The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops asked Stacey and I to write a regular reflections for their marriage enrichment website, ForYourMarriage.org. We started writing posts for our “Happily Even After” blog on that site in 2010 and shared regular contributions for a decade about sustaining our marriage and family life. Here are a few samples.
An Open Letter to Newlyweds Regarding Children
…It has become fashionable on social media for new parents to show the world how hard it is to care for small children—don’t listen to them. They make it sound like a soul-crushing task, but they’re still adjusting to the new people they are turning into. Becoming a parent is one sure way to learn selflessness, and this is not a painless lesson. Having kids is absolutely worth it—they’ll save the world, and they’ll save you, too.
I Broke a 17-Year Fast Today
…We had sloppy joes for dinner tonight, which is a specialty of mine if we need a quick dinner. And, as everyone knows, when you’re eating a sandwich, you need something crunchy to go along with it. Them’s the rules. I don’t make ‘em.
Date Night and the Leaven of Communion
…We need to fight for that connection. It doesn’t come easy, it fades with time, it can easily get overlooked when there are other pressing duties. But nothing else works in family life if we’re not right with one another. The kids can smell discord between us, and life becomes a long slog of one dang thing after another. The leaven of communion transforms everything — it nourishes us to be for one another, not just with one another.
Josh Noem 