Conflict and Challenges
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Confessions of a People Pleaser
He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. – Luke 16:15 The verse above is the piece of Scripture that God stopped me at during my quiet time, specifically the part…
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Chronicles of the Donovan Clan – Never, say Never – This is NOT about James Bond
Several months ago, I told you that God was working some new things in my husband, in us. At the time, the Lord impressed upon me to hide these things in my heart until they were settled out. Today, all these months later, the changes that began in January and February have reached a stall…
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Unequally Yoked and the Atheist Blogs
Part III A few months ago I was emailing back and forth to a friend of mine whose husband is a reader of atheist blogs. She was in such pain and in a quandary as to how to cope. Now I don’t pretend to have all the answers for each individual situation. I can only…
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Share Jesus and Be Real
We’ve had some great discussions with Lynn’s posts about atheist blogs and the unequally yoked. As I’ve shared with you all here, my husband is an atheist and his choice not to believe in God has been a huge catalyst for me to be clear on what God’s Word says and to claim many of…
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We Are Stronger Together
If you found your way here from the Focus on the Family broadcast, the first thing you heard yesterday was a quote from us. “Isolation steals our joy.” That’s why the first chapter of our book is titled, “Know That You’re Not Alone!” Our marriages are under attack by an enemy who wants to keep…
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How Do We Reconnect?
Staying connected with your spouse can be a challenge. I’m finding this to be harder to do as we get older. I shared recently that we’d become empty nesters, but our status is now back to three. Here we are again, adjusting to new and old dynamics. Here I thought my greatest challenge would be…
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When They Are Stinkin’ Mean ~Part II
“I try to read the Bible….but it doesn't sink in….I read it and I don't "get it"…..I read it and I don't hear what other people hear….so I give up. I give up because I doubt….I give up because my husband is so stinkin mean about "religion"…..” Over the past few posts I have been…
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False Security
On February 12th, something happened that seriously rocked my world. I’m not an overly brave person, I confess, but I stepped out of my comfort zone (way out) and agreed to drive cross-country from Florida to California because my daughter wanted to come back home. It’s a trip we’ve done many times, but always with…
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The Bigger Picture
One of the greatest challenge is a spiritually mismatched marriage is seeing hope when we see none. I think this is true of any difficult and ongoing situation for us as believers AND as human beings. How do we keep going when everything within us says walking away would be the easier choice? Truth is,…
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More Than Able
Each year in January, the Internet is glutted with articles and posts about resolutions and goals. I find it humorous that this year I’ve seen more about why resolutions don’t work and end in failure for most people. I gave up on resolutions a long time ago. I know my limitations and I also know…
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Turkey Soup
When we lived in Memphis, I used to always make turkey soup from the Thanksgiving leftovers. I’d let it sit on the stove all day and cook down to yummy goodness. One of my favorite ingredients was to throw some of the left over stuffing into the soup for seasoning. Yum! A lot of years…
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A Change in Perspective
I sat in my favorite chair, devotional in hand and Bible open. Tears began streaming down my face. I sat before God, grieving over a hope that felt thin at best. The evening before, my husband and I were on our way out to grab a bite to eat. I thanked him again for the…
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And the Walls Came A-Tumbling Down
Lynn’s post yesterday talked about the walls we erect that keep our guys on the outside. I want to share with you how this translated into my life. I walked into my marriage with the expectations I’d leaned from the pages of romance novels and movies. I’d bought into the fairytale. Everything was fine in…
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Weekend Devo – God’s Timing
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. – Psalm 37:7 The biggest challenge we often have is patience, wouldn't you say? I see this all the time in others and in myself. We want things to change now, to get better, get easier, go smoother. But what if we knew those very…
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The Silent Talker
So far, we’ve been talking about our words-how we use them and even when. I have to share with you that early on in my marriage, I didn’t always use my words wisely when I did speak up, but my biggest issue was not speaking up at all. Instead I held things in, choosing my…
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Weekend Devo – Going to Bed Angry?
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. – Ephesians 4:26-27 A friend told me about this particular verse being the topic of discussion on a Christian radio station. It peaked my interest for sure, because this…
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A Divine Parallel by Guest Writer: Janet
Heavenly Father, I’m emotionally exhausted and taxed beyond measure. Don’t you see my tears? Do they mean anything to You? I too have felt great passion, loss and sadness causing me to weep. {Hebrews 5:7, Luke 19:41, John 11:35, Mark 15:37} God how much longer? I mean really, can’t my spouse see I’m not trying…
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What I Do See
Sometimes we get so caught up in looking for how God is working in our unbelieving spouses that we miss seeing the places that they are struggling. I’m becoming more and more aware of this in my husband’s life. He’s a pretty even keeled guy with a very strong moral base. I’ve found that most…
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Stuck on the Edge
Perhaps you are curious. After last Monday’s post about my husband and our church experience (read it here), I will let you know that over the weekend my husband’s family was visiting, thus he didn’t attend church. However, earlier in the week we had a discussion about church and our conversation that ensued that morning…
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Our Soul and the Natural World ~ Article IV – Our Sense Hearing
Spiritual Warfare – How We Fight Back A few months back, I began a series on the natural world and how nature, the world God created, can bring healing and joy to our soul. We started with light. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Then we looked at darkness and how…
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Enlisting Our Kids
Let’s talk about older kids. I’ve been sharing with you about the battle I sense coming with my husband. A new aspect has developed that I’d like to talk about here because I think it’s an area we haven’t really touched upon. And some of you out there reading this may have some inspiring…