Courage

I hesitated posting this because so many people have told us that we’re crazy for doing this RV adventure and I really didn’t want to hear a lot of people say “I told you so”. I decided not to let nay-sayers steal my joy. I’ll use this time to journal through what I’m feeling, to process, and to think about what lessons can I learn from this experience.

During our 2+ years traveling in our motorhome, we have met a lot of wonderful new friends, visited beautiful places, and spent quality time together. Our marriage has grown stronger and we have received a ton of support, encouragement, and have heard a lot of people say, “Oh man, we’d love to do that someday”. Since none of us know how many “somedays” are left, we wanted to follow our dreams while the timing was right for us.

As we’ve shared our story with so many people, I’ve been surprised at how many have said, “You two have a lot of courage!” Courage? Really? We had never thought of it in that way… until this past week. This past week has taken some courage, as well as a toll on the nerves for the first time during our 2+ year journey.

On Sunday, we were traveling from New Mexico heading north to Colorado when our airbrakes on the RV had some type of mechanical issue, which resulted in an accident. As He always does, God was watching over us. No one was injured and no other parties were involved.

The RV has some pretty significant body damage and the Jeep has a little. Both vehicles were still drivable, so we headed back to our trusted RV repair shop in Tucson. […]

By |July 17th, 2020|Family, Marriage, RV Adventure|2 Comments

Surrender

This is the second in a series of blog suggestions for strengthening your marriage. These suggestions are in no particular order of importance or effectiveness. These are just lessons I’ve learned along the way that I’m sharing with you in hopes that you may find tidbits you can apply in your relationship.

Choose your battles. You don’t always have to win every one. Some times giving peace a chance is the best solution. Proverbs 21:9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Proverbs 21:19 It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. I really don’t like the thought of my husband choosing either of those situations over spending time with me!

I tend to be the “fighter” in the relationship. John is the amiable. He doesn’t like conflict and it seems that early on in our marriage I purposefully sought after it. It took me a long time to realize that always being right, always “winning” every argument, every battle wasn’t honoring God. I wasn’t really “winning”, but instead I was losing. I was tearing down my husband. I was tearing down our relationship. It was hard for me to give up that control, but the bible is very clear on this topic. If you struggle with this like I have, surrender it to God. Pray about it daily and He will give you the strength and self-control.

Choose to Love,

Dani

By |March 1st, 2014|Marriage|1 Comment

Love Languages

John and I have been married for 26 years. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve learned a lot of things a long the way. We believe the heart of a great marriage is learning that love is an action. It’s a choice we have to make daily. Through a series of short blogs, I will share lessons that we’ve learned that have helped us choose to love. We hope that you will find some ideas that you can put into action that will help strengthen your marriage!

My first suggestion is something that has helped John and I be better partners and even better parents. Learn each other’s “love language”. Gary Chapman has written a book called The Five Love Languages. I’d highly recommend it to everyone! It helps you understand how you and your spouse tend to receive and give love. Once I understood that we each prefer to give and receive love differently, it was much easier for me to see when my husband was trying to give me love and how I could best give him love in a way that he preferred. My love languages are words of affirmation and acts of service. My husband’s are physical touch and quality time. By understanding this, I can choose to love John by spending more time with him, holding hands, rubbing his back, and of course understand his need to feel loved through making love. John can choose to love me by telling me that he loves me, how much he appreciates me, how much he cares about me. He knows the way to my heart is through acts of service – helping around the house, preparing the meals, bringing me nutter butters […]

By |February 15th, 2014|Marriage|Comments Off

Two Are Better Than One

Love these verses… Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)
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? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

I’ve been struggling lately. I don’t like to complain, but instead try to find the best of every circumstance. The best in these circumstances has been my hubby, John. He has been my rock. I can’t imagine doing this thing called life without the love and support of such a loyal partner.

Life can be tough, but just as scripture tells us, two are better than one. When one is struggling, the other can carry us. When being attacked, two can defend. But wait, what’s this “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Three? These verses are about two, right? Why are we talking about a cord of three in the last sentence?

Sure there are two ‘physical’ people in this relationship, but what really gives us strength is that Jesus is at the center of our relationship. There are three of us! When I’m struggling, I tend to be a “Martha” and try hiding from God. John, on the other hand, has amazing faith and reminds me that it is precisely during these times I need to be on my knees and turning it over to God. It is during these times that I see John loving me like Jesus loves his bride. Unconditionally, not concerned about self, […]

By |February 1st, 2014|Marriage|Comments Off

Birthday Suits

My husband recently had a crazy idea. He read a health article on the benefits of sleeping in our “birthday suits”. I was a bit skeptical at first, especially since I have two grown boys living at home and the dogs and I make frequent trips to the restroom during the night (mine is inside, theirs outside :)). I’ve been trying to get to bed earlier to get on a healthier sleep schedule, so I committed to a firm “lights out” at 10pm. This is way too early for my night-owl hubby… So armed with my big fluffy housecoat on the edge of the dresser, I slipped into bed just me and my birthday suit. Even with my heating blanket turned on high, I laid there and shivered. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it! After Zoe (our German short-haired pointer) jumped up into bed with me and the heat off her helped settle me in, I finally dozed off.

I woke up at 1am with a sharp cramp in my foot. Probably because it was frozen! I got up to walk it off, yes – in my housecoat. I made my ritual trip to the restroom and let the dogs out. This time, as I headed off to bed, John was ready to join me. We both slipped back into bed in our birthday suits. Now it made sense! I had to turn off the heating blanket…

In the morning, I shared with John about my experience and how it doesn’t work if there aren’t two of us – I was literally freezing. I thought about what God would have to say about this and was reminded that scripture tells us, “A man […]

By |January 15th, 2014|Marriage|Comments Off

Choose to Love

I’m so excited to start my own blog! I thought it would be a good idea to start my first blog with an introduction. So here goes…

Hi, my name is Danielle Scherer. Everyone calls me Dani. First and foremost, I am a follower of Jesus! Second, I am a wife. I have been married to my wonderful and amazing husband, John, for 26 years! Yep, 26 years… Everyday is a new day. Every day we make a choice to love each other. I love him more today than ever!  I’m a mother of three beautiful, healthy children — Aaron (23), Angel (22), and James (20). I love my kids very much and am so proud of the amazing, young adults they’ve grown up to become.  I also have furry kids :).  Zoe (a 8 yr old German shorted-hair pointer / dobbie mix), Simon (a 2 yr old Shitzu), and a gecko who will out live us all.  If we weren’t currently renting, we’d probably have a dozen more rescues, but three is enough for now.  hahaha

2012 Scherer Family Christmas Picture

My “motto” – for lack of a better word – is “Choose to Love”. I’m very passionate about helping those who are hurting and broken. There is hope! We’ve experienced a lot of trials and tribulations, but through them all God has made us stronger, deepened our faith, and we’ve grown closer together. My passions include building up healthy marriages, making families whole through adoption, church plants, financial peace, animal rescue, the elderly, weight-loss management, and business start-ups. As I’m sure you’ll hear a lot more about my family, I promise to share more about my passions as time goes on.

I love keeping busy […]

By |January 1st, 2014|Marriage|Comments Off