Shannon’s SCW Blog

This blog is best viewed at:
http://www.sexuallyconfidentwife.com/blog/2009/11/thanksgiving/

My husband of almost 20 years, Greg.

I like this picture because he’s not towering over me like he
usually does when he’s standing. At 6’7”, he towers over
everyone! He’ll be frying the turkey again this year. Once you
taste a deep fried turkey, you never go back to dry turkey out of
the oven! He’ll also rake the crumbly top off the sweet potato
casserole, eat it, and blame it on the kids, as well as try to hide
one of his mother’s famous pumpkin pies for later.

Our Daughter, Erin (17) & Our Son, Matthew (14)

Erin has less than 3 weeks before she graduates high
school 6 months early (with 50 college credits from Tyler
Junior College under her belt already). Yes, she’s really that
brilliant! She’ll fly back to Sydney, Australia on
February 15th and spend 10 months studying art & visual
communications at C3 College in Oxford Falls.
Matthew is growing faster and eating more than we ever
imagined possible! He now looks down on his mother and
sister, which he takes great delight in. But he’s got a long
way to go before he ever looks down on his dad! Matthew
is in the 9th grade at Christian Heritage School, makes
straight A’s, and tears up the basketball court every chance
he gets. His 3-pointer shot is quite incredible!

The newest additions to our family:

4 Maltese puppies born October 11, 2009.
Crimson, Clover, Donald & Penelope (who
was sleeping when this picture was made).
If you’d like to make one of these little
bundles of joy the newest addition to
YOUR family, they’ll be ready for
adoption the week of Christmas!
(hint, hint! The Perfect Christmas Present!)

Plus, I must also mention how thankful we are for our dear friends & supporters of
Shannon Ethridge Ministries! Your love & prayers mean more than we can express!
Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and yours!

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Making “Relationship Resolutions”

Special thanks to The TODAY Show for having me back to New York last month for a “Relationship Roundtable” discussion with Kathy Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Saturday Night Live comedian Finesse Mitchell, and Lesley Rotchford, editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. The segment aired this morning, but can be watched here too. Just go to the home page and click on the January 2^nd MSNBC video.

Shannon’s 2009 Resolution:

To Help Aspiring Writers & Speakers Have a B.L.A.S.T.!

If you’ve been familiar with my writing and speaking for very long, you know that I focus primarily on three passions: Sexual Integrity, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Intimacy. Although I get dozens of questions each week pertaining to these issues, some of the most common questions I receive have absolutely nothing to do with any of them… questions like:

· I feel called to speak, but how do I get started?

· What’s the best way to go about writing the book I have in mind?

· How can I get a publisher to look at my book?

· I want to reach more people with my speaking and writing. What do you suggest?

Trying to answer such questions can feel almost as impossible as explaining to someone in 200 words or less how to successfully perform open heart surgery. Oh, how I’ve wished I could connect a set of mental jumper cables from my brain to someone else’s and download all that I’ve learned over the past decade!

The publishing industry is incredibly complex and difficult to break into. As my writing mentor said years ago, “You can feel like a tiny grain of sand on an entire continent of beach when you’re trying to get published!” Boy, do I remember that feeling. And I sense that there are lots of you who are experiencing that feeling right now. Perhaps God has tapped you on the shoulder and said, “I want YOU to be my voice!” If so, I sense God tapping ME on the shoulder and saying, “I want YOU to teach them how!”

In response to this calling, I’m launching a new one-year program starting this September called B.L.A.S.T. (Building Leaders, Authors, Speakers & Teachers). I’ll meet one day per month with a select group of aspiring writers and speakers, attempting to teach you all that I can about bringing your own ministry and publishing dreams to life!

If you’re interested in learning more about the program, go to www.shannonethridge.com and sign up for the monthly E-newsletter.  There will be lots more information in the January edition (to be released within the next few days, or if you miss it, go to the e-newsletter archives for the January 2009 edition).  There’ll be a place to click in the e-newsletter for a complete informational brochure and application packet. Also, feel free to email your like-minded friends who’d be interested and let them know about the program. There is an ONLINE version, so no matter where you live, you can have a BLAST with us!

Who knows? Perhaps this will be the year that YOUR resolution for getting that book started or that speaking ministry launched finally becomes a reality! If you’re ready to see that happen, I’m ready to help BLAST you in the right direction.

Happiest of New Years to you and yours,

Shannon

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No deep thoughts on marriage… no challenges for your sex life… just the warmest of wishes for a very merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

I’m enjoying time off with my hard-working hubby, crazy-busy 16-year old daughter, and bored-out-of-his-mind-until-school-starts-back 13-year old son.  I’ll begin blogging again January 2nd, but for now my focus is on tackling two years worth of scrapbooking projects!

Until then,

Shannon

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It’s been making headlines in the media a lot lately – special emphasis on how important it is for married couples to have frequent sex.  I completely agree, but is it possible to focus so much on quantity that we forget the importance of quality in our sexual relationship?

I’m all about quickies whenever necessary and squeezing in time for squeezing each other in passing. But if that’s all there is – a focus strictly on the physical release and little attention to emotional connection — a woman can begin to feel like nothing more than a sexual rag doll or vending machine. For women to survive off of that is like trying to survive off of a diet of candy bars. They can fill you up, and even satisfy you to an extent, but do they ultimately nourish your soul and your relationship to the fullest extent? Every once in a while we need a good “steak dinner” sexual experience rather than a “candy bar” sexual experience.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to challenge you – what can you do to set the table for a quality sexual experience? For example, when our kids were younger we had “fish stick and tater tot night” where the kids went to grandmas for fish sticks and tater tots while we went back home and took advantage of two hours to just lay around naked, talk about stuff we couldn’t talk about with young children around, and indulge in leisurely sex. Now that our kids are older, we enjoy “youth group night” where our teens go to church on Wednesday night and we go into the “upper room” (our master bedroom) for a quiet evening together.

If you don’t have a game plan for a few quality sexual experiences in the coming weeks and months, develop one as a Christmas present to your beloved spouse. And as a Christmas present to us, share your idea so we can be inspired in our marriages as well!

Wishing you the BEST sex,

Shannon

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