We are Patrick and Ruth Schwenk, the founders of forthefamily.org and thebettermom.com.
Our journey began in a rather unusual way. We met on a prank phone call. Yes, you read that right! While attending the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, I (Patrick) called Ruth pretending to be a local radio station announcing an opportunity to win cash. She didn’t fall for the prank, but in time, she would fall for me!
More than twenty-three years of marriage later, we’re still going. We’ve added a few kids along the way (four to be exact), a minivan, a mortgage, dogs, and several hamsters. Besides being married and raising kids, we’ve been involved in local church ministry for over twenty years. We are also bloggers, authors, and most recently, creators of the Rootlike Faith podcast. We love Michigan Football and everything HGTV! Reading, the outdoors, coffee, and silence are some of our favorite things to enjoy together.
Marriage is rarely what we expect, is it? I still remember seeing Ruth on our wedding day cradling a large pot that you make loads of chili in. The problem was she wasn’t cooking, she was planning on marrying me. After staying up late and getting up really early her nerves had gotten the best of her. She was sick! And that was just one of the first signs that marriage was going to be far different than we expected.
What about marriage with kids? Who knew parenting, discipline, friends, and keeping your faith vibrant would be such a challenge! All of it can be messy, but God has a mission. God’s intent for a marriage and family is good. God loves the family. He loves your family.
We know it’s not always easy to honor God in marriage, parenting, the workplace, and in the home. It’s easy to get discouraged, feel defeated, and be tempted to throw in the towel. Especially when you feel like you are on the journey alone. We all need a community – a tribe, friends, people who are with us and for us in the trenches!
This is why we first launched For the Family. We hope that no matter where you are at, and what you are going through, you don’t feel alone. Our prayer is that this is a community that encourages you, equips you, supports you, and ultimately points you closer to Christ.
SO STICK AROUND. MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME. WE’RE GLAD YOU HAVE JOINED US! LET’S KEEP PRESSING ON IN THIS MESSY, UNPREDICTABLE, BUT GOOD JOURNEY OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.
AND LET’S DO IT TOGETHER!
Many Blessings,
Patrick and Ruth
A little bit about us:
Patrick Schwenk is a husband, father, and pastor. Ruth Schwenk is a wife, mom, and blogger. They are the co-authors of For Better or For Kids: A Vow to Love Your Spouse With Kids in the House, In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake: Trusting the God Who Meets Us in the Storm, and Faith Forward Family Devotional. Ruth is the co-author (with Karen Ehman) of Hoodwinked: Ten Myths Moms Believe & Why We All Need to Knock It Off and Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet With Jesus, The Better Mom Devotional, and Trusting God In All the Things. Patrick and Ruth are the founders of The Better Life ministry, which is home to their online ministries – ForTheFamily.org, TheBetterMom.com, and Rootlike Faith Podcast. They have been married since August 8th, 1998, have four children, and have been in full-time ministry for over twenty years. They live in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area.