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Why We Stopped Going House to House for the Holidays

We hit a breaking point. We were so tired of rushing from house to house; we had truly begun to dread holidays. It was time to make a change for our family.

WATCH: Hobby Lobby Lights Up Mom Hearts With Viral Christmas Ad

Has Hobby Lobby entered the world of emotionally persuasive holiday short-form cinema? It would certainly seem so! And their Christmas ad effort is 100% geared toward what is undoubtedly their most loyal customer: busy (exhausted, out-of-time) moms.

“This Christmas I Want Food”: What These Foster Kids Want For Christmas Is Heartbreaking

None of them asked for this year’s hottest toy, or another video game to add to their collection. No, the children who filled out these tags listed their “innermost dreams”—things that should be part of everyone’s childhood.

I Love My Husband—But My Expectations Almost Destroyed Our Marriage

Marriage is hard. I’ll be the first to admit all those years of studying relationships in graduate school gave me a wealth of knowledge about how to have a successful marriage but living that knowledge and dealing with those expectations is an entirely different story. My marriage is a constant work in progress — emphasis on work.

My husband and I work really hard at practicing love. Loving each other well takes endless practice; we can both be very selfish people. Most people have a natural tendency toward self-preservation, which is why relationships are so difficult. We are wired to take care of ourselves first; it’s [a] natural instinct. Often, taking care of ourselves comes at the expense of others. Having a loving relationship with someone, especially a spouse, is a constant practice of putting the other person’s needs ahead of your own, which can be quite uncomfortable.

I Had Expectations

I love my husband, but some days I love myself more. Days when I’m busy loving myself, expectations of how he should be treating me and what I think I deserve, start to creep into my thoughts. Instead of greeting the day with an attitude of service, looking for ways in which I can be helpful to him, I meet the day with a list of selfish desires and an attitude of entitlement. With the latter, I am inevitably setting myself up for disappointment, anger, and resentment.

When we had our first child, it became painfully obvious to me how often I lived with a sense of entitlement and a list of expectations. The wonderful world of parenting — and by wonderful I mean crazy hard, insanely frustrating, yet most amazing — brought with it a scorecard I tucked away in my brain. Each time I sacrificed myself for the good of my family, I made a mental note. My husband now owed me.

I got up last night, so he should be the one to wake up with the baby tonight.

I made dinner yesterday, why isn’t he offering to make dinner today?

He went golfing last weekend; it’s my turn to do something fun.

Christine Suhan
Christine Suhanhttp://www.feelingsandfaith.net/
Christine Suhan is a wife, stay at home mother to three wild toddler boys and writer/creator at www.feelingsandfaith.net. She has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and enjoys helping people through openly and honestly sharing her journey of life, recovery, mental illness, marriage, parenting and more. You can also find her on her Facebook page.

Why We Stopped Going House to House for the Holidays

We hit a breaking point. We were so tired of rushing from house to house; we had truly begun to dread holidays. It was time to make a change for our family.

WATCH: Hobby Lobby Lights Up Mom Hearts With Viral Christmas Ad

Has Hobby Lobby entered the world of emotionally persuasive holiday short-form cinema? It would certainly seem so! And their Christmas ad effort is 100% geared toward what is undoubtedly their most loyal customer: busy (exhausted, out-of-time) moms.

“This Christmas I Want Food”: What These Foster Kids Want For Christmas Is Heartbreaking

None of them asked for this year’s hottest toy, or another video game to add to their collection. No, the children who filled out these tags listed their “innermost dreams”—things that should be part of everyone’s childhood.