BrauchTalk

There are some things that women want to hear. I know a few things that my wife wants to hear from me and I think they can be pretty universal for all women. I guess these will pertain to married couples but I am sure that some of them can cross over to the dating life. Relationships benefit greatly when the right things are said to one another.

B wants to hear me say “I love you.” I think all women in a serious relationship need and want to hear this often. I know it is very important to say it in marriage. Don’t just say it once a day because you feel you need to say it. That will water the phrase down and make it less meaningful. Love is a key word in marriage and in serious relationships. It is nothing to play around with. Men, you have to mean it every time and want to say it. You may need to do some serious soul searching and reflection if you don’t feel like saying it to your wife.

B likes it when I serenade her with a song. This is a funny want that maybe only B wants to hear. She loves it when I make up a song about her or about us that I make up as I go. We laugh and giggle throughout the song. I may take the tune of Amazing Grace and run with that beat and let the thoughts and words flow. We love to have fun together and I feel that is the key. Try it sometime. Make up a funny love song and drop it on your wife when she is least expecting it. I used to do it a lot and I know she misses it and I will do it again.

I like to call B my Wife. When I introduce her, I say “This is my wife, B.” Most of you reading this are saying “Well duh…” right now. This isn’t my point. I know B would love to have me say it like this, “This is my bride, B.” It sounds so neat and elegant. I like to call her “My beautiful babe!” Women need to be reassured that you are still crazy for them even if you don’t always show it out on your sleeves. Men tend to hold emotion inside and protect it. Women wear it on there sleeves, necks, shoes, and so on. They live and breathe emotions. I am going to try and start saying “This is my bride B.” You could add the words wonderful, beautiful, awesome, loving …etc in the phrase. Men that aren’t married could replace the word bride with girlfriend. Introducing your wife/significant other to somebody like this will make her feel loved and know that you truly believe in what you say. Continue reading ‘Things Women Want to Hear’

Marriage can definitely be a good thing, but it requires time and effort from both sides to make it the best it can be. However, many times couples stop doing the small, caring things they used to do while they are dating. In many cases, this puts a marriage on the road for destruction. If you’re finding your marriage is starting to become a little boring or you are getting to the point that you are starting to question your relationship with your spouse, read on! We may have just the cure!

M and I recently went to a marriage class offered at our church titled “Refreshing Your Marriage by Minding the Little Things.” The speaker emphasized over and over again about how important it is to continue to do the small things in a marriage. He compared the small, positive things in marriage to yeast. A very small amount of yeast added to bread will make it rise a tremendous amount. It is the same in marriage. Doing small things for each other to let the other partner know you love them add up quickly! The positive feeling they get when you do something thoughtful for them will grow into other parts of the marriage, and it will become easier for your partner to return their love to you in the same way.

So what exactly are the little things that are so important in a marriage? It is different for each individual. I will give some examples from M and I’s relationship. M always loves it when I have his shirts ironed for work and he doesn’t have to ask me to do it for him. The things I say to him are also important. He likes it when I ask him how his day was, and when I give him compliments about things he has done. On the other hand, I feel the most connected to M when he cuddles with me, or tells me I’m beautiful. I think we can all agree that these actions I have described are very simple and easy to do, yet they are extremely crucial things to have in a marriage. Continue reading ‘Making Your Marriage Better One Action at a Time’

The great oak tree was once a nut that stood its ground.

It’s amazing to me how God puts little things in your life to let you know He’s with you. A couple days ago in my Immunology class, we had a debate about embryonic stem cell research. I was the only person in my class who was against using human embryos for research. Instead of being nervous, I took it as a great opportunity to share my beliefs with the rest of the class.

Being that I was the only person in the class against it, my professor asked me to start the discussion by sharing my beliefs. I was allowed to talk freely for probably 10 minutes on why I thought it wasn’t a good idea to do tests on embryos. On top of that, people were interested and asking me questions about my views. I really felt like it was a great opportunity to take a stand for something, even when I was greatly outnumbered.

The purpose of this post is not to give my reasons for why I don’t agree with embryonic stem cell research. Instead, I want it to help people to speak up for what they believe in, despite how outnumbered they may be or nervous they may feel. I knew that in singling myself out like I did made me an open target to any opposition. I knew that there would be those that thought I was crazy, or stifling a good thing that science could do. I didn’t let that stop me, and I’m so glad. Not only did people get to hear my side of it, but the two people on my lab bench actually decided after the debate that they agreed with my standing, and not the majority. It felt really rewarding to hear that. Continue reading ‘Facing Embryonic Stem Cell Research’