Roland Martinez We’ve all heard the saying, “Your story matters!” It’s true. Every day Tammy and I are inspired in our own life, marriage, and family by the stories people share with us. Our current podcast and blog focus has been on fostering and adoption. We continue to be deeply moved by the authenticity, transparency, and willingness of foster and adoptive families to share their unique journeys with us. We trust you’ve been blessed as well. Hoping to share just a few additional thoughts that might spark the interest in you to share your story. Think Personal:  Embrace the Journey Wha ..read more

I’ve got a dream For the longest time I had a nightly dream of a little boy sitting in a stroller. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see his dark hair. Everyone in the dream was calling him “Beau.” This recurrence led to Chris and I having a serious conversation about adoption. We were already proud parents of our daughter Avonlea, who was a little over a year old at the time.  We started the adoption journey right after Christmas in 2014. With our family present on Christmas Eve night, we participated in a white envelope ceremony. Sharing the news through our letter that we were going ..read more

In our curriculum “Two Becoming One” the three purposes of marriage are taught. #1. Reflect His image on earth. #2. Reproduce a Godly heritage. #3. Reign in spiritual warfare. In today’s blog, we are going to discuss the second purpose, reproducing a Godly heritage. This does not just mean our own biological children, but includes adoption, fostering and discipling those that God puts in our path.  What is Discipleship? If you have ever watched Rocky or Karate Kid, you have watched someone's discipleship taking place before your eyes. You saw Mickey work with Rocky Balboa and you watched ..read more

Gio Llerena When it comes to intimacy within a marriage, most people think of just physical intimacy.  Our culture has really conditioned us to think this way through social media, movies, books, etc. It has missed a huge part of a holistic approach towards intimacy.  Recently our CFL team interviewed Carolina Ferrer on our Christian Family Life podcast regarding mental health and it affects intimacy.  Here is the link to the podcast for you to listen to:  https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/christianfamilylife/episodes/Marital-Intimacy-Is-Deeper-Than-Physical-e2k6vrk C ..read more

Roland Martinez Deciding to foster or adopt is no small decision. When a couple makes the decision to foster or adopt it is made as a lifelong commitment that will bring great fulfillment to that family. However, like any worthwhile endeavor there will be challenges and trials that will test that couple’s resolve, but never anything so challenging that can’t be overcome. A strong, Christ centered marital relationship can impact the foster and adoption community in many ways, not just being that forever home. A Stable Environment The instability faced by many children in the fostering and adopt ..read more

Roland Martinez What is Joy? Joy as defined by Merriam Webster online, “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: Delight.” What emotions are evoked in you when you think about your marriage?  If JOY isn’t an emotion that would describe how you feel, how do you go about finding JOY?   I remember when Tammy and I went on our first date.  Everything leading up to that evening evoked feelings of excitement, joy, and a little nervousness. Dinner and great conversation expressing our mutual interest in one anoth ..read more

Gray Foshee Understanding Endurance “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”. Romans 5:3 The Greek word for endurance is hypomone meaning to abide under. The three English words patience, steadfast, and endurance can all be traced back to the same Greek word hypomone. In Greg Harris's book The Cup and the Glory he states “Most of us do not seek ‘t ..read more

Dr. Amy Trout Building and maintaining healthy relationships can be challenging. It can be helpful to focus on the three essential components of any relationship: The Self, The Other, and The We. By understanding and nurturing these aspects, you can contribute towards creating strong, fulfilling relationships that reflect God's love. The Self Self-awareness and self-care are crucial for personal growth and the health of your relationships. Paying attention to and caring for yourself physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually is essential to maximizing wellness. Grounding yourself in Go ..read more

Gray Foshee A Society of Instant Gratification  Speed date. Eat fast food. Use the self-checkout lines in grocery stores. "One weekend" diet. Pay extra for overnight shipping. Honk when the light turns green. Speak in half sentences. Start things but don't finish them.  Impatient Nation We become impatient when the drive-thru at McDonalds takes longer than 2 minutes. What about when we go to get gas and we have to wait in line behind someone. God forbid! Or if we are in a check-out at the grocery store and someone gets in front of us and has 15 items in the 10 and under “Speedy” chec ..read more

Shelly Foshee One of the greatest struggles I had early on in my marriage was questioning myself about missing the mark. Did I marry the wrong person? When Gray and I got married, we were pregnant. We came from a pretty legalistic upbringing. The situation we found ourselves in was greatly frowned upon. So as confident as I was that I loved him, there was a lot of pressure for us to get married. “To do the right thing”, as we were told. This opened the door for the enemy to taunt me by thoughts and questions, bringing much doubt into our marriage. This was not a good starting point  for o ..read more