Moving to a New Blog Address...Please Come Along!

Hello,

I have recently recognized that the address of this blog is not consistent with our Facebook page address, our website, etc... .  Therefore, as I need to make all of our marriage coaching business addresses cohesive,  I needed to drop the "the" from this blog's address....so that it will read "marriage guy and gal" rather than "the marriage guy and gal."

Well, I didn't do it right, so I now have the pesky situation of having two blog sites.....but this one you are seeing right now (since it has the "the" and shouldn't) will be discontinued.  Therefore, I'll be posting only on the other from now on and eventually will discontinue this.  I plan to transfer as much content as is feasible, so I hope there will be decent enough archived posts.  However, the new blog is now at:  www.marriageguyandgal.blogspot.com. 

I am sorry for this, and humbly ask that you, a member or a new passerby,  please click the link to our new site and register as a member there.   Thanks for following us!

Hope to see you over at www.marriageguyandgal.blogspot.com. 

Blessings, Michelle and Tim

7 Tips for Resting and Planning

When you have free time, how do you spend it?  What?  You don't seem to have any free time?  I'm not surprised.  Life is often easily crowded with multiple responsibilities.  Yet, as we face a brand new weekend, I'd like to encourage you to carve out 15-60 minutes just to rest, regroup, and plan.  Sometimes, taking the time to rest and think can save us so much more time than going about life drained and frazzled. 

Here are some steps for a refreshing time-out:

1) Find a secluded place- your bedroom with the door closed, your parked car (assuming it isn't sweltering in this heat! ;-), a park bench, a corner of your backyard....whatever works for you!

2) Play a song or two of music you love-if this is readily available and will not add to your stress, otherwise, skip it.

3) Shut your eyes, and Take 3-5 sets of deep breath in for the count of 10, hold for five seconds, and release it out for a count of 20.-  Feel more relaxed already?

4) Offer up a prayer.- Let God know your heart, and take time to listen to HIM.  (Eyes still shut can lead to better rest and concentration).

5) Rest.

6) Consider what your life priorities are.-  How well are you meeting them?  What are a few things (3 or 4) that you can do in the next week that can help you to gain a better overall outlook or gain perspective on how to approach your life better, for more effectiveness, less stress, and greater benefit to your priorities?  (For instance: Can you make a call or send an e-mail to resign from an activity that is causing your whole family undo stress?  Can you choose to delegate a household chore to another member of the family? Can you choose to attend church on Saturday night rather than Sunday morning, grocery shop on Monday morning rather than Sunday night, or exercise at home instead of driving 10 miles out of your way to go to the gym?)  What will make your life easier and most effective, aligning your desires with God's design and your life priorities?

7) Go take on the new week! 

Agreement with Your Spouse

When my husband and I got married, one of the precepts that we chose to build our life upon is that we would seek to be in agreement before we would pursue any given course.  This has served us well.  At times, we have said "no" to certain things or "yes" to certain things, and sometimes we have even chosen to simply wait and pray.  However, no matter what, if we are not in agreement about what to do in a particular situation, or at least in agreement as to what road we will pursue when we have differences, we will choose not to go forward.  Yet, one of my favorite scenarios is when we individually hear from God and come to agreement without having discussed it first. 

For instance, this happened tonight when a young woman at our church was speaking with me about her upcoming missions trip.  She was overflowing with the beauty of Christ, and I really wanted to commit to pray for her and perhaps commit to a financial gift for the ministry God is calling her to do.  I hadn't realized it directly, but I basically had a peaceful thought that just seemed right about what I would like that gift to be, and I now realize that that was God speaking to me.  I know this because about ten minutes after I shared her mission information with my husband and said that I would like to see if we could give something toward her endeavor, he said that we should see if we could give x amount. 

I told him that that was exactly what I was thinking, but hadn't thought to share that with him yet. He told me that he thought I was thinking of that number and that we would be in agreement.  This is so God! 

We cannot figure out God's ways.  His ways are higher than ours, and He knows what He is doing!  If you are married and don't know what course of action to take, we recommend taking the situation to the Lord in prayer and waiting on Him for the answer.  Agreement and peace between you and your spouse may just be the way to know that still small voice of your Heavenly Father directing you in the way you should go.

P.S. Tonight, I finish my month of daily blog posts, but I hope to continue to post at least one to three times per week, even though June is over.  I thank you for joining me this month, and am grateful for your readership! 

Serving Him with you,
Michelle

Building or Tearing Down?

The wise woman builds her house,  but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
(Proverbs 14:1).


 

This verse really speaks to me, as I have personally seen it to be true in my own life and in the lives of some of those I know.  In my own life, it didn't take long for me to realize, as a newlywed, that if I didn't yell and start arguments, fights would very rarely occur.  My husband is just a peace loving guy.  This doesn't mean that we haven't had disagreements, but it does mean that when I chose to be responsible with my own words and actions, things went best for me, my husband, our marriage, and our household.  Needless to say, I still (almost 17 years later) choose the path of peace and respectful discussion rather than being argumentative and yelling (at least the majority of the time ;-).

I've watched people with beautiful families tear them apart with adultery, deception, put-downs of a spouse, wall-building, and game playing, to name just a few of the foolish deeds, that people commit with their own choices.

What are you doing to build up your house?  What are you doing to tear it down?

Much of what happens to us is the result of our own choices, whether the choices are wise or whether they make our own hands destroy that which we desire to build.

Movie Wisdom for Your Life

My husband, Tim, and I are huge movie buffs.  We like so many genres.  From the classics to action-adventures, from romantic comedies to sci-fi, and of course, anything by Pixar.  So, for a light-hearted but meaningful post today, we are going to post some of our favorite movie quotes that are great insights in ways to live: (Some are our best paraphrases, so the quotes may not be perfect, but the gist is there, lol!) 

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What can you do but to swim, swim, swim?" -Finding Nemo

"Just put one foot in front of the other." -Santa Claus is Coming to Town

"Get out of bed every morning and breathe in and out all day.  After a while, I won't have to remind my self to do it."  -Sleepless in Seattle

"Do or do not, there is no try." -Star Wars

"There is good in this world (Mr. Frodo), and it's worth fighting for." -Lord of the Rings