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Upcoming
Events
Secrets for Successful
Marriage
January 10 & 17, 2009
March 7 & 14,
2009
April 18 & 25,
2009
June 6 & 13,
2009
Cost: $100 per
couple
Register online or call
616.455.5279
A weekly marriage prep
class for couples marrying in a court
setting
Dec. 13 &
27, 8:30am-12:30pm
Dec. 16, 6-10pm
Jan. 10 & 24 , 8:30am-12:30pm
Call 616.455.5279 to
register
The Third Option
A bi-weekly marriage
program covering key topics and building skills for
success
Dec. 4 &
18
Thornapple Covenant
Church
6:30 -
8:30pm
Cost:
FREE
Childcare
provided
Call
616.363.5078
Grand Rapids Christian Parenting Conference
Annual conference to encourage and
equip parents with a variety of parenting
tools. Keynote speaker is Teri DeBoer, followed by 12
tool-building breakout
sessions.
Feb. 21, 2009
8:30am - noon
Cost: Free
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What your kids really want for Christmas...
more time with dad!
From the National Fatherhood
Initiative...
For 10 ways to be a better dad, click here.
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Never worry about the size
of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are
all 30 feet tall.
Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of
Christmas
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More
Than Surviving the
Season
7 tips
for managing stress and making the most of the
holidays
So it's that time of year again, and you're
dreading the busyness, lines at the mall, lack of
funds and dealing with family members' issues
again. Or maybe you're feeling left out and
lonely, like everyone's having a party and you weren't
invited. Either way there are a lot of people
feeling what you're feeling. Many people are
especially feeling stressed and depressed this year
because of the economy, as well as the usual
recurrence of family conflicts and anniversaries of
losses. With these stressors and triggers in
mind, we can all use a few tips (and online resources
below) to help make it through the holidays this time
around:
1. Focus on what's
important.
What do you want to
emphasize this season? Starting with a plan that
puts your priorities in order helps you and your
family focus on the things that matter most to
you. Whether it's Christmas, Kwanzaa, or
Hanukkah that you celebrate, there's a reason for the
season you can embrace that isn't focused on monetary
gifts.
Putting your emphasis on
gratitude and connecting with others can help you feel
more like you're living out your values and less like
you're caught in a giant advertising vortex. If
you're feeling disconnected and alone, take a chance
and volunteer some time helping others. It gets
you outside of yourself and helps you make connections
at the same
time.
2. Have a
plan.
Having a plan will make a
big difference in your ability to handle holiday
stressors this season whether there's not enough of
you to go around or you have too much time on your
hands. Having a plan puts you back in the
driver's seat of your life, and gives you a chance to
live out your priorities and values. Listing
them helps you stay focused and not feel so
overwhelmed. Remember to build some flexibility
into your plan just in case a few curveballs get
thrown your way. With that in mind, give some
thought to the following
questions:
- What are
your top priorities this
season?
- How do you want
to spend your time?
- How
do you want to spend your money?
- What
is plan B?
For 5
more tips from Dr. Ryan Jaarsma, click here. |
Why Is Christmas So Hard on
Marriages?
Marriage
expert Dr. Harley writes about how to communicate with
your partner while making a multitude of holiday
decisions
Christmas is a
time of year when many decisions must be made: what
cards to mail and gifts to buy (and wrap) for each
person on your Christmas list (especially your
spouse); how and when to decorate your Christmas tree
and home; what to serve and who to invite to your home
for Christmas; where to spend Christmas eve, and
Christmas day; and, how to pay for it all. These are
but a few of the decisions that put enormous pressure
on most families this time of year.
The strength of a marriage is
tested when decisions must be made. If a husband and
wife have learned to discuss each issue with respect
for each other's perspectives, avoiding anger,
disrespect or demands, Christmas decisions draw them
together and increase their love for each other.
That's because their decisions take the feelings of
both of them into account simultaneously. They create
a Christmas that is enjoyable for the entire
family.
But in many marriages,
conflicts are not resolved with mutual consideration.
Instead, husbands and wives try to force decisions on
each other without taking each other's feelings into
account. That leads to a Christmas filled with
resentment and unhappiness...
A typical conflict is time
management when there are so many things to do. Lights
on the house, setting up and decorating the Christmas
tree, Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts, mailing
Christmas cards, planning meals ... there is an
endless array of activities that take time -- lots of
time. And it's not as if we all get time off from work
to accomplish it. In fact, many companies are busiest
at the end of the year. Children may have time off
from school, but their time off usually gives parents
added responsibility at a time when they are already
overwhelmed.
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10 Christmas Movies That
Showcase Marriage
The holidays can bring a great deal
of stress into a marriage. Here are some movies to
bring both inspiration and cheer and make you smile.
Remember that laughter can give you an endorphin rush
and help release stress.
1. "Miracle on 34th
Street" (1947)
2. "It's a Wonderful
Life" (1946)
3. "One Magic Christmas"
(1985)
4. "The Christmas Star"
(1986)
5. "National Lampoon's Christmas
Vacation" (1989)
6. "A Christmas Story"
(1983)
7. "The Bishop's Wife"
(1947)
8. "The Preacher's Wife"
(1996)
9. "Jingle All the Way"
(1996)
10. "Christmas With the Kranks"
(2004)
To read brief reviews of the
movies, click
here.
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This email was sent to juliasmilde@comcast.net by ryan.jaarsma@pinerest.org.
Pine Rest Family Institute | 616.455.5279 | 300 68th Street | PO Box 165 | Grand Rapids | MI | 49501