Covering topics that impact today's Christian: family, marriage, raising kids, spiritual growth, forgiveness, etc.
I have a hard time asking for help. It’s not that I have some kind of super-hero complex or want to be a martyr. In fact, I really do wish I had more help most of the time. But things tend to fall into one of the following categories: 1. I signed-up to do/make/bring/coordinate/facilitate/write/teach the thing and therefore I feel like it’s my responsibility to follow through. 2. The amount of time it would take to explain how to help
Why didn’t you leave? It’s a question that I get asked every now and again –more often than I would like — from people who learn the story of my marriage. My initial reaction is to get defensive, angry even. Especially when the question comes from friends who know my husband and me intimately. But then I think, “maybe they don’t know because my reasons are not the world’s reasons.” So here it is. To set the record straight. To
Today’s the big day. It’s the day I’ve been preparing and praying for since I wrote the first words on July 25, 2014. Almost five years to the day and my book Forgiven and Restored is published. It’s real, it’s out there for the world to buy and read. Five years of writing and rejections and praying and giving up and trying again and more rejections and working hard and crying and saying “thank you God”. And then there was
We were married five years when I found out my husband had been unfaithful. He had also been hiding an addiction to pornography that he’d secretly struggled with for many years, before we even met, which had led to a night that would change our marriage forever. Although I thought I knew what I would do if ever faced with that situation, the truth is none of us really knows until we are knee deep in the pain and brokenness
He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38) I had the privilege of teaching the message at our church this past Sunday. The message was on Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. I love this story. Oh, I know that might sound strange. After all, it’s not an uplifting passage, like the Sermon on the Mount or one that demonstrates Jesus’s mighty power, like
It’s 10:30 p.m. and I’m exhausted. The kids have been in bed for an hour, and my husband is asleep on the couch next to me. I shut down the laptop, turn off the TV, and pick up the cordless house phone to put in the charger. I am aware that if I don’t remember to do this tonight we won’t have use of our home phone the next day because someone has used the other handset, forgotten to put
Today marks 17 years married to this guy. It’s been nearly 21 years since our fist date…officially together for more of my life than not. It’s crazy to think about. Last week I was thinking about what I wanted to say about 17 years of marriage with the only man I’ve ever loved. I had this nice story I was going to tell about the antique rocking chair he gave me when our first child was born, how it’s been
I recently read an article by Joanna Gaines talking about her marriage to her husband Chip (hosts of the show “Fixer Upper”, among other things). In the article she talked about how she has never wanted to go on a girl’s weekend or spend time away from her husband, how being with him gives her energy and she thrives on their togetherness. I believe she is being sincere when she says that, and Chip and Joanna Gaines are an adorable
It was a beautiful, blue-skied, May day. We sat in the historic church surrounded by gilded marble, a painted cathedral ceiling, and stunning artwork all around. Fresh flowers adorned the alter and a row of handsome young men stood at the front. One by one the bridesmaids made their way down the aisle and then the doors opened and the stunning bride appeared. I saw the huge grin spread across her groom’s face as he saw her for the first
Two years ago I had the pleasure of traveling to Sydney, Australia for my job. Not knowing when, or if, I’d ever get back I tacked on two days to my trip to do a little sightseeing. As I’ve traveled quite a bit for my job I’ve gotten used to being bold and venturing out on my own, but this time I went ahead and signed up for one of those pre-planned tours that would take me up into the Blue Mountains and a chance to experience what lie beyond Sydney.