Sometimes it feels like you are going it alone. Life can be hard. Mothering children is definitely hard. The authors of the devotions in this booklet know hard and they know Jesus. They have experienced the loneliness, the exhaustion and the fear about what the future will hold. They have felt isolated as they raised their children.
They wrote these words and picked out Scripture passages to help keep your eyes fixed on Jesus in the midst of the challenges of raising children. These authors are your Cloud of Witnesses (Heb. 12:1–2). You have others in your Cloud of Witnesses; go to church and meet them there.
The words in this booklet are written for you, anticipating the circumstances and emotions you might experience day in and day out. There are other very important words written for you. God gives you the Holy Scriptures, the very Word of God — the Bible — so that you can know His Son. We pray that reading these devotions increases your eagerness to be among the Church, receiving His Means of Grace, the Word of God and the Sacraments.
God fashions marriage so a man and woman learn to be true to each other. Through marriage, God brings us into relation with one who is different but who also reflects back something of the truth of our own nature. That image is the bold and daring vision we have to offer the world.
Then Comes Marriage
Marriage is a blessing, a gift from the God who created us. In holy matrimony, bride and groom vow to remain faithful “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” The sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage go hand in hand.
The Mystery of Marriage
This article is a summary of the theology of marriage that can serve as a foundation for evaluating the implications of reproductive technologies from a Christian perspective.
The APA Does It Again
Psychologists who say fathers are not necessary prove the limits of social science.
Ten Commandments for Healthy Marital Communication
Couples should remember to continuously fine-tune their communication skills. Doing so will enhance a good marriage and stabilize a rocky one. Effective communication can mean the difference between a lasting, quality relationship and a lifeless marriage or a divorce.
Surrogate Motherhood: A Clerical Case
The whole point of marriage as a paradigm of God’s relationship with His people is to illustrate the oneness of what we are given in marriage and in the gift of a child as its outcome. Careless sentimentality in reproductive ethics erases this message of God to us.
Marriage, Life and Family: Reflecting the Holy Trinity
The Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) created and gave gifts reflecting Himself, especially the gifts of marriage, life, and family. As the Holy Trinity is the unity of three, so also marriage, life, and family form a unity of three that echoes the reality of God. This is our starting point.
Make Yours a Stock Market Marriage
Like the stock market, marriages have their ups and downs. Knowing that and staying the course increases your chance of success in either.
Living Together Before Marriage
There is something in the issue of “living together” that is uniquely disturbing, especially on the part of Christians, simply because it mimics, but does not honor, marriage. Indeed, the arrangement violates the very meaning, substance, and institution of marriage.
Getting Closer As A Couple
Married couples, for various reasons, may drift apart. The vitality and sparkle that used to characterize their relationship is gone. They didn’t plan it. It just happened — subtly, slowly, silently. However, there is good news. Christian couples can break through emotional distance to revive their relationships
Confronting Cohabitation
In a time when so many people make the mistake of cohabitation, the church has the opportunity to proclaim the hope and promise that are ours through faith in Jesus Christ. The power that raised Christ back to life is the power that brings new life and new possibilities.
Important Steps to Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Important Steps to Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
