Relationship

16 11, 2016

Family Identity, Traditions & Gratitude

By Shelly and Rich Howard|2017-03-06T11:16:03-07:00November 16th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Relationship|

Is your family characterized by having an attitude of gratitude? When creating family identity do you cultivate and teach gratitude? Among the many reasons we love the Holiday Season, Thanksgiving to Christmas, is that it provided us a wonderful opportunity to build our family identity through family traditions that encouraged Trevor and Alex’s hearts towards internalizing the virtue of gratitude. Family Identity Through Family Traditions Cultivating family identity is an anchor for you and your [...]

1 11, 2016

Rise Above

By Shelly and Rich Howard|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00November 1st, 2016|Letters, Marriage, Parenting, Personal, Relationship|

With the election one week away, one thing is 100% certain. A lot of people are NOT going to be happy! And guess what? That’s ok. We all understand that disappointment, frustration, anger, and disillusionment are a part of life. But how we deal with these emotions, and manifest them, can critically impact our lives and the lives of our spouse and children as we mentioned in our Emotional Expression letter. Learning to properly manage [...]

28 10, 2016

The Blessing

By Lis and Dave Marr|2016-10-28T16:25:07-06:00October 28th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Parenting, Relationship, Uncategorized|

The last letter from the Marrs was written by our 25 year old daughter Shelli on the effects of a father’s love and encouragement for his daughter as she grew up. That encouragement helped her feel secure in the world where so many young women feel so exposed. In this day and age, it is reasonably commonplace and a delight to read about how women find success. Hidden behind that thought is that boys have [...]

18 10, 2016

Time of Non-conflict (TONIC)

By Shelly and Rich Howard|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00October 18th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Marriage, Parenting, Personal, Relationship|

Blah. Blah blah. Blah. Blah, blah, blah! This is the sound or noise that children, spouses, and friends hear when we try to communicate during times of conflict. Meaningful conversations and effective communication never occurs when people are angry, frustrated, exhausted, feeling defensive or mentally preoccupied. You cannot teach a child the principles of self-control while they are having a “level 10”meltdown in the grocery store. Nor can you discuss marital issues (parenting, finances, in-laws, [...]

11 10, 2016

Fathers Be Good to Your Daughters

By Lis and Dave Marr|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00October 11th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Parenting, Relationship|

This weeks message is written by Shelli Marr, 25, Lis and Dave's daughter. "You want me to do what??" I asked, suddenly aware of just how high off the ground I was. "That’s right", he replied, "close your eyes, cross your arms across your chest, and fall backwards." He smiled a little as he said it, so easily reading the skepticism in my face. "Don’t worry, I’ll catch you", he said reassuringly, even as he [...]

1 10, 2016

Date to Remember

By Lis and Dave Marr|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00October 1st, 2016|Letters, Parenting, Relationship|

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Long before children become teenagers and you are confronted with hormones, peer pressure, girl/boy dynamics; way before you decide to have The Talk; years before a young lady catches the glance of a young man and a young man takes courage to ask a girl to a dance, children learn at home how men treat women and women treat [...]

20 09, 2016

Marriage First

By Shelly and Rich Howard|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00September 20th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Marriage, Relationship|

We believe that the marriage relationship should be the first priority within the family structure... even before our kids! In today’s society, there is constant pressure to put our children first above EVERYTHING else in the family environment. This misguided prioritization can ultimately lead to child-centered parenting and even divorce. Don’t get us wrong. Our children are a top priority. And just because we prioritize our marriage before our children, that doesn’t mean they suffer [...]

14 09, 2016

Boys and Girls – When Should They Date?

By Lis and Dave Marr|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00September 14th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Parenting, Relationship|

In our previous letters, “Preparing for the Teen Years” and “The Talk”, we discussed the importance of knowing your children, setting parameters and being proactive in how you want to handle the pre teen and teen years. You want to have family trust be the foundation and create a culture where your children feel safe in coming to you to ask the hard questions that teens and preteens face. Dating in this crazy social media [...]

30 08, 2016

The Talk

By Lis and Dave Marr|2017-03-06T11:16:04-07:00August 30th, 2016|Family Culture, Letters, Parenting, Relationship|

A little boy asked his mommy, “Where do I come from?” She was anxious that her son should know about the ‘birds and the bees’, so she explained about mommy parts and daddy parts and what parts went where. He sat there wide-eyed and silent. After the talk, she asked him, “Does that answer your question?” The little boy paused for a moment and blurted out, “I don’t know, Johnny says he’s from Cleveland.” To gauge where your child [...]

23 08, 2016

I’m only going to count to three one more time!

By Shelly and Rich Howard|2016-08-23T05:43:42-06:00August 23rd, 2016|Letters, Marriage, Parenting, Relationship|

How many times have you said that during the course of your parenting? What about these parenting classics: Don’t make me stop this car! How many times do I have to tell you?!?! This is the last time I’m going to tell you! If you be good for mommy and daddy, we will give you… I mean it this time! The reality is, we’ve all said these phrases many more times than we would like [...]