16 Years and Still Making Room to Rest Together This past weekend, Bill and I celebrated 16 years of marriage, and honestly, our anniversary weekend wasn't extravagant. We didn't have a packed itinerary or a long list of things we wanted to accomplish. We went to our camper, stepped away from the normal demands of life, enjoyed the beautiful fall scenery, explored a little, and rested. It was peaceful, simple, and exactly what we needed. As I thought about our weekend, I real

Are you paying more attention to what is wrong with your spouse or what is right? When I look at this picture of Bill and me surrounded by all those sunflowers, I can't help but think about what we choose to focus on in marriage. Sunflowers make me think of turning toward the light, and I wonder how different our marriages might look if we became just as intentional about turning our attention toward the good in our spouse. When we first fall in love, we tend to notice everyt

There are moments in marriage when I know exactly what I want to say to Bill. In fact, sometimes I have already had the entire conversation in my head before he even knows there is a conversation coming. I know what bothered me, why it bothered me, what I think he should have done differently, and probably how I think he should respond when I tell him. 😂 But I am learning that knowing what I want to say doesn't always mean I am ready to say it. One of the pillars of Pamper Y

I have been thinking about something that I believe can quietly put a lot of pressure on a marriage. We marry someone we love, and naturally, we want that person to be the one who comforts us, encourages us, understands us, notices when something is wrong, and knows just what to say when we're struggling. There is nothing wrong with wanting those things from our spouse. Part of the beauty of marriage is having someone beside you to walk through life with. But somewhere along

There is something special about serving God beside your spouse. Bill and I have been given a new opportunity to do just that. We have been asked to lead a Rooted group at our church, and we are excited about what God is going to do - not only in the people He has entrusted to us, but in our marriage too. As we begin this journey, we will be studying God's Word together, praying together, having conversations about what we are learning, and helping others grow deeper in their

This past weekend, Bill and I went camping, and I think we may have taken our Sabbath Together pillar very seriously. LOL. We sat around the campfire. We played games. We climbed into our kayaks and floated down the river. I stretched out in the hammock with a book and a blanket and did a whole lot of absolutely nothing. And you know what? It was wonderful. There was no big agenda. No list of things we needed to accomplish. No rushing from one thing to the next. We simply enj

ACTION Pillar Bill and I were at Dollywood when we snapped this picture. Nothing fancy. Just the two of us enjoying the day, riding rides, laughing, walking around, and making another memory together with family. And looking at this picture made me think about another pillar Bill and I are standing on in our marriage: A - Action Follows Love. It is easy to say, “I love you.” It is even easy to believe, They know I love them. But one of the things we teach in Pamper Your Marri

PILLAR: PRAISE There we were, standing inside this big wooden heart at Dollywood. And when I looked at this picture later, I started thinking about how easy it is to stand beside the person you love every day and forget to tell them what is still in your heart. Bill and I have been together long enough that I could easily assume he already knows how I feel about him. He knows I love him. He knows I appreciate him. He knows I am thankful for him. But does that mean I should st

Prayer: Inviting God Over, Around, and Between Us Looking at this picture of Bill and me standing underneath that massive natural bridge, I couldn't help but think about covering. There we are, smiling together, while this enormous rock formation towers over us. We look pretty small underneath it! And maybe that's not such a bad picture of marriage. Because as much as Bill and I love each other, neither one of us is big enough or strong enough to cover everything the other pe

Meditation Pillar This week Bill and I had a little fun with one of those AI photo filters that transformed us into a colonial couple living in early Maryland. We both laughed at how realistic it looked. For a moment, it felt like we had stepped back into history. But after the laughter, I found myself thinking... Every generation has faced challenges in marriage. The clothing has changed. The technology has changed. The distractions have changed. But the heart of marriage ha

The Sabbath Together Pillar "Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." — Mark 6:31 After pouring ourselves into the women at our Return to the King retreat in Kentucky, Bill and I did something we desperately needed. We rested. Not for a few hours. Not for one evening. But for an entire week. And what a gift it was. We headed west into the beautiful mountains of West Virginia, where God reminded us once again that He is the greatest Artist of all. Our fi

The Action Pillar "Serve one another humbly in love." — Galatians 5:13 (A little note before we begin...) First, forgive us for getting this week's blog out a little later than usual. Bill and I are currently enjoying a much-needed vacation together, and we've been soaking up every minute of this precious time. We'll share more about that adventure in next week's blog. For now, I wanted to share something that has been on my heart since our Return to the King retreat in Kentu

The Action Pillar One of the things I love most about Bill is that he is always willing to come along on my adventures. Sometimes he's a little more... cautious than I am. Take the Freedom 250 Festival, for example. We spent a couple of evenings walking the fairgrounds together. We rode the Ferris wheel, explored the exhibits, listened to music, and made memories celebrating America's 250th birthday. By the end of the night, we were exhausted. Between all the walking, the sum

Reconcile Daily by Choosing to See Your Spouse Again I think all of us can fall into this trap. We stop seeing our spouse as the person we fell in love with and begin seeing them only through the lens of responsibilities. Bill becomes... the nanny. the driver. the one who takes out the trash. the one who fixes things. Jodie becomes... the ministry leader. the grandmother. the employee. the planner. Without realizing it, we stop seeing the man or woman we once couldn't wait to

Why Connection Must Be Intentional Recently, Bill and I had the privilege of participating in a marriage roundtable discussion at our church. As we listened to other couples share their stories, experiences, and lessons learned, one theme kept surfacing over and over again: Healthy marriages stay connected on purpose. No one accidentally builds a strong marriage or wakes up one day and discovers they have drifted closer together. Connection requires intention. And in today's

Why protecting your peace is more important than winning an argument Bill and I rarely fight. In fact, after nearly sixteen years of marriage, I can count on one hand the things that truly get under my skin. But there is one thing that can make me grip the armrest a little tighter… Bill's driving. Now before he reads this blog and starts defending himself, let me just say: he is an excellent driver. However, he also likes to drive a little closer to other cars than I would pr

Adding Color to Your Marriage When Bill and I wrote Pamper Your Marriage, we didn't just want couples to learn the pillars, we wanted them to live them. But here's something I've discovered after nearly fifteen years of marriage: Even healthy marriages need fresh paint from time to time. Not because they're broken. Not because they're failing. But because life has a way of making everything feel ordinary if we're not intentional. Walls fade. Furniture gets worn. And relations

Praise Pillar Focus - Sometimes Appreciation Grows in Absence This week I learned that my Superman's greatest superpower isn't what he does for our family, it's knowing where his strength comes from. Last week, Bill was out of town helping his family. Of course, I missed him. But what surprised me most wasn't how much I missed his companionship. It was how much I missed everything he does. You see, Bill is the primary "nanny" in our household. Living with my daughter and gran

Finding Joy Together Even in Seasons of Grief This past Sabbath, Bill and I found ourselves laughing, singing, and making silly faces at a dueling piano bar with our family. And honestly? It was healing. My daughter had arranged the evening for all of us as a way to celebrate my brother’s life together. What could have been only a night of sadness became something surprisingly beautiful - a night filled with stories, music, laughter, and connection. As I looked around the tab

Trusting God With the Seeds We Plant This past weekend, Bill and I had the opportunity to do a book signing at the John 3:16 Bookstore. And honestly? We were so excited just to be there. A couple days before the signing, we were also invited to share our story and ministry on the John 3:16 podcast. Sitting together and talking about marriage, faith, healing, and the heart behind Pamper Your Marriage reminded me why we wrote this book in the first place. Not to become famous.