There is no coasting in marriage. You’re either growing closer together or drifting further apart. You must be intentional about investing in your marriage and nurturing your relationship to your spouse every chance you get.

- Romans 12:10 - "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

- Ephesians 5:33 - "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

- Our Anniversary Tradition - a few pics from the cars I've decorated over the years

- 25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband - original blog post

- 25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband - book & audio book

- 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife - blog post

- 25 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife - book

- 30 Day Respect Challenge - free email challenge for wives

- 30 Day Love Challenge - free email challenge for husbands

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Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life - parenting tips, homeschool help, printables

Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home- encouragement for wives, mothers, believers

The CDC announced last week that the US General Fertility Rate has recently hit an all-time low of only 1.6 children per woman of childbearing age. That makes me sad, because I know how much joy children bring to life. The more, the merrier! In fact, as parents of twelve, my husband and I have reaped a lot of blessings from having a large family we could have never anticipated beforehand -- and so have our kids.

- Psalm 127:3-5 - "Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward...."

- 1 Peter 3:15 - “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

- Proverbs 14:4 - “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much increase comes by the strength of the ox.”

- Proverbs 27:17 - “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

- 3 John 1:4 - “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

- 15 Unexpected Benefits of Big Family Living

- Family Unfriendly by Timothy Carney

- America Tonight - our interview with Al Jazeera

- BBC documentary - you can watch our short clip about halfway down this post

- EP 42 - Traveling with Children

- Kids Eat Free in Tyler, Texas

- Kids Eat Free in the USA

- Age Appropriate Chores for Children

- Teaching Kids to Do Chores Cheerfully

- Who Knew Children's Chores Were So Controversial?

- Bananagrams - a game I mentioned that my family enjoys playing

- Proverbs for Parenting - topical arrangement of Proverbs (similar to what we used for storytime)

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Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life - parenting tips, homeschool help, printables

Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home- encouragement for wives, mothers, believers

We don't have to wonder or make wild guesses about what Jesus would do -- the Bible tells us clearly how He lived when He was here on earth, the kind of things He prioritized, and what He expects of anyone who chooses to follow Him.

- Philippians 2 - "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ..."

- Mark 10:45 - “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life...."

- Luke 9:23 - “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

- Luke 14:27 - "And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

- Eph 4:26-5:1 - "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger...."

- Prov 3 - "My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments...."

- Psalm 119:97-98 - "O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day...."

- Psalm 1 - "Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...."

- EP 28: Bible Memory Tips

- EP 85 - Memorize Proverb 3 with Me

- Sing the Word Vol 1-2 - word-for-word KJV scripture songs by Fred and Sarah Cooper

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I read a book last week called The Art of Making Memories. It was fascinating, though nothing like I expected. In this week's episode, I share what I learned and what I think of this work.

- John 16:21 - "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world."

- Deuteronomy 11:19 - "Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

- Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

- John 10:10 - "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

- The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking

- Episode 28 - Bible Memory Tips

- Episode 85 - Memorize Proverbs 3 with Me

- M Is for Mama - Abbie Halberstadt's birth stories

- Glad Tidings - the first 25 years of Flanders Family Christmas Letters

- Monthly Holidays & Quirky Celebrations - and free printables and other fun resources for enjoying them to the full

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Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life - parenting tips, homeschool help, lprintables

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Each and every one of us has been born with qualities that cannot be altered and into circumstances beyond our control. The question is, how will you approach the unchangeables in your life? Will you learn to accept and live with them (and maybe even appreciate them)? Or will you allow bitterness and resentment over those unchangeables fester in the depths of your heart? The choice you make will have a profound impact on the purpose and contentment you find in life.

1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Psalm 68:5 - "Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy."

Matthew 25:15 - "And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey."

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

James 3:14-16 - "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing."

Genesis 3:19 - "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

James 4:14 - "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

Psalm 90:12 - "Teach us to number our days so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

Psalm 139:13-16 - "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Serenity Prayer (attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr)

Praying for Your Parents (my free printable prayer guide)

The Long Winter (book by Laura Ingalls Wilder)

"How Can I Accept Myself the Way God Made Me" (impactful teaching I first heard at an IBLP seminar)

On Becoming Free Indeed (my review of Jinger Duggar's book )

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Father's Day is less than a week away, so I thought this would be a wonderful time to share a story about my father. I have lots of cherished memories to choose from, but this is one of my all-time favorites.

I'm sure that, in the midst of the childhood crisis I was experiencing at the time, my dad never dreamed what a lasting and long-reaching effect of his response would have in my life, but it did.

1 John 3:1 - “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

Romans 8:38 - “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 1:12 - “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

5 Lessons I Learned by Losing a Diamond

Fathers Matter (Every Day of the Year)

A Letter to My Father

Free Printable Prayer for Fathers

A Hero in the Making: Like Father, Like Son

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Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life - parenting tips, homeschool help, lprintables

Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home- encouragement for wives, mothers, believers