Vision Plan & Act, Milwaukee, WI (2026)

09/09/2024

'Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein

02/06/2023

Here are 9 suggestions for winning back the heart of your wife:
Seek God

Whatever draws you closer to God is a good thing — and will make you a better man, regardless of what happens with your marriage. When you are attempting to rekindle your wife’s love, use this time to develop and strengthen your relationship with God. It starts, as all relationships with God begin, through a recognition of who Christ is and your belief in Him. Start there and grow.

Practice patience.

The first thing men need to do is to recognize restoring a broken heart will not happen overnight. Emotions heal very slowly. Steps should begin to restore an injured heart or to rebuild the marriage, but men should not expect too much too soon.

Love your wife

This is by far their greatest need. Most wives have their love need unmet. The standard for our love is perfection, since a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. As imperfect men we will actually never love our wife enough. The wife knows, however, when the husband’s attention is somewhere else. Many men sacrifice their marriage for their careers or other interests. A wife’s love need is new every day. A wife needs to know that she is second only to God in her husband’s affections.

I have found for my love for my Cheryl to grow I need Christ’s help. I pray for this often.

Romance her

Every woman has a certain need for romance. Many wives had a fairy tale idea of marriage when they were growing up. They realize early in marriage this isn’t reality, but their need for occasional romance remains. Most men rarely know how to do this. A man should be genuine, but should recognize and value the uniqueness of his wife and find ways to give her romance.

I gave my wife a “romantic” trip to New York City for Christmas one year. We were going to dance, walk through Central Park, and just enjoy each other. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned it, but I earned huge points in the romance category with my wife.

Value words

When a man comes home and says “This house is a mess”, being a mostly factual being, that’s probably all he meant. He looked around, made a physical observation, and stated a factual conclusion. The wife, however, probably did not receive the information that way. The wife most likely heard lots of negative information, such as, “You have done nothing all day”, or maybe even, “I don’t like you.” This sounds impossible to most guy’s rational minds, but with emotions receiving information anything could be heard, whether it was the intended response or not. Men need to learn how to be gentle with their wives and the words they use.

One question I ask men, “Would you let another man talk to your wife the way you talk to her?”

Communicate on her terms

Many women communicate best heart to heart – not head to head. A man should allow his wife to see his heart. He should be willing to be vulnerable with her. Men may need to ask their wives to help them learn how to say things to her. Men cannot talk to their wives as they would their guy friends. Women require understanding, compassion, openness and honesty in communication.

Give constant assurance

Trust is an important need for a woman in relationships. The wife needs to know that her husband is going to be faithful. Men should not take offense, for example, when their wife asks details about their schedule or the activities of their day. The wife desires to be a partner in her husband’s life and these details help her provide trust and security in the relationship. A man should also tell his wife frequently he loves her and is committed to her. She needs this consistent assurance.

Learn to Live by Truth

Ultimately life cannot be lived strictly by emotions. We need truth. Emotions are often unreliable. A woman who feels unloved may be very much loved by her family, but she fails to feel that truth because of years of emotional abuse. Men should gently, but consistently speak truth in love, reminding his wife of her worth, her beauty, and her place in his life. Over time – truth, when given with love, can help heal damaged emotions.

Keep doing it! I am and I hope Beth knows this!

06/15/2021

Let's call this the 5-4-3-2-1 approach to Christian success:

5. You have 5 Core Missions in life...
4. You will win those missions based on Jesus’ 4 Promises...
3. Winning those missions is predicated on 3 Variables:
Values, Visions & Roles...
2. You and Jesus, together will be making the decisions...
1. Resulting in a PLAN for YOU to become everything He
created you to be.

06/15/2021

And...A Prayer!

“Father, I ask for Your help. I want to become the person
You want me to become through this study. I want to use
my time here to live, love and perform the deeds You want
me to do. And with that in mind, strengthen me to sense
and follow Your leading during my journey. By Your grace
and power may my life be a living ‘Thank You!’ for all You
have given to me in Christ. In His Name I pray, Amen.”

06/15/2021

A Thought:
“Someone once asked me what I regarded as
the three most important requirements for
happiness. My answer was: A feeling that you
have been honest with yourself and those
around you; a feeling that you have done the
best you could both in your personal life and
in your work; and the ability to love others.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt

03/23/2021

What is "true happiness" and how can we experience more of it, even when we're going through difficult times?

I've been thinking a lot about these questions lately. And I've come to realize that true happiness isn’t something you attain, it’s something you realize is always available to you.

When we think otherwise, we’re like fish who are searching for the ocean.

Consider that when a baby is born, it’s born into happiness. It doesn’t have to achieve anything to be happy. Why? Because happiness is our natural state. It is our birthright.

This is hard to comprehend in a culture where we’ve been conditioned to achieve goals, to get somewhere, but in fact there’s nowhere to go because you’re already there.

Even when we’re enduring times of adversity, we can choose to be happy independent of our condition. We can find that place inside of us that’s happy just to be alive. It’s inside of you now.

I hope this helps you to realize that you always have the choice to be happy, starting right now. That it is a gift you give to yourself, every day. You deserve it.

With love & gratitude,
- Marc