Deanna Doss Shrodes

This is Larry and I on our honeymoon in Hawaii, 25 years ago. Look how white I am, even after spending a week there. How did I go to Hawaii and stay this white? It may have had something to do with rarely being out of our hotel room. And look how tired my husband looks! Ha ha! I hope my husband is always a little tired in the right kind of way. Today I want to share with you how you can live a perpetual honeymoon.  Plan for it You'll never achieve what you don't pursue. If you want your marriage to stay hot, plan for it to. Do what it takes to get it there and keep it there. Some people believe this takes all the fun out of it. On the contrary, it lights the spark more.  Prioritize it Women often mention the many roadblocks to romance and sex in their marriage. There are the needs of their children, bills to pay, being tired from working so much, and lots more. The truth is, we often begin to think those things are more important and assign low priority to ...

Recently Larry and I were out on a date. We settled in at the Olive Garden and were enjoying our breadsticks and salad when my cell phone started buzzing incessantly. I should have turned it off beforehand, but I forgot. When looking at the number I noticed it was a client I previously coached. That wasn't strange. Sometimes former clients keep in touch. What was was odd was that they kept calling back every five minutes although they left a message the first time. I began to wonder if they were just butt dialing me but alas, the calls were intentional. A possible dream job opportunity came up and the client wanted me to assist him immediately in preparing for it. The issue was that I had set the time aside for my husband. I quickly sent an email referring him to another certified job coach who was open to help. Instead of respecting that, he continued to call...six more times. With each call he increased the amount he was willing to pay until finally it was topping $600 for ...

Years ago Larry and I brought a youth pastor on staff who couldn't find a house. Rental homes were in short supply in the small town we lived in, so temporarily, we invited their family to move in with us.  No. I. Am. Not. Kidding.  This was their first youth pastorate. They were brand spankin' new in the ministry. At the time we had two kids and so did they. So there were eight of us living in the same home, eight is enough and our house was about 1800 square feet.  We were packed in like sardines but we had some wonderful times. Our families got along splendidly and things like dinner time were especially meaningful. We took turns cooking and we collaborated on other nights and enjoyed great conversations around the table. We played games with the kids. Laundry was interesting...oh my ! But we made the best of what could hav e been an uncomfortable s ituation and  we actually have great memories from that time.  The day it all came to an ...

Someone can crochet. That doesn't necessarily mean they should.  Before you do something, make sure it's more than just do-able .    Years ago my husband and I were pastoring a church where a few people were obsessed about starting a building project for a Christian school. These few folks with a personal agenda  would stop at nothing to make this happen. Not gonna lie, it got UGLY. My husband often said to those involved, "I never said we can't build a school. The question is, should we?" More important, what does God want?