What is Your Favorite Time of the Year?

Ah, it’s almost here.  My favorite week of the entire year is just days away, and I am really looking forward to it once again.

Since our first child was born nearly five years ago, my wife and I have observed our own family tradition of sorts by taking off the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  Actually, it’s me who “takes off” since she is a teacher and always has Christmas Winter Break to count on.

What makes this week so special for our family?  To start with, Christmas morning is just awesome when you have little kids and are able to share their joy when they wake up with the immediate intensity of a gazelle on crack.  This year should be the best yet since they both totally “get it” now at ages almost-five and two-and-a-half years old.  Santa is totally real, and the little gifts are still the best.

Christmas Day will center on our family doing whatever the heck we want all day, as our extended family stops by throughout the day to visit.  There will be a large brunch, lots of snacks, some holiday spirits and probably pizza for dinner.  It’s like the ultimate lounging-around day, plus gifts and the love of a family who truly appreciates the spirit of the season.  



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What Are You Thankful For?

As I reflected a bit on my “I am Thankful for Sexuality” post and the great comments you have shared there, I couldn’t help but wonder what each of you is thankful for as we officially enter the holiday season.

So, take a moment to think about your life as it stands today.  Think particularly about your relationships and all of the ways (good and bad) they have changed since last year at this time.

What are YOU thankful for in your life?

Please take a minute and put your thoughts in the comments to this post.  Let’s all rejoice together at the many blessings that we have been given.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for being part of such a positive, growing community here at Engaged Marriage!

Photo by floodllama

Tags: Spirituality

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7 Ways Children Teach Us About God

If you are a parent, a Godparent or just the cool aunt, you know both the joy and challenges that children bring to life.  If you believe in God, you probably also feel a responsibility to help raise these kids in a healthy way that teaches them about your faith.

This is fantastic, but have you taken a step back to consider what these same children teach us about God everyday?

Give it Some Thought

Really, you don’t have to be a deep thinker or get all dogmatic about it.  Just make a small effort to “zone in” and observe how you interact with the children in your life.  I took this opportunity myself, and I was amazed at all I learned about myself and my relationship with the “Big Guy” upstairs.

I do not intend to share an exhaustive list here.  Instead, I want to get your mind started in the right direction so you can better appreciate the very cool way that God communicates to us through the simplest relationships in our lives.  



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Be a Giver! My Guest Post at My Super-Charged Life

I am excited to announce that another article of mine has graciously been published at the My Super-Charged Life blog.  My Super-Charged Life is a favorite site of mine that provides great tips, information and resources aimed at helping us live life to the fullest.

My article is entitled “Be a Giver: Help Others & Improve Your Relationships” and I would really appreciate it if could take a minute to visit Jeff’s site and read the post.  It would mean a great deal to me if you could show your support in this way, and we would both love to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to the Readers of My Super-Charged Life !

If you are a visitor from My Super-Charged Life, I would like to welcome you to Engaged Marriage and say Thank You for taking the time to come over for a look.  While you are here, I’d encourage you to check out the “About” page to get a feel for the idea behind the site, and please take a tour through some of the categories along the right side of the site and check out some posts.  



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Marriage as a Vocation

What comes to mind when you think of a vocation?  How about vocation in the context of a marriage?  If you are like most people, and especially if you happen to share my status as a member of the Catholic Church, you probably think of a priest (or possibly a nun).  When you add marriage into the mix, your thoughts may shift slightly to the particular clergy that performed your wedding ceremony or your current pastor.

In church, we often hear about the need for additional vocations or calls to the religious life.  It seems that “vocation” is basically synonymous with “calling” which again leads us to the idea of a young man or woman being called by God to a life of religious service.

If you read about career coaching or seek guidance in this area, you may come across a slightly different idea.  Many career coaches like to break down the approach to work into three areas from broadest to most specific: vocation, career and job, where vocation is your overall “calling” or purpose for working.

Well, if you look up “vocation” on dictionary.com, here is what you’ll find:  



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