Shaping Families

Lasting Marriage

“Most of the things that we—and probably most couples do—that irritate each other or stress the relationship are not the result of people lying awake at night trying to think of ways to stress the marriage. But they’re things we do by rote, from patterns we developed from the way we’ve been programmed in our families of origin.” –Harvey Yoder 

Listen - Transcript - Study Guide

Frog Hollow

Sam Heatwole

When I told Irvin Hottinger where we’d built our house in Frog Hollow, he got a far away look in his eye and a little smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. He said, “My Grandpa Cloyd Hottinger owned the farm across the hill when I was a boy; I spent most of my summers on the place. Used to play in the barn. Broke my arm there. Grandma Daisy told me after I got better it was the best accident she’d ever hoped to see.

BOOKS
Lasting Marriage: The Owner’s Manual by Harvey Yoder with illustrations by the late Lee Eshleman. Harvey Yoder emphasizes areas of relationship maintenance often ignored in other similar books. These include the importance of a solid support network of friends, family, and congregational family; and the need to take seriously Jesus' teaching about a joyful and simple lifestyle.

Frog Hollow Journal  James G. T. Fairfield’s book is a colorful memoir with vividly drawn neighbors, family members, and a community. It is the story of one family’s quest to carve out a more authentic life amid the demands of modern society. Excerpts from the book are read by Fairfield’s son-in-law Sam Heatwole in this edition of “My Turn” on Shaping Families.  

ONLINE 
Family Life Resource Center – a counseling agency where Harvey is a licensed professional counselor, focusing especially on family issues, from a Christian perspective.

Community Marriage Policy (CMP) is a research proven, effective plan whereby local clergy sign a covenant agreeing not to marry any couple who has not had a specified, substantial amount of pre-marital counseling.

HarvSpot Blog – Harvey Yoder’s blog on faith, life, family, spirituality, relationships, values, peace and social justice, updated frequently. 

Marriage Mentors – A movement whereby young or engaged couples are paired with more experienced couples to learn how to make the most of marriage.

Marriage Savers – Preparing, Strengthening and Restoring Marriages 

BOOKS
Marriage Savers: Helping your Friends and Family Avoid Divorce, by Michael J. McManus. Zondervan, 1995.

As Long as We Both Shall Live: Experiencing the Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, by Dr. Gary Smalley. Regal, 2009.

In for the Payoff

Burton Buller

Popular culture is largely built on representations of relationships. Conflicts that make great movies very often depend on the relational ineptitude of their characters. Judging from such representations, one would come to the conclusion that relationships are by their very nature transitory affairs. Few depend on long-term relationships for their story lines.

What happens when a mother is incarcerated and leaves children behind? Next week we speak with Camilla, whose daughter is incarcerated and has left four children on the outside.

Easy Punch

Here is a recipe for a delicious punch to refresh hot summer days using just three ingredients. We served this punch at an open house this past Friday afternoon for MennoMedia, the parent agency for Shaping Families. We hope you’ll enjoy it too!

• Shaping Families Update - May 12
• Shaping Families Update - May 5
• Shaping Families Update - April 28
• Shaping Families Update - April 21

The Shaping Families free offer from this week’s program is no longer available. Visit our online store at www.MennoMedia.org/store if you would like to purchase the item offered. Some items are not offered on the store.