{"id":1093,"date":"2010-09-09T21:17:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T21:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/"},"modified":"2015-03-12T02:36:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T02:36:55","slug":"day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/","title":{"rendered":"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">I am grateful every day for a husband with the same goals, similar motivation, identical work ethic, consistent parenting methods, and deep faith. I know this isn\u2019t always the case\u2014and it obviously isn\u2019t impossible to keep motivated in this parenting endeavor as a single parent. There are people everywhere doing it. And I believe that God gives the grace for each situation when it is needed; thus, I can\u2019t imagine doing what single parents do, but then I\u2019m not in that scenario either. <\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">If you are a married Christian parent with a spouse who also wants to do the hard work of Christian parenting, regardless of the difficulties you face, you are very blessed indeed. There are a couple of specific areas in marriage that have helped us to keep motivated:<\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">1. Be one in your marriage, as well as in your parenting. Ray and I are seldom unmotivated or discouraged at the same time. Thank the Lord! We need each other desperately in order to keep the momentum to finish this parenting race with our last three \u201clittle boys\u201d! We will discuss Christian marriage more thoroughly this fall and especially next year in honor of our thirtieth wedding anniversary. In the area of motivation, though, just knowing that someone is there with you, embracing the same goals and methodology, is a huge motivator. Talk about every aspect of parenting all the time. When one is down, the other can motivate and encourage. And vice versa. <\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">2. Do not view the husband as the breadwinner and the wife as the child raiser. We are both parents\u2014and we are in this thing together. One of the major downfalls of so much teaching on husband and wife roles in the conservative church, to us, has been the whole idea that the husband is the \u201chead\u201d and the \u201cbreadwinner\u201d and the wife is the \u201csubordinate\u201d and the \u201cchild raiser.\u201d Yes, the Bible does teach that a man is to be the head of the home\u2014but why? He is to be the head of the home to serve and love his family as Christ loved the church\u2014not to be the boss. With the emphasis on the head and breadwinning aspects of marriage, the husband is often thought of us above parenting\u2014or too busy making a living to parent. If a wife is a homemaker, her job is homemaking. However, parenting is not part of the job description of the homemaker. Parenting is part of the job description of the parents, plural. I am so grateful that we were taught about the servant-leadership required of the husband to truly \u201clove as Christ loved the church.\u201d Ray has always considered us co-parents, and, yes, even co-homeschoolers. Teaching, training, talking, disciplining\u2026these are both the husband\u2019s and wife\u2019s responsibilities when they have children\u2014and should not be relegated to the wife alone. It is difficult for a mother to stay motivated in her parenting endeavor if she feels that she is doing it alone. Husbands, if you want to help your wife stay motivated in her parenting, co-parent with her.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">More motivating tips tomorrow. I wish I could just reach into every reader\u2019s heart and give you each a huge dose of motivation\u2014along with perseverance, long-term visualization, hope, joy, love, patience, wisdom\u2014all the things I have felt so needy for in my parenting. God bless you all.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am grateful every day for a husband with the same goals, similar motivation, identical work ethic, consistent parenting methods, and deep faith. I know this isn\u2019t always the case\u2014and it obviously isn\u2019t impossible to keep motivated in this parenting endeavor as a single parent. There are people everywhere doing it. And I believe that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[278,277,283,9,96,310,368],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.5.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am grateful every day for a husband with the same goals, similar motivation, identical work ethic, consistent parenting methods, and deep faith. I know this isn\u2019t always the case\u2014and it obviously isn\u2019t impossible to keep motivated in this parenting endeavor as a single parent. There are people everywhere doing it. And I believe that [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-09T21:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-12T02:36:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Donna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/\",\"name\":\"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-09T21:17:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-12T02:36:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/\",\"name\":\"Character Ink\",\"description\":\"Home of the Language Lady &amp; Cottage Classes!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64\",\"name\":\"Donna\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Donna\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/author\/cqlalady\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink","og_description":"I am grateful every day for a husband with the same goals, similar motivation, identical work ethic, consistent parenting methods, and deep faith. I know this isn\u2019t always the case\u2014and it obviously isn\u2019t impossible to keep motivated in this parenting endeavor as a single parent. There are people everywhere doing it. And I believe that [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/","og_site_name":"Character Ink","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2010-09-09T21:17:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-12T02:36:55+00:00","author":"Donna","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Donna","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/","url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/","name":"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse - Character Ink","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-09T21:17:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-12T02:36:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-233-keeping-motivated-part-iii-of-v-motivated-with-your-spouse\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"day 233: keeping motivated part iii of v\u2014motivated with your spouse"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/","name":"Character Ink","description":"Home of the Language Lady &amp; Cottage Classes!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64","name":"Donna","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Donna"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks"],"url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/author\/cqlalady\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1093"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}