This morning when Scott was on his way out the door to work, he was telling the kids goodbye. Judah was crawling along the couch, and got to the end where Scott and my Bibles were. Judah grabbed for one, and Scott said, "Judah, don't touch the Bible". Over the years, we've told both Olivia and Judah that. "Don't touch our Bible". Olivia has a habit of writing/coloring in them, and Judah loves to destroy anything paper. Most parents say the phrase, "Don't touch that" without even realizing it a lot of the time. "Don't touch that glass." "Don't touch the TV." "Don't touch those papers." But this morning, as Scott gave warning to Judah, it made me think. We don't want our kids to grow up having never opened and eventually read a Bible. Now sure, that's not what Scott meant by telling Judah "No", but I began to think about it.  Scott, being a pastor, does a lot of his reading and st

Today, my awesome hubby decided to plan a special day for all of us together. He decided to take us on the street car, and old street car from Japan, that goes across the high level bridge over the river that runs through our city. It makes a couple of stops along the way, and will pick you back up after you get off and walk around. It was a great day. We got off at a stop downtown and walked around an area we hadn't walked around before, then headed over to the government grounds where they have fountains and parks. It was so enjoyable to sit in the shade and watch our kids play. I've lived here for 2 years and never been on the street car before. It was a lot of fun! I love family date days! Especially those where we can be outside enjoying the weather together! Here are some pictures from our day together.

If you're a man, and you're married. Consider asking your wife these questions every year and then discussing with her the answers she gives you. 1. What could I do to make you feel more loved? 2. What could I do to make you feel more respected? 3. What could I do to make you feel more understood? 4. What could I do to make you more secure? 5. What can I do to make you feel more confident in our future direction? 6. What attribute would you like me to develop? 7. What attribute would you like me to help you develop? 8. What achievement in my life would bring you greatest joy? 9. What would indicate to you that I really desire to be more Christ like? 10. What mutual goal would you like to see us accomplish? Optional: Have I overlooked any question you would like for me to ask?

If you're on twitter a must-follow is @themarriagebed. I read a tweet from them re-tweeted by one of Scott and my sister, Megan's teachers at Hillsong, and I was hooked. They post some amazing marital advice and many times articles that are SO helpful. This was one of those articles. It's from www.familylife.com . Another helpful website I suggest investing in! Here goes. 1. Do you feel I properly understand the goals that God has placed in your heart? How can I help you achieve them? 2. What are some things I can do to regularly show you just how satisfied I am with you as my husband and the leader of our home? 3. Is there anything I am doing or failing to do that seems to send a signal that I do not honor you or your leadership in our home? 4. Is there anything I can change to make our home a place where you feel more satisfied and comfortable? 5. Are there any big dreams in your heart that you have been hesitant to share with me| How can I help you fulfil them? 6

I decided to write about one of the things I LOVE today, and that's the season of Fall! I can't get it off my mind lately. I've always loved this time of year. Fall means a lot of things to me: cool weather, scented candles, carving pumpkins, college football, changing leaves, camping, Halloween, and my birthday! I love jeans and sweatshirt weather! Growing up, this was my favorite time of the year to play soccer. Camping with my family was the best. We were blessed to get to travel a lot, and when we would my Dad had a famous saying, "Look at the colors!" It would drive my sister and I crazy to hear him say that over and over on a drive through the mountains, but I really began to appreciate the things he did! Unfortunately, here in this part of Canada, our season of Fall is very short. BUT, I'm praying this year that God would give us a longer, more beautiful season, and that I'd enjoy every minute of it instead of worrying about the winter that follo

I read this post from Pastor Pete Wilson, out of Nashville, TN, and auther of "Plan B" and thought it definitely deserved to be shared. There are a lot of enemies to community out there, but maybe none greater than the consumer mentality. Skye Jethani has a new book coming out soon entitled  With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God . In the book he says, Consumerism is a supremely narcissistic worldview in which everything’s value is determined by it’s usefulness to me.  I stand at the center while everything and everyone orbits around me. Sound familiar to you at all?  While the consumer mentality may fuel our economy it doesn’t do anything positive for the community God wants to form in our life. Consumerism in our relationships can look like this: When my husband no longer meets my needs I discard him and get a new relationship. When my friends no longer stroke my ego I discard them and get a new group of friends. When my church doesn’t meet my needs I’ll leave it an

Daddy Dates. Mommy Dates. They're incredibly anticipated in the Wright household. Once a week, or at least twice a month, Scott takes Olivia on what we call a "Daddy Date". He usually plans the date, and they go somewhere for a couple of hours for alone time with just the two of them. We first read about these on a blog from Pastor Ed Young and loved the idea! I think Scott first started doing them with Olivia when I was pregnant with Judah. We knew things were going to soon change in our house. Our "princess" and only child was going to go from the center of attention to having to share that spotlight with a new baby! We desperately wanted to start implementing special time with just her and Scott, and on other occasions just her and me (Mommy Dates). If you have kids you know how important quality time together is. I would encourage anyone not already doing so to pull out your calendar and start planning some quality, alone time together with your child. Ol

Food for thought. Who came up with that? What does it mean anyway? Well, it sounded good for this random thought I wanted to post, so we're going with it: Food for Thought. I just finished reading a post on my best friend's blog about a book she's reading, "The Power of a Praying Life". Stormie Omartian has several of these books based on different topics. I have "The Power of a Praying Parent" and from what I've read, it's going to be life-changing for my family when I finish and start implementing what I learn. My friend, Morgan posted about the 1st chapter, and listed some of the names we know God as. There was a Scripture reference for each name, and I decided to go through and read them all. It was so encouraging for me. She did a fabulous job in writing her thoughts on what she has read so far. And, it got me thinking.  Back when Scott and I were dating long distance (him in Australia and me in Georgia) I was struggling spiritually with

So today I just feel like writing an "easy" post and thought I'd brag about my kids a little! I just got done putting Judah (9months) down for his morning nap. Poor guy, he was exhausted. Took him up to his nursery, and rocked him for a couple minutes, but he got the hiccups! He was so tired, that didn't stop him from falling asleep. I smiled, and remembered back to when I was pregnant with him. He got the hiccups ALL the time!! It was the funniest feeling, especially in the night while I would try to sleep. It was one of those flashback memories most moms get about their kids. Seriously, is he really about to turn 1 at the end of October? Where has the time gone?! This past year has been one of the best yet! I've loved being a mom again, and God has continually blessed my sweet family! Olivia (5) is busy getting ready for school to start next month. By this, I mean packing and unpacking her new backpack. We're not talking about one of those mid-size, cute

 Many of you that know I'm married to a movie addict. He could watch a movie every night if I wanted to! Last night we decided on "Brothers" with Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman. It's about a husband (with 2 little girls) who's a Marine, goes off to Afghanistan, gets shot out of his helicopter, and held in a cave somewhere. Meanwhile, back home everyone thinks he's dead, they have the funeral, etc, etc. Enter the Marine's brother. He takes care of his nieces and sister-in-law until they start having feelings for each other. Well, not really feelings, they just come to each other in loneliness and weakness, and kiss. Then, the Marine in Afghanistan escapes and comes home (totally changed of course because of what he's seen-and done). Think Pearl Harbor.  Now, there are a ton of war movies out there, and the number of movies focused on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but for some reason this one got to me in a different way. I'

When I started this blog yesterday, I asked myself how frequently is enough to write here. At first, I thought once or twice a week would be enough. Then, I decided if I committed to posting each morning after my quiet time with God, that I would be more likely to achieve my goals for this blog. Clearing my head, recording what God is speaking to me, and maybe even being of some help to others. So, this morning, I pray to God, open my Bible, and decide to flip to Psalm 14. Why Psalm 14? Because today is August 14. Sometimes if I'm not already deep into a story in the Bible, I will just flip to the Psalm that coordinates with the day of the month. I don't know, sometimes God speaks to me that way. This morning He definitely made his word clear. I've prayed for wisdom lately. I wrote a little about my "list-making habits" in my first post, but it goes beyond that. I'm a planner by nature. I think many women are. We like to have "control". Or what w

I'm not usually one to make specific New Years Resolutions each year. I'm not sure if it's because I usually don't follow through with them or if I'm just not motivated enough to actually sit down and highlight some things in my life I'd like to START or STOP doing. However, I know I fall victim to the thought of "oh, I'll wait til the beginning of a new day, week, month, or year to start...." In this case, I don't want to wait until January comes around again to start a new habit. This year has already flown by too quickly.  My son will be 1 soon, and not long after my daughter turns 6 (although many days it feels like 16). So if I were a "resolution-making" type of person, this would be it. I have had so many ideas/thoughts/goals/plans in the last year that I've put to the side for another time, another day that I fear they're beginning to collect dust.  I love to write. I always have. I remember growing up and loving to