful for. Then I begin my list of aspirations for the coming year. What do I want to accomplish, what do I want to do differently, what new leaf will I turn over, and what do I want to continue? Without fail, every year the same three things make […]

-Read More

Be Refreshingly Uncommon

Dr. Gary Hewins
7 Jan 2020
no comments

My dad told me a long time ago, “Find out what everybody else is doing and don’t do it.” I have found this little bit of advice to be beneficial at times. As a pastor sometimes I observe other pastors and preachers and I read about church leadership, church growth, vision-casting and fundraising, and I do the exact opposite. Be refreshingly uncommon at times. For example, my wife and I see a marriage counselor and have no problem sharing that publicly. How can I counsel couples on the importance of checking in with a counselor when I’m not willing to […]

-Read More

Give the Gift of Love

Lisa May
4 Dec 2019
no comments
gift

My eyes still well up in tears every Christmas as I watch the end of the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” George Bailey has just realized how precious life is, what a beautiful family he has, and then the bank president and local police come to arrest him. That’s when the magic happens! George’s friends, neighbors, and all the people he helped through the years come to his aid. Baskets of money are emptied on the table, people are taking coins out of their change purses, and an entire community rallies around to remind us what is possible when […]

-Read More

Cohabitation Versus Marriage

Lisa May
7 Oct 2019
one comments

Last month we explored the trend of Christian couples living together from a faith perspective.  We know what Jesus says about premarital sex…. it’s a big no; it’s a sin. The assumption is if you’re living together, you’re having sex. Let’s explore what the secular, academic communities research reveals versus what we choose or want to believe because it’s convenient and culturally accepted.  Cohabitation has been practiced for generations but for a variety of reasons. In colonial days ministers and officiates were less available, so couples formed homes and families without a legal declaration. This was the birth of common […]

-Read More

cohabitation

An Inconvenient Truth

Lisa May
9 Sep 2019
no comments
inconvenient

I have the privilege of working with couples during the worst and best of times. The spectrum is broad; the worst is when they come because their marriage is deeply troubled and the best is when they are preparing for wedded bliss, full of hope and wonder. Most recently, I met with a couple considering marriage. Both professed a personal relationship with Jesus, and both came from homes of divorce. They were considering living together to “be sure” they would stay together. I asked them if they regularly worshiped together. They said they occasionally attended church, but they weren’t involved. […]

-Read More

Till Death Us Do Part?

Lisa May
13 Aug 2019
no comments

Whether we’re married or not, most people can recite the traditional Christian wedding vows; I, (Name), take you, (Name), to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow. I have to admit that although I dated my husband off and on for nine years, I had no idea of the challenge or significance of the vows I […]

-Read More

Death

Meet the Needs

Lisa May
1 May 2019
no comments
needs

God created us for an intimate relationship with Him and others. Last month we addressed bonding; we were created with biological needs for bonding and closeness. We all have needs and were designed to be dependent. We’re physically needy. We need food, clothing, water and shelter to survive. We’re spiritually needy. Man needs communion with God and freedom from guilt and shame; we need forgiveness, mercy and grace from God. We’re also emotionally and relationally needy. We need a relationship with God and others. We’re intellectually needy. We’re born with intellectual capacity, but we need instruction and information. Many of […]

-Read More

Bonding

Lisa May
1 Apr 2019
no comments

Last month we explored loneliness and its dramatic rise globally in all age groups. In a society that’s more connected than ever before, how can that be? Social media, the internet and mobile phones have provided more access to people and information than any other time in history. We have the world at our fingertips. We have an increasing circle of “friends,” we can interact expressing “likes,” posting well wishes or opinions with words, symbols or video clips expressing our thoughts. Facebook has 2.27 billion active monthly users (third Q for 2018); 1.49 billion active daily. About 68 percent of […]

-Read More

bonding

Put A Ring On It

Lisa May
20 Feb 2019
no comments
ring

Pulling the petals of a flower reciting “He loves me; he loves me not” is a sweet memory for many of us beginning on school playgrounds. No matter our age, stage or season of life, we yearn to belong to someone, deeply loved and cherished. For many, Valentine’s Day and the month of love and romance is full of hopeful anticipation, flower deliveries, chocolates, maybe a proposal with the promise of forever love. The ultimate symbol of love and commitment in the Western world is marriage with a ring placed on the fourth finger of both the man and the […]

-Read More

Fun and Budget-Friendly Ways to Celebrate Love on Valentine’s Day

Lydia Hicks
5 Feb 2019
no comments

Valentine’s Day is here again! Exciting, right? Ahhh….not really. You are single, without a significant other or a couple struggling to find a romantically engaging and fun way to enliven your relationship. Well, as the Beatles sing, “All You Need is Love.” Put your love into action and join me as we journey through enriching activity ideas for varying budget levels from relationship and family experts.   For Singles Don’t be discouraged. Tom Corner, motivational speaker and author of Borrowed Eyes and Feet: Finding Enlightenment After Rage, inspires singles to not “fall for the illusion that the world was suddenly overtaken […]

-Read More