Jenn Hecker Books

      If you are anything like me, you don't have a lot of disposable income for grand date nights at the opera or dining out at five-star restaurants, hobnobbing with celebrities. Might be nice once in a while, but in the real world that is a dream unattainable by most. Often our schedules are so full, many of us struggle to make time with our spouse a priority. Usually it's not that we don't want to spend quality time together, but we can get so caught up in other good things like work, family, ministry, etc. that our spouses end up on the back burner. Research reveals that each day couples spend roughly 55 minutes watching television, 30 minutes eating, 24 carrying out housework and 16 minutes on their social life. So, how can we spend more time with our spouses when we have kids who live at home (I homeschool, so my children are always with me), or husbands who work long hours far from home, or both husban...

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! There will be the usual flood of posts about romantic date ideas, but I discovered recently that dating my sons is also very important. Here’s why. 1. No distractions Parents of multiple children often struggle to give each of their children the quality time they deserve. I wholeheartedly agree with spending one-on-one time with each child every day doing things like reading books at bedtime or cooking meals together, but let me ask you something. While you’re reading that book are you really focused only on that child? Maybe you hear the other kids running around downstairs, or the baby crying in the next room, or the phone ringing. To escape the distractions at home and spend focused time with my sons individually, I created “Date Night with Mom.” 2. It’s all about him Without a sibling trying to talk over him, I can focus on having a conversation with my son. I can sit and listen to his YouTube video ideas and his pl...

I was glancing over lists of calendar day and month themes and saw “Romance Awareness Month” and thought I could totally be down with some romance awareness in my life! Typically we consider romance something women long for and about which men have no clue about and couldn’t care less. We watch movies and read books or even see videos online that portray grand gestures of undying love and we equate them with romance. With this ideal in their heads, being romantic can be difficult for some and to others downright off-putting and scary. But I would like to propose that romance is actually being consistent in small loving ways more than the big grand gestures. It means faithfully showing your partner that they are of utmost importance in your life. Add in the occasional moments of anticipation and excitement by doing things that are out of your normal routine, and you have long lasting romance. And this is what we should aspire to in our relationships, not short bursts of “Oh we lov...