Life-WiP: Encouraging My Husband

My site had the warning for malware on it a few days ago. I had it checked out and there is no malware on my computer. Google said it might take a few days for the message to stop popping up, so that is why this post is delayed.


My life is a work-in-progress, hence Life-WiP. Every few weeks I'll share what I've been learning. I want to hear from you, too, so there will always be a question at the end for you to comment on life lessons that you've learned. This way, you can learn a bit about me and I about you.

As most of you know, my husband left his job as an overseas Christian school principal to start Taiwan Sunshine, a nonprofit organization for parents with special needs children. We've moved apartments, we've juggled the new budget, we've gotten two of the kids in school, and I'm working on starting to homeschool Jie Jie. 


Maybe many of you know this already, but starting an organization is S.L.O.W. Daily progress is just not visible. The whole experience can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating at times. We are both being stretched and challenged in ways we never imagined, but stretching and growing isn't a bad thing, just sometimes a bit painful in the process, right?


A few weeks ago I was convicted of my attitude. It wasn't Christ-like and loving. I was holding grudges and frustrated towards my husband. I apologized to him, of course.  Later that morning as I was having coffee with a good friend, I shared with her my conviction. She was great. She didn't mock me, she didn't scold me, and she didn't water down my conviction. Instead she challenged me. Challenged me to encourage him. I agreed that I could do that. I like to encourage people.


One day later, I was invited on Facebook by another friend who lives in the US to join her in the 30-Day Encourage Your Husband Challenge. She honestly had no idea of my conviction. I laughed with God and told him that I had gotten the clue. I joined and then invited my coffee drinking friend to participate with me. 


What I've learned so far:
1. I'm HORRIBLE at encouraging my husband! Seriously, horrible! Why is it that? 
2. That there is hope for me. I have improved from when I first started. Whew!
3. That encouragement can be so creative. I don't always have to say something, I can just be quiet. Sometimes a quiet mouth is better. Other ideas have been to make him his favorite iced coffee drink, take the girls away so he can have some quiet time, and watch a TV show with him. 




How about you? If you are married, what are someways you have encouraged your spouse recently? If you are not married, tell me your ideas anyway...I know you have ideas about encouraging others. 


*photo by Nationaal Archief from flicker

Life-WiP: Lesson of Slowing Down

 My life is a work-in-progress, hence Life-WiP.  Every few weeks I'll share about my life and what I've been learning. I want to hear from you, too, so there will always be a question at the end for you to comment on life lessons you've learned. In this way, you can learn a bit about me and I about you. 

A little over a month ago a friend shared her testimony at church about how God had used her time in the hospital to teach her about slowing life down. I sat in my chair and nodded in agreement. Yep, that is something I'm trying...I read that book on simplifying life...but not happening right now.

Then, a week later, I ran into a door, literally.  

I won't go into long details, but the door was heavy and swinging. 

I didn't see it and was running inside. 

Door swung out and made a great impact on my forehead.
Large goose egg. Which in Chinese I learned they call that bump a "duck egg".

Mild concussion.

Talk about feeling totally stupid...

I had to slow down dramatically. I was dizzy or light headed most of the time. 

But, I learned a few things about simplifying my life.

1. Simplify house chores. My kids are now old enough to help out, so they've been given a few more weekly chores to do then they previously had.

2. Simplify meals. Cereal for supper is okay once in a while. I'm back to making meal plans, but ones that are not elaborate.
3. Simplify Activities. I'm limiting what I can do in a day. I don't need to do it all, and I need to be okay with that.

It has almost been five weeks, and I'm feeling much better, but I still have to take afternoon naps almost daily. The one thing I will have to remember is to keep up this simple life once I'm back to "normal"...whatever that is.

So, do you live a simple life? What do you do to maintain that simple life?

Life-WiP: Celebrating Marriage

At the end of July we celebrated our 12th anniversary.  I can hardly believe that we have been married that long. It just doesn't seem that long ago that we exchanged rings in front of our family and friends and rode off in a horse drawn carriage.


The night of our big 12 we went to a local "steakhouse" with all the kids. First, steakhouse is in quotes because an Asian steakhouse is a bit different than one from the US. But, it is still fairly good.  Second, this is the first time we've celebrated with the kids. I have to admit, it was worth doing.  After the meal we looked at wedding pictures and talked about the day with them. Our son wasn't too interested, or at least acted like he wasn't. But, my younger daughter was eager to hear every detail. Overall, it was nice, but we still wanted to celebrate without our kids.

A few days after our family anniversary celebration I read this blog post from Michael Hyatt. The title, What Really Keeps a Marriage Together?, got me to thinking about my own marriage. If you have the chance, it is a must read for anyone married or planning to get married. But, the answer was simple.
Be. Friends.

After reading, I knew we had to do something fun together for our anniversary. So, we planned a hike.  It would be a simple. One that we could easily do in a day, take a dip in a river, and be home by supper. Unfortunately though, I ran into a swinging door (literally) and had a mild concussion. My caring husband canceled the hike, which led to a bummed wife.
Poor. Husband.
Like a knight in shining armor, he came through with a new plan that was within the city limits including a little nature. Love that guy!




First, we had a late breakfast at our favorite American style restaurant. Then he took me to the Picasso exhibit. Our day ended at the pool getting a little Vitamin D.

It's not that I'm a huge fanatic of art or even know anything about Picasso, but I do enjoy art exhibits. Possibly new information for many people who know me. And if you are wondering, Uwe's not into art at all. This exhibit was good. They have about 60 original pieces on display. If you are a fan of Picasso and his work and you understand Chinese really well, then I recommend this exhibit (and live in Taipei).  The museum had headsets available for listening to more details of each painting and photo. Unfortunately, for us it was only in Chinese.  Again, my husband came through and gave me a personal commentary. I had such a good time with lots of laughing and giggling. If you know my husband, you will know that he makes for an entertaining emcee. Definitely, the highlight of my day.
Laughing is fun.
It is what friends do together.
Friends with my husband.
Not just friends.
Best friends.
Here's hoping that we continue to find fun things to do together on a regular basis to keep that friendship strong.

So, how do you keep up your friendship with your spouse?