Marriage Ministry Matters ~ September 2016

Welcome to the CMBA Newsletter!

Ecclesiastes 8:15
Image credit: phanlop88| FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Are you taking time to celebrate your marriage?  When we are in marriage ministry, it is especially important to nurture our own marriages. What are you doing to grow? How do you and your spouse spend time with each other. Are you making sure to have fun together?

In this issue of our monthly newsletter, you will find more information about our October CMBA Blog Challenge, a list of writing ideas for your marriage blog, and an opportunity  to work with a non-profit organization that supports healthy marriages in Iowa.

New Members

The following blogs joined CMBA since our last issue. Please visit their sites and share an encouraging word.

Amanda Davison – Amanda Davison
The Blog of a Forgiven Cheater – Anonymous
Blog Thoughts of Pastor Dave Barringer – Dave Barringer
The reBranded Life – Alex Colón

Please check your listing on the member’s page to make sure that it is accurate and up to date. If it needs to be changed, send an email to Chris at chris@forgivenwife.com.

October Blog Challenge!

The blog challenge this fall is to write a post related to the picture below during the month of October.

Photo by Kate Aldrich
Photo by Kate Aldrich Photography

The rules are:

    1. Your post should relate to the image above.Kate Aldrich Photography
    2. You must give credit to Kate Aldrich Photography, along with a link to her site: http://katealdrichphotography.blogspot.com/. Kate and her husband Brad blog at One Flesh Marriage.
    3. When you’ve published your post, add a link in the comments on this newsletter. Participants will be entered into a drawing to win a marriage, writing, or blogging resource from The Marriage Bed. Meanwhile, be sure to visit the other posts and leave a comment!

If you’d like to add a button to let your readers know that you participated in  CMBA blog challenge, you can use this picture:

2016blogchallenge

How Do I . . . ?

A Month of Marriage Blogging Ideas

By Chris Taylor, The Forgiven Wife

Sometimes it seems that half the battle of blogging is just coming up with a topic to write about. When you’re stuck, do a search for “blog writing prompts,” and you’ll hit the jackpot. Much of what you find can be adapted for writing about marriage.

To make it easier on you, here is one month’s worth of daily blog post ideas.

  1. A food that reminds you of your marriage
  2. Write a love poem for your spouse
  3. Write a post inspired by one of these words: love, faith, hope, freedom
  4. Your favorite spouse in the bible
  5. Your first argument
  6. Your first date
  7. A list of helpful marriage resources
  8. A time you encouraged your spouse
  9. A time you stood together as a team
  10. A time you were encouraged by your spouse
  11. Setting and keeping marriage goals
  12. Something you’ve observed in someone else’s marriage
  13. Something you’ve seen a couple get right in their marriage
  14. Supporting your spouse’s growth
  15. Apply a bible verse to marriage
  16. Dealing with temptation in your marriage
  17. How marriage is like a ____ (tree, truck, mailbox, fork, lamp, highway, etc.)
  18. How to recharge with your spouse
  19. How you and your spouse met
  20. Interview with a newly married couple
  21. 3 steps to take when you encounter ___ in your marriage (jealousy, breach of trust, infidelity, refusal to be intimate)
  22. 3 things you can do to make ____ better (sex, prayers, dates, parenting, mornings, etc.)
  23. 5 ways you can apologize to your spouse
  24. 6 ways you can serve others in your marriage
  25. Interview with a seasoned married couple
  26. One thing you regret that you’ve done in your marriage
  27. Review of a marriage book
  28. The best gift you gave your spouse
  29. The best gift your spouse gave you
  30. What I would tell my married-seven-years self about marriage at 25 years
  31. Working on yourself as a spouse

Social Media

Are you on social media? Follow CMBA!

Looking for Work in Iowa?

If you are a Christian marriage blogger who resides in Iowa and might
be interested in this opportunity, contact the individual below.   Compensation
would be collaboratively determined.
We are at (515) 223-5345 as a faith-based nonprofit organization (501(c)(3) with a
major healthy marriage and relationship education federal grant that serves
Des Moines (central), eastern, and southeastern Iowa. All this can be seen better at our website: www.healthyrelationshipsiowa.org.
The idea here is to drive people to our website for a look-see.
The grant was awarded to the Iowa Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
(501(c)(3), but our project has been branded as: Healthy Relationships Iowa (HRI).
HRI assists participants who attend our short, skills-based workshops in 7
communities with evidence-based curricula, i.e. Prepare/Enrich Group Program
(5 couples) featuring its internationally-acclaimed Couples Assessment (for dating,
engaged and married couples) and “How to Avoid Falling for a Jerk(ette)” for single
and single-again individuals, plus mature high school students. This curriculum
was developed by Pastor/Dr. John Van Epp.
Daryl VanderWilt
 (515) 223-5345

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