By Ashley McIlwain When I look around me, I realize how blessed I am with inspirational, successful marriages. My parents just celebrated their 37th anniversary. My sister and her husband their 11th. My husband, Steve’s, parents just celebrated 42 years. Just last month our board members, Greg and Rosemary, hit the 40 year mark. Steve’s
By Ashley McIlwain I feel like everywhere I turn someone is attacking or doubting the validity, significance, benefits, and splendor of marriage. It grieves my heart because marriage rocks. It really does, and I think a lot of why we’ve lost our sense of appreciation for it is because we’ve screwed it up so badly.
By Ashley McIlwain I had gone to the post office and was met by a line of people out the door. My shoulders sank at the reality that I couldn’t just come back and was sure to be waiting for quite a while in this long line. Sure enough, over 20 minutes later, I finally
By Coleen York I don’t know what it is about the mind of a woman, but it seems like we struggle with worry way more than our male counterparts. Our female psyche is able to simultaneously think of 75 different outcomes for every decision and situation. Usually 90% of them are ways things could go
By Steve McIlwain Hubs here. Love is a lot of things to a lot of people. For some it’s a lifetime. For some it’s right now. For some it’s until it doesn’t work anymore. Our culture tells us that love is a fleeting sensation with an open exit door available whenever it fades. The idea
By Ashley McIlwain Have you ever closed one eye and looked at something? Then looking at the same object, closed the other eye? Repeating this back and forth is quite fascinating. The people around you might think you are losing it, but it’s amazing how each eye sees the same object so differently. When both
By Ashley McIlwain Something that frequently comes up in correspondences from people relate back to their inner circle. Your inner circle is that group of people that you most frequently surround yourself with, seek counsel from, confide in, and that influences you most significantly. We all have an inner circle whether it’s two people or
By Ashley McIlwain In my experience, life is an adventure. Granted, I haven’t always viewed it that way. Those all-time lows and moments of despair hardly feel like just a fun thrill ride that I should wave my arms in the air for, although the screaming part is on par. In fact, those moments usually
By Ricinda Perry In Part 1 of my Family Bonding Series, I shared with you the importance of church-going. This week I wanted to talk with you about our breakneck speed society. School and after school activities galore … I have heard time and again about the moms who feel that they are constantly on
By Dr. Jeff Klick Every couple fusses and argues now and again. I once served on an elder board where a man said that he and his wife never had an argument in all the years they were married. Really, come on, sixty years and no fights? What he meant is that he and his
