GPS to a Joyful Marriage

'Tis the season - the season for many to struggle financially, emotionally and physically.  Christmas brings high expectations of an experience that many of us may never achieve. That “Hallmark moment” we see on television is not the norm for most families. With dysfunctional childhoods, divorce, loss of family members, and difficult financial times, this celebration season brings depression to a large number of people.  Rick and I always see an increase in our counseling sessions at this time as marriages are pushed to their limits. We’ve propelled this once humble holiday into a money-making, commercialized, stress-filled time of pursuing the perfect Christmas.  Meanwhile, the true meaning of Christmas has been subtly pushed aside. Now I know there are naysayers about celebrating Jesus’ birth on this day that started as a pagan holiday.  I say if we keep our focus on Jesus, the rest just doesn’t matter.  I choose to be thankful for the birth of our Sa...

Mary Did You Know?, my favorite Christmas song focuses on the life of Jesus more than just His birth.  Check out this link to a wonderful video of this beautiful song: http://www.uptv.com/blog/uplifting-video-mary-did-you-know-music-video Mary did you know, that your baby boy would one day walk on water Mary did you know, that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters Did you know, that your baby boy has come to make you new This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you Mary did you know, that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man Mary did you know, that your baby boy would calm the storm with His hand Did you know, that your baby boy has walked where angels trod When you kiss your little baby then you kissed the face of God The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb Mary did you know, that your baby boy is Lord of all creation Mary did you know, that ...

‘Tis the season to be jolly’.   Hmmm.  The older I get, the less jolly I feel at Christmas time.  It seems the real reason for the season, the birth of Jesus, is slowly being pushed aside to make room for all the commercialism that now dominates this holiday.  I don’t like it. There has also been a lot of skepticism over the past few years about the roots of the celebration of Christmas, and so I decided to investigate it myself.  It seems that Christmas, initially called the Saturnalia Festival, started as a pagan holiday.  Romans adopted it with hopes of turning people to Christianity. From “Christmas, the Real Story”           In the 4 th  century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it.  Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Sa...

I want to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  May your family time be richly blessed as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m sharing with you the words to a Christmas song I wrote numerous years ago at a time when the Christmas season was too busy for me and very stressful.  It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of this over-commercialized season.  If we keep our focus on that special day, though, we find the peace and joy we desire as we celebrate Christmas. A Special Day   by Sandee Lester As I walk through the street with the snow falling ‘neath my feet. My thoughts drift to Christmases gone by Thoughts of family and friends whom I would love to see again And share the spirit of this holiday There’s much more to this season than blinking lights and gifts galore We often forget the reason that this holiday is really for It’s a time to celebrate and rejoice Because God made His ...

Luke 2:14 - "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." I hope that your Christmas was filled with joy at the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May you find the time to glorify our God in the highest as you give thanks for His grace on you this holiday season and throughout the year.  May your New Year be filled with peace and His favor in all you do.

I’ve been thinking about expectations of a different nature this week – the expectations we have of the holidays.  We all have our own ideas of how the Christmas season should play out, and I believe most of us try to duplicate that scenario as closely as possible. I fondly remember spending Thanksgiving with my mother’s family, Christmas Eve with my father’s, and on Christmas Day, we would stay home, and my grandparents would visit us.  Often, we would also have Christmas parties with my mother’s family.  New Year’s Eve involved a huge party with my dad’s family and friends where children were included – always the highlight of my year. After my parents divorced when I was sixteen, it all ended.  I’ve finally realized, in the past few years, that I spent most of my adult years trying to recapture those memories of my childhood. I loved Christmas when my children lived at home but still struggled, as an Air Force family, with living away from the rest...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and that you have had time to focus on the true meaning of this joyful holiday.   It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the commercial spirit of this season our world has created, that we often find ourselves worn out and eager to have it all behind us. Although it seems to get worse every year, I have found the holiday season to be more enjoyable when I step out of the “rat race” designed for our so-called human pleasure.   I no longer run myself ragged over a holiday that has become a time of spending too much money and planning too many social events that render us too tired to appreciate the season.   Celebrating a late Christmas at my in-laws today, I sit around inhaling the joy of family members that I don’t see often enough.   That’s what I look forward to every year – family time.   We’ve toned down the gift giving and have learned to just savor the moments we share with each other. ...

Merry Christmas! May you have a blessed holiday with your family and friends.