by Shannon Popkin | Jul 19, 2014 | Anger, Roles, Submission
As a friend and I were enjoying a long catch-up session, she mentioned the difficulties and strains of marriage.As she talked generically about her struggles, I secretly wondered if she gets frustrated with her husband the way I get frustrated with mine. I thumbed...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 29, 2014 | Funny, Leadership, Marriage, Roles
I noticed something about the couple sitting down the row from us in church last week. He kept whispering little things in her ear and she kept smiling. Their interaction was subtle, not distracting, but very sweet. Though she didn’t laugh out loud, it was clear that...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 23, 2013 | Family, Gifts, Holidays, Roles, Women
When Lindsay was five, I took her shopping and let her choose a Christmas gift for each family member. For Mamaw (my mom), she chose a figurine of a little girl. You can imagine how lovely it was, since it was from the Dollar Store.Mom, of course, gave Lindsay a big...
by Shannon Popkin | May 30, 2013 | Marriage, Mistakes, Roles
It happened about seven years ago, and it’s never happened since: I picked up the hedge trimmer.I had been pestering Ken to trim the bushes before our guests were to arrive the next day, but ‘bushes’ weren’t at the top of his list. So I...
by Shannon Popkin | Mar 12, 2013 | Communication, Friendship, Marriage, Roles, Wisdom
As a young wife, I remember being at a barbecue with some of Ken’s friends from work and their wives. Whenever the men would start to ‘talk shop’, the women would roll their eyes and turn to begin their own conversation. They wanted to talk about...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 28, 2013 | Communication, Differences, Marriage, Roles, Women
We Control Girls have this tactic called persistence. The more we bring something up, the closer we get to the tipping point–where our husbands abdicate their preferences to keep their sanity. I used this tactic on Ken by initiating regular...