Last year we added three kids to our family in five months. In March, we adopted our nine-year-old son from China, and then our two teen nieces came to live with us in June and September. Let me tell you, I totally underestimated how difficult an older child adoption would be. We adopted our daughter…
Dear Married Daughter, First of all, I am amazed that I am old enough to be writing this letter. When you were young, and sitting in the grocery cart while we shopped, people would stop me and comment on how cute you were and I would smile and thank them. They would often look at…
Prayer. The thing we most need to do, but what so many of us struggle with. I have a few people in my life who are prayer warriors, plain and simple. I call them when I need prayer because I know they will truly pray. Lately, I find myself wanting this in my own life,…
I watched my husband fix his hair, brush his teeth, and spray on his cologne. He grabbed his coffee and kissed us all goodbye. I felt a wave of bitterness well up in me. I don’t know where it came from but I knew it wasn’t good. Off he went. Again. I chose the life…
To the wife whose husband plays Pokémon Go… First off, I’m sorry. None of us could have seen this coming. We could have done something to prevent it had we only known. Locked them up. Hid their phones. Gotten rid of our cell phone data plans. Moved to a hut somewhere without the internet. But alas,…
Dear wife who’s married to a jerk, Nitty Gritty Love is a conversation. So when we hear the same feedback from readers, I want to address it. We spend a lot of time here encouraging women, and we are equally encouraged, but when we get this question, I will admit, I sink a little inside.…
Indifference equals hatred. Wow. That is a strong statement. But I think it is a true one. Our pastor said this in a message recently and it jumped out at me because while I know our marriage has a lot of issues, indifference is not one of them. Now, I may tell my spouse I…
Our kids are in that stage where they have so many paces to be, and no way to get there other than me. I could cut back on their activities, I suppose, but there are certain things I want the kids to know how to do that we can’t facilitate at home. Homeschooling has its…
Never underestimate the power of a soft word. Marriage is full of little hurdles to jump. Sometimes you even have to scale a mountain or two in an effort to make progress. I wish relationships were easier. I wish my husband and I saw things the same way and never disagreed. I also wish ice…
My husband recently told me he wishes that he knew what my anxiety felt like. He knows the stress of the night before a test, the fearful anticipation of a job interview, and the normal stressors of life—but he doesn’t know the anxiety that I know. I’m guessing there are more of you spouses out…