Today on The Morning Thing we focused on marriage and the importance of strengthening your spiritual connection. Focus on the Family’s Vice President of Marriage and Family Formation Greg Smalley believes there are tree key experiences  vital to the spiritual connection of marriage. Each one allows you to draw closer to God as a couple.

Read the full article from Focus On the Family, HERE!

Daily disciplines

One study found that couples who shared the same faith, and who regularly attended church services together, reported a higher level of marital satisfaction. And when couples shared religious practices at home, their level of marital satisfaction was even higher (focusonthefamily.com).

Weekly fellowship

Weekly fellowship makes Christian friendships available to your marriage — people committed to building you up through offering encouragement, worshipping in a community, growing spiritually, and helping to strengthen your marriage (focusonthefamily.com).

Annual service adventure

An annual service adventure can help you experience Christ in a new way and can breathe life into your relationship with each other as it intensifies your spiritual intimacy (focusonthefamily.com).

For our Morning Thing Fave 5 we found five Bible Verses to help you on your marriage journey.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?”

Ephesians 5:25-33: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, …”

Matthew 19:4-6 He answered,  “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said,’Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Colossians 3:14: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

For more scriptures on marriage and relationships, click HERE!

Today is a day for the dads! We talked about the important role that dads play in the lives of their children.

According to decades of research “The more involved a dad is, the more successful his children will be. A father’s influence can determine a child’s social life, grades at school, and future achievements,” (parenting.com).

Dads, you can change your child’s life just by being involved!

But, this involvement goes beyond just being present in a child’s life. Dads, this means getting actively involved in all aspects of their life. From everyday activities to playing, protecting and disciplining your children.

Involved dads = Successful children

Almost every study conducted in the social sciences confirms what the Bible teaches — fathers matter. We found an article from thegospelcoalition.com with 25 facts from social science research on the effects of having a father in the home. To read the full article, click HERE!

Read more about the importance of a dad’s involvement in his kid’s lives in the article, Why Kids Need Their Dads.

We also found an article for dads and daughters.  When your daughter faces a difficult day they will always be able to turn to your encouraging words. In order to help you get started, here are 10 things to write in a letter to your daughter. Read full article from allprodad.com, 10 Things to Write in a Letter to Your Daughter.

Kids, don’t forget to show appreciation to the dads in your life by giving them a big hug today!

Daria Swisher and her broth?? give dad a big hug!

Today is Fight Procrastination Day, 24 hours for you to intentionally stop procrastinating and get things done! Whether its cleaning the house, grocery shopping, writing a paper, balancing the checkbook, taking out the garbage or doing dishes, don’t put it off! Instead, stay ahead of the game and get your to-do list done early. Even when you have a mountain of work or a pages long to-do list, it can be hard to get started. It’s so much easier to procrastinate but don’t fall into that trap.

Business Insider found 20 ways to avoid procrastination in their article Ultimate Guide to Fighting Procrastination. Here are our top 10 tips from the article to help you avoid procrastination today!

1. Get up. Take a short walk and refocus on the task at hand. 

2. Eliminate interruptions – email, cell phone, social media, snacks, etc. 

3. Prioritize one thing each day. Stay focused and get one thing done at a time. 

4. Break down large projects. Don’t overwhelm yourself with big projects and responsibilities. “Take one bite of the mountain at a time.”

5. Find your peak time of day for productivity for each task at hand. 

6. Use the internet to your advantage. Don’t let it be a distraction. 

7. Only check your email once an hour.

8. Keep yourself accountable.

9. Get enough sleep so you can focus and be productive.

10. Remind yourself why you are working on the project.

Read the full article from Business Insider with more tips and tricks, HERE!