By: Jennifer Michael, Business Services Coordinator


As most of us relish the change in seasons from winter to spring, I think we can agree that we all look forward to the fresh starts in life from time to time. We get a fresh start on January 1st, at the beginning of a new school year, with a new car, new job or a new house. I anticipate a fresh start with each new season of my kids playing soccer. Sitting outside in the fresh air, with a wind chill temperature index of 23, getting a sunburn…or wait…maybe that’s wind burn. Ahhhhhh. Now THAT is fresh!

​Sometimes, a fresh start can indicate that we are putting something negative behind us. Bad decisions. Failures. Fears. Mistakes. Maybe what’s fading into the background are feelings of confusion, frustration and weariness. We’re ready to move forward to something new. Something better.

By: Abby Glaser, Community Advocate

Can you feel it? The days are getting longer. The temperatures outside are getting warmer. Spring is in the air, and spring is the season for fresh starts. Even parents need a fresh start sometimes...


Every time I sit down to write a blog post on parenting or begin teaching a parenting class I always feel the need to clarify that I’m not an expert. Most people already know this but you’d be surprised at how many think mother of five children equals expert!

One of the interesting things about my current stage in life is that I now have two adult children living out of my house and three still at home. So I’m starting to hear from the older kids areas they feel I could have done better and I have the opportunity to make some of those changes now with the younger kids. While my big kids will often lament about how differently we parent their younger siblings, my response is always of course! Just like them, their dad and I are always growing and evolving and trying to do a little better than we did before. In some ways one of the gifts of having multiple children that span a ten-year age gap is that we get ongoing chances to pivot and do better. I often hear from parents in coaching that they feel stuck or in a rut with their kids, especially teenagers. I’d like to offer a few ways to pursue a fresh start! ​

By Lavern Nissley
Encompass Executive Director

Have you ever wanted a do-over in a relationship? A sort of golf mulligan where you didn't like the outcome of your shot, and you know it could be much better if you had a chance to try again?

Another picture of a fresh start is the feeling you have after a ferocious thunderstorm has passed, the clouds are clearing, and the sun is coming back out with a refreshing warmth.

How do we experience such fresh starts in relationships with others? That's what this series in March is all about. What you're about to see is remarkably simple, yet requires great wisdom and sensitivity to do it well. It could be as simple as a chuckle. But don't do it until you've read further!

By: Kevin Frank
​Champion at Encompass Connection Center

​It’s no secret that after the "honeymoon phase” in a marriage relationship, there are plenty of opportunities for details, requirements of life, and the pursuit of happiness to introduce strain to the romantic bond that once lit a fire in your hearts and souls for one another. It’s amazing how quickly money, parenting, home repairs, social outings, social media, or just some simple “me time” in front of a screen can add so much space between a once impassioned couple who looked lovingly into each other’s eyes while dreaming about the incredible future they would build in bliss. 

It’s no wonder so many couples find themselves 3-7 years into marriage asking questions, doubting their decisions, worrying about about the future, and reevaluating the spouse they once saw as “perfect”. Often in this window of misalignment, emotional disconnection becomes evident and when left untreated, can ultimately lead to infidelity, divorce, heartbreak, and a picture of a life that is much different than expected from those doe-eyed newlyweds. Furthermore, the amount of pain associated with the destruction of romance is indescribable. It parallels the weight of the grief of a lost loved one and requires a healing process - and often counseling - to truly work through.

What if it was possible to recover romance even after the process of emotional disconnection had begun? If you’re in that season of emotional disconnection right now, I realize that a statement like that sounds like either a lie or a ploy to get you to send money. I promise we’re not looking for a check in the mail. However, as it turns out, we are human - and while that makes us imperfect and prone to mistakes and selfishness - we are also highly capable of affecting change, increasing our maturity, and we do have the capacity to realign and recover our romance if we choose to do so. It is not an easy, fast, or painless process - but it is possible. In my experience the recovered romance is sweeter than the romance that was lost. Here’s to you and your second honeymoon phase..

By Lavern Nissley
Executive director of Encompass Connection Center

This may come as a surprise, but it IS possible to experience romance in marriage after age 60. It's certainly different from romance in the early years of marriage where it doesn't take much for things to get hot and steamy. Perhaps a metaphor would be appropriate. Young married romance is like a microwave, while senior adult married romance is more like a crockpot. Both can bring about tasty edibles, but the latter is a more deliberate, extended process.

It's the latter of these two metaphors we want to dive into. How can you keep love alive after decades together as a couple and as your physical energy and health levels decline? Are there ways to grow in body/soul/spirit attractiveness as we age?

By: Ronda Nissley, Co Director 

Romance…. When the kids leave home

We’ve seen it many times. Kids go off to college, they move out and start their own lives. What was once a flurry of daily activity that centered around the children has now ceased. The days of shuttling kids to school; attending sporting events; washing mountains of laundry; re-stocking the refrigerator and pantry (daily); de-cluttering dropped book bags and coaching our children through life’s challenges eventually do come to an end.
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Suddenly, parents find themselves alone again with the realization that they hardly know, let alone like their partner anymore. It doesn’t have to be that way! 

By: Kermit Rowe, Encompass Relationship Facilitator

 Ahhh February- a month of ROMANCE! Each week in February we’ll be sharing about the seasons of romance in marriage.  Last week we visited the pre-marital through honeymoon seasons. This week we’ll talk about romance while the children are at home. Next week will be for the empty nesters and finally we’ll finish with the golden years. 

Parent or romantic partner … which comes first?

What is the most challenging time in a marriage? When the honeymoon is over.
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The trick of course is to be able to keep the honeymoon attitude alive. But no matter how romantic the two are, that comes to a screeching halt when the two who became one, turn around and become two again, and three, and four, and … well, you get the picture. There are a lot of challenging ‘hoods out there, but none more challenging than parenthood.

My wife and I, and some of you I’m sure, have been there and done that. Our nest is empty, and we don’t mind at all (most of the time). But many of you homemakers are in the eye of the storm, and those winds can howl. As an Encompass relationship facilitator and pastor, I’m constantly seeing the shrapnel produced by kid-induced, divisive war on the home front. It is heartbreaking as it is home-wrecking!

By: Hollie Kowalski, Outreach Coordinator

​Welcome to February- a month of ROMANCE! Each week in February we’ll be sharing about the seasons of romance in marriage.  Today we’ll visit the pre-marital through honeymoon seasons. Next week we’ll talk about romance with children at home. The following week will be for the empty nesters and finally we’ll finish with the golden years. 

❤Romance in the pre-marital through honeymoon seasons:

My husband Joe and I have been married for almost 19 wonderful years, so I’ll have to think back a few years to remember that glorious stage of euphoria that was our dating life.  To sum up the two years that we dated, I would use words such as: butterflies, excitement, security, preoccupation, infatuation, insecurity, anxiety (the good kind,) and you guessed it- ROMANCE!

By: Jennifer Michael, Executive Assistant