Sibling Rivalry

It's Friday in the Laffoon house and that means Trash day! Torrey and Grace dutifully trudge around the house doing the trash.

Inevitably the chore "requires" the proper amount of fussing and fuming. Today it was "who's turn it was to hold the bag!" Siblings can fight over the silliest things!

So then it hits me that often as married couples we act more like siblings than like married adults! Why is it that we fight and bicker over the silliest of issues. Who gets the last cup of coffee, who makes the bed, yada yada...you get the point.

Laura and I from time to time have to stop in the middle of a disagreement and ask...are we acting more like husband and wife or brother and sister? EEEEck!

How about you?

Phoenix PHUNN!

We just arrived home from our Fifth Celebrate Your Marriage event in Phoenix Arizona. Living up to it's reputation we arrived on Thursday to 110 degree heat. By Saturday it had cooled off to a balmy 99! The locals were in Heaven we still thought it felt like...well you get the picture.

Phoenix is always a very fun stop for us as we see old friends and make new. The Arizona Biltmore and Spa is a perfect setting for a romantic getaway and the service is supreme.

Eric and Jennifer Garcia, Co-founders of AMFM (Association of Marriage and Family Ministries) hit the ball out of the park on Saturday morning. Eric and Jennifer are a great couple who really "GET" marriage ministry. Please check out their website and the great resource they provide!

Thor Ramsey is quickly becoming one of our favorite comedian/speakers. Friday night he set the table for a fantastic Ultimate Date Night and Saturday gave the best "ONE MINUTE MARRIAGE SEMINAR" in the midst of his presentation. Thor's take on having a successful marriage? Two ingredients:
1) Talk 2) Sex
Simple, but TRUE...there's your homework~

Have a Blessed Day!

Jay

A marriage funny!

Television is a wind down time for us here at the Laffoon house! We all like, what my dad used to call, "the idiot box"! Last night we were watching a " stupid sitcom". Even though we try to rationalize our viewing of these shows by calling then stupid and pretending we don't really learn anything.....last night we did!

A show you should watch is called "Rules of Engagement". It is a hilarious show about marriage! The beginning of the show displayed this saying and we thought it so true and funny that we would pass it on to you!

" When you are single you are exactly as happy as you are. When you are married you can only be as happy as the least happy person in the relationship."


We realized how true this statement is! I know that when Jay is not happy, I find it hard to be happy! And he would not dare be happy when I am not happy!

To loving your spouse and being happy!
Laura

Rainy Days and Mondays...

Do you remember the song by the Carpenters..."Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down."? Today is BOTH a rainy day and a Monday here in Alma, but it sure doesn't have ME down. Why? couple of reasons... 1) We need the rain desparately here in Mid-Michigan and 2) I have WAY TOO MUCH WORK to do. So if it was sunny I'd be dreaming of chasing the little white ball around...now that is completely out of the question! Whew~

We have SO much going on right now:
a)Just got back from a great workshop in St. Louis at Twin Rivers Worship Center Pastor Larry Ridenour and his crew did a great job of putting together a wonderful weekend.
b) Our Celebrate Your Marriage Conference in Phoenix starts this Friday.
c) Final Page proofs for our new book The Spark are due next Tuesday.
d) Plus speaking engagements, Coaching weekend prep
e) Finding new funding opportunities to help Celebrate impact more couples for Christ!

Whew~

Thanks for letting me vent! Pray for us as we walk forward through these tremendous opportunities.

Blessings~

Jay

Mother and daughter

Well tomorrow is the big day! Grace and I head off to Grand Hotel for our big mother daughter trip! Here is the deal...early on in our parenting life,Jay and I decided that before the kids were to get "sex ed" in school we would take them on a special trip and give them the info! Grace is entering 5th grade and in our public school system that is when they get "sex ed"!! 5th grade!

Anyway, so she and I head off tomorrow. She is quite excited. We got our nails done this weekend in prep for our time at Grand. She is reading a book about modesty and loving it. The book talks about the power that women have and she loves that! She is very excited and really sees this as her gateway to "being grown up"! Personally, knowing Grace, I think she is going to gross out!

Well, have a great day,and if you think about it, say a prayer for our time together!

Stranded in SCRANTON~~~

Wednesday I received a 4:30 am wake up call in order to make my 6am flight home from Scranton, PA where I had done chapel for the Nationwide Tour. Everything was going smoothly...easy exit for gas for the rental car...no line at security...pilots and flight crew on duty...EXIT row seat with no one beside me...THEN...the pilot says over the intercom..."We're having electrical difficulties which we cannot fix, you will all have to de-plane and find another way home." YIKES!

I pulled out my cell phone speed dialed NWA. They got me on a US Air flight leaving Scranton at 9:15 through Philly that would get me home a mere 7 hours late. Oh well could be worse.

My 9:15 US Air flight was delayed due to weather in Philly...trying to keep my cool, I heard a page in the airport for the pilot of my original flight to return to the gate. I thought "maybe they've fixed the plane"...strode down to the gate and found that yes they had, and this plane was about to leave and "ferry" back to Detroit with no one on it!

I asked if I could get on it, and a few minutes later found myself with 2 that's right 2 other passengers on a direct "private" Northwest airlines plane back to DTW! The flight attendant just kept laughing as she had never been on a plane with only 3 passengers!

It was a small miracle, but a fun one none the less. I arrived home just a couple hours late and with out the headache of connecting through Philly! Thank the Lord for small miracles EVERYDAY~

Blessings~

Jay

The tour

Hello all~Jay is in Scranton, PA today fulfilling his duties as the chaplin on the PGA Nationwide Tour. Over the past several years, many of you have asked about the tour and what it is like. You can check it out at usatoday.com. Here is the link that will get you more insight into the life of a professional golfer. Nationwide Tour

Have a great day!

Celebrate Champs!

It is here! The Celebrate Champs website is up and running. You gotta check it out...I just spent about an hour on it, navigating around it and having fun! It is a place we can connect as people who believe in marriage. We want to encourage each other, post news about our lives, ask questions, etc. As I navigated around the site I realized that I could not be afraid to just click on a button even if I did not know what it was for! I really think this is going to be the gathering place for married people!

Check it out!