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“The Great Flood of 2016” Will Prove God is Greater | Stacy Hudson | Better Than Newlyweds

August 22, 2016 by Mrs. Hudson

“The Great Flood of 2016” is what they are calling it. Something twists in my gut calling the flood “great”. “The Great Flood of 2016” will prove God is greater. This past week has been one of the most heart wrenching weeks of my life. Countless family and friends had their homes flood here in Louisiana. Most of them do not have flood insurance because they do not live in a flood plain. Many areas that were “never supposed to flood”…flooded. Water was down our street just a third of a mile! Flooding was the last thing I was concerned about…until this past week. I couldn’t sleep because my heart broke for those losing everything. I couldn’t sleep because I was watching the water rise. I couldn’t sleep because I was getting our “Evacuation Kit” prepared. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time… because of Hurricanes though…not floods.

A flood was never expected in my neighborhood. But neighbors less than a half a mile from our home now have their lives in piles on the street. The have stacks of sheet rock and carpet torn out of their house piled up next to their lives. I am trying to do what I can from home to help but feeling “stuck” at home with our 1 year old is hard. My husband has been serving non stop. In the beginning he was rescuing people from houses. Now he is gutting his parent’s house and also neighbor’s houses. We are “one” right? So, he is an extension of me right?… That makes me feel a little better. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He truly has a servant’s heart and I Love him more each day because of it. My parents were able to keep our baby girl one night so hubby and I could go gut his parent’s house for our “date night”. Sounds real romantic right? Oddly enough, there was something romantic about working together to fix what the flood had broken.

Going through a heartbreak together gives us the opportunity to heal together. The keyword being, together. In times of crisis and emotional turmoil be patient and honest with your spouse. Allow your broken hearts to heal together. You are one. Let this experience bring you closer and bind your hearts together in a way that would not be possible otherwise. You will end up with a stronger bond than before and you will see God’s goodness.

Even though this past week has been tough… our resolve here in Louisiana is tougher. I have been so encouraged and inspired by my friends during this time. I want to share with you what God is doing in their lives through this tragedy. God is already working things for their good and the studs aren’t even dry yet! He is faithful and He is in control.

The Lord spared our home from the flood but our small business was flooded. The small private Christian school, Victory Academy-grades pre-k to 8th, my husband graduated from along with our two older children and now praying that our two younger children will graduate from was also flooded. My husband who also serves as a State Representative is helping in rebuilding our community as well. He volunteered to help lead in getting the school up and fully operational as soon as possible. He’s exhausted and overwhelmed as well as humble and grateful that he can help so many. He also spend the first two days after the flood using our small boat to rescue those in the community. He has a heart of gold and serves with passion. I have prayed to The Lord about where He wants me to serve in all this. And I struggle with what He has called me to do because I don’t think is it enough. But then He reminds me that as long as I obey and that I am in His will it is more than enough. So The Lord calls me in all of this to be there for my husband at all times in whatever he needs. He’s out there serving, volunteering, ect for those The Lord places in his path and I am to be there to love, care, encourage, cook, clean, run errands, take care of our children’s needs, to be ready and willing to help him with whatever he ask. I am his wife, his helpmate, his best friend, and dare I say I’m here to serve him. So I’m doing exactly what his vital and necessary during this time. I love my husband there is nothing more precious to me right now then his well being physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and I pray daily that The Lord helps me meet his needs with His help of course. – Julie Ivey

November 18 will mark my 10 year wedding anniversary! Mike and I have have had our share of ups and downs like everyone else in life. Six months after we were married, Mike’s dad passed away. We had three miscarriages before our beautiful daughters were born. Our house flooded with 24 inches of water a week ago. We lost many things but not our faith in God! He has surrounded us with loving friends and family. We have so many more joys than disappointments in our ten years together. Michael Savoie amazes me every day. He is a great father and a loving husband. Our journey together gives me strength to face each new day! I love my husband!!! – Heather Austin Savoie

 

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; 

the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

The Lord gives strength to his people; 

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 29:10,11

I designed this shirt to raise money to help Louisiana flood survivors! If you click “Shirt style” you can pick other styles and colors (including purple!)! Countless family and friends have lost their homes to flooding and do not have flood insurance. All profits will go to help them. Thank you. http://www.bluecotton.com/campaigns/louisianaflood2016

671 August 17, 2016 14.57

Filed Under: Better Than Newlyweds, Date Night, Marriage Monday Tagged With: family, flood, friends, heart, life, louisiana flood, the great flood of 2016

What Our In Home Date Night Looks Like | Stacy Hudson | Better Than Newlyweds

June 6, 2016 by Mrs. Hudson

I am a Date Night Believer! I believe they can change your marriage. We recently started having an in home date night. I believe that even just one date night a month can help you reconnect with your spouse and remind you why you fell in Love with them in the first place! An evening out for a romantic dinner is usually what folks picture when they hear “date night”. I used to picture that too. However, our world has been blessed with a little ball of energy we like to call Sarah and date nights have changed.

Date nights have changed because we can’t just decide at the drop of a hat to go out for that romantic dinner anymore and we are new-ish parents still figuring out that whole “plan ahead” thing. We also don’t really want to spend $50 – $150 every month on Date Night. We would rather save it for a new vehicle or put it towards retirement. ( That sounded way too grown up! 🙂 )  So, what is the solution? When we don’t or can’t go out we have found that an “in home date night” can be romantic too! 

Our “in home date night” usually involves us cooking together, a red box movie, and a fun dessert!

We had an impromptu “in home date night” recently so that meant that our sweet ball of energy was along for the fun! We decided to create an area she could roam free in and we wouldn’t have to worry while cooking or watching our movie. We set up what we like to call the “thunder dome” or what I call the “Sarah dome”! 🙂 

in home date night dome

She bounced from toy to toy like a ball in a pin ball machine! It was great! While she played we were able to cook dinner (checking on her from around the corner a ton) and then also watch our movie! We only had to stop the movie for bottle and diaper change breaks… but for a $1.50 for a movie at home… instead of $20 or so at the theater (not including a babysitter) we will take it! AND I get to be comfy in my pj’s while snuggling on the couch with my hubby… I’ll take that too! A different kind of romantic. 🙂 20160603_181003

Our night was pretty simple. It wasn’t about the food but about the time we spent together. Because we were at home we could be silly in the kitchen cooking together and we could pause the movie when we wanted to talk about the movie. Conversation is an important part of a successful “date night”! On the menu was tacos and cookies for dessert.

Just for fun I picked out special messages from our stash of Taco Bell sauces to go along with our tacos. 🙂 Why waste an opportunity to be sweet!? 

in home date night tacos

in home date night pazookie

We kept the tacos pretty simple but we kicked our cookies up a notch though! 😀

Pazookie anyone? 

What is a Pazookie you ask?! 😀

It is a special sweet treat! Bake some cookies and then put one upside down on a plate. Then plop some icing on the cookie. Add an upright cookie on top of the icing and squish the cookies together! 😀 Enjoy! And for extra fun… add sprinkles! 

While we are on the topic of sweet treats! Let’s take a look at the sweet beginning of “man” and “woman” through creation. 

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”  Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,   “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:18-24

Sometimes my husband calls me “his rib”… at first it was a quirky term of endearment. But now it is sweet. It reminds me that from the beginning God knew. God knew what I would need in a husband and so he created Dwight for me. He also knew what Dwight would need in a wife and created me for him. God didn’t just stop at our needs though He blessed us with many things we didn’t even know we would want in each other! Isn’t it great to have a sweet God like that? 

Pray with me:

I pray today that every husband would “hold fast” to his wife. I pray that husband and wife would operate as one flesh in agreement with His word. I rebuke every scheme of the devil and declare that all his plans to bring division must stop in Jesus’ name. May we rest upon His word and His truth and know that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us. Jesus, help us to stand up and put the devil under our feet where he belongs. Help us to stand up for our marriages and operate as one unit against the enemy. Help us recognize his schemes and submit to you all that we do so that when we resist the devil he must flee! Thank you for who you are God. Help us Love like You Love. Amen. 

Filed Under: Be Romantic, Better Husband, Better Than Newlyweds, Better Wife, Communication is KEY!, Date Night, Marriage Monday Tagged With: cookies, Date Night, in home date night, redbox, tacos

30 MINUTE DATES TO REVIVE YOUR MARRIAGE | Better Than Newlyweds | Stacy Hudson

March 7, 2016 by Mrs. Hudson

When you first met your husband/wife and realized you liked each other… what did you do? Maybe a few of you immediately got married but I have a feeling most of you are like me and you dated. While on dates we focused on each other with the goal of figuring out if this was a forever thing! I am so glad ours was! A list of 30 minute dates to revive your marriage is below and I hope you will use it!

We could sit in a coffee shop for hours and talk. Driving around together was a treat and a chance to talk. Lay on a blanket outside and just look at the stars. Going to the beach and just listening to the waves and gazing into each others eyes was enough….for real. When we went to the movies we would share popcorn and hold hands annnnd while we are talking about going to the movies…

I was so clueless on our first movie date…second date total! We went to see of all movie titles … “The Proposal”… I should have known then right? 😉 Well I had the popcorn in my lap and I was eating it and offering it to him but he didn’t want any. I noticed he kept looking over at me but I didn’t know why. Well, as soon as I put down the popcorn I learned why. He immediately reached over and held my hand! I didn’t mind at all and he still holds my hand… after I put the popcorn down of course!

It is hard to keep dating once married. As much as we try to keep things fresh…. things change. We get into routines. We start to take for granted that we get to see the Love of our lives daily! When we were dating I couldn’t wait for my Love to show up at my house for a visit and I hated it when he had to leave. Time seems to go by faster once married. Dates become less of a priority sometimes and we end up spending more time gazing at our phones than gazing into our Lovers eyes.

I hope these 30 minute date ideas will help you revive your marriage and start dating again!

30 MINUTE DATES TO REVIVE YOUR MARRIAGE

Go to a playground near your house and hit the swings.

Walk there together if it is not too far and talk along the way. If conversation is not easy… discuss what you like about the houses/cars on the street. Anything to get words flowing.

Bring home deluxe ice cream fixings and set up your own ice cream sundae bar.

Have fun shopping together and making sundaes. If you want more fun maybe try to guess and create the perfect sundae for each other! This may seem silly but… isn’t that what we did while dating? Silly things that made us laugh together. I think it is in those moments I really fell in Love.

Turn off the TV and play cards. Get out of your Netflix rut for a more interactive evening. Don’t like cards? Try a favorite (or new!) board game instead.

Don’t get my wrong… I love netflix. BUT I Love my husband more and would gladly turn it off so we could spend 30 minutes hanging out playing cards. This one is not hard as it doesn’t even require you to leave your house! I am pretty sure we all have a pack of cards around the house somewhere and know how to play Battle! Just remember to play nice and the goal is connecting not winning! 😉

Have a picnic in your own backyard. Pack a basket of yummy eats and a blanket, and head out to the coziest space in your backyard.

This one requires you to leave your house…but not you yard! Pack a basket and enjoy some time in the sun together. Put your cell phones IN the picnic basket once you take the food out! This will make it easier to concentrate on each other.

Snuggle on the couch together and watch an episode of a show you both enjoy. 

See,I told you I loved netflix. Most of the sitcoms on netflix at 21 minutes long. So, get some popcorn or another snack, snuggle on the couch and relax together.

 

“when I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go”

SONG OF SOLOMON 3:4

 

Filed Under: Be Romantic, Better Than Newlyweds, Communication is KEY!, Date Night Tagged With: marriage, TV

Read 10 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage | Better Than Newlyweds

May 3, 2014 by Mrs. Hudson

10greatdatesDoing this book with a group at our church has been a great blessing to our marriage. I can also see how it has benefited some of my friends too as I watch their interaction with their spouses.

You don’t need a group to do this–just your spouse. But our church made it easy and fun by providing free childcare (for 2 hours on Sunday evening) at the church so that, when we went for our dates, we could all leave our kids for a couple of hours with some responsible teenagers from our youth group supervised by 1 or 2 single adults. Also, our pastoral staff talked to local businesses near our church letting them know we were doing this to strengthen marriages and inviting them to give us deals since we needed to go to a place close to the church to be back in time for our kids–many business owner’s thought it was great and offered us coupons and even “buy one meal and get one free”!

As a result of doing this, the couples who participated became more invested in one another’s marriages–encouraging each other. Did I mention we had about 35 couples commit to this 10-week marriage builder?! I have noticed more looks of admiration and adoration between spouses going around …

This isn’t a bible study or group discussion really: you meet to view a 5 minute video recap of the chapter you read in preparation for the date. Then you go out! It’s really about building a deeper connection with your spouse by talking about things deeply. The spirit of the book is very non-confrontational so enjoy!
Kim B.
http://www.christianbook.com/great-dates-to-energize-your-marriage/david-arp/9780310210917/pd/0210917

Filed Under: Be Romantic, Better Than Newlyweds, Communication is KEY!, Date Night Tagged With: kids, marriage

Spice Up Your Marriage!

April 18, 2014 by Mrs. Hudson

Think you know your spouse? Try out these questions for a fun date night! 🙂 OR maybe you feel a little lull in your relationship… get back in touch by getting to know one another again! Schedule a time and place… and PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR to reconnect and have some alone time. Even if it is just for an hour! That hour you had to give up something else or leave your kids with the babysitter… will be worth it. And your kids will thank you later for putting your marriage first! SO HAVE FUN!  

Here are 10 suggested questions to try out with your spouse:
1. Tell me one thing that I did this past week that impressed you.

2. What is one thing you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years?

3. What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?

4. Name one person in your life that inspires you to become a better person.

5. What makes you most fulfilled or happiest as a husband/wife?

6. What makes you most fulfilled or happiest as a father/mother?

7. What are you looking forward to the most in the next year?

8. In what area of your spiritual walk would you like to improve on?

9. What do I do that pleases you the most physically?

10. What was your very first impression of me?

via OI: Spice Up Your Marriage! “30 Date Your Husband From Home Questions”.

Filed Under: Communication is KEY!, Date Night Tagged With: kids, life, marriage

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Hi, I’m Stacy!

I am married to the Love of my life... my Prince. We strive daily to have a marriage better than newlyweds. We want to know each other better than when we were first wed. We want to please God by serving each other. Marriage is so important as it represents the relationship between God and His church... we must protect it and fight for ours. Read More…

Good Reads for Your Marriage:

679599: The Love Dare The Love Dare
By Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick
{These are affiliate links but I truly believe these books would add value to your marriage.}

Recent Posts

  • 5 BIBLE VERSES FOR TROUBLED MARRIAGES | Stacy Hudson
  • More than a baby was delivered when I gave birth | Stacy Hudson
  • What I’ve learned Being Married to an Agnostic | Guest Blogger: Ailie Baumann
  • How to Improve Communication in Your Marriage | Stacy Hudson
  • How to Put the Spark Back in Your Marriage | Stacy Hudson

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