Encouragement
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He Came Upon a Midnight Clear-For YOU!
My Bible study group completed our study yesterday. We’d walked the past 11 weeks through the story of David with Beth Moore. On this last day she shared a powerful visual of a staff that had once been a vine. The bottom was straight but about half way up, the thick stalk rose upward in…
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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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To Pray of Not To Pray. That is The Question for The Unequally Yoked
Football rages in the family room, the aroma of a roasting Bidzilla satisfies the kitchen, kids play outside, red cheeked and with hands frozen. Ahhhh, Thanksgiving. This is my favorite traditional holiday of food, family and ……stress. Read more at the Internet Cafe Devotions, Marriage Counter.
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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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You Thought You Weren’t One
The most unexpected thing happened to me yesterday. Seated next to my daughter and her best friend, I opened my Bible to the passage and listened as the pastor began to read Luke 15. While he was reading this familiar passage, powerful emotion rose up from some place deep within me. He arrived at verse…
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Weekend Devo – The Journey from Atheism to Belief
This is a beautiful testimony from one of our readers about her husband's journey from atheism to belief. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Jennifer! I accepted Christ in the 4th grade and grew up in a Baptist church. I have always had a strong relationship with Christ, but my walk blossomed exponentially…
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The Battle with Fear
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand ?and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. – Isaiah 41:13 Fear can be an all out, guns blazing affair or a subtle thief that sneaks in and steals our joy. I realized this past weekend that fear…
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Weekend Devo – God is GOOD!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 Romans 8:28 is my life verse. No other piece of Scripture has spoken as deeply into my heart as this one. Amazingly, I understood the truth of…
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Talking Without Words
Part of a presentation I’m giving on Wednesday has a section about romance and romancing your guy. I love this part because I get to give a group of women some facts and tangible ideas of how to romance their husbands. Some of this lands on communication and its vital role in any relationship. And…
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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 – Don’t Give Up!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1 It's been an overwhelming week and one night I was pretty grumpy with my…
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Spouse-Based or God-Based?
What is the difference between a spouse-based marriage and a God-based marriage? This is the question my Sunday school leader asked our group this past weekend. We’re currently doing Gary Thomas’ video series, Sacred Marriage, which goes with his book by the same title. It’s a great course, and I have loved hearing different perspectives…
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Thankful Thursday – Honor God
Thankful Thursday is back here at Spiritually Unequal Marriage for the month of October. Woo Hoo! —– Yesterday I was privileged to sit down and share lunch with Pam Farrel. Many of you may know Pam and her husband, Bill. They have been writing and speaking about Godly marriages for years and years. One of…
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Loving God Helps Me Love My Husband
I will tell you, in all honesty, that I cannot love my husband in my own strength. It’s not possible. I tried to for a many years and would do fine for a while, but inevitably I would run out of steam. Resentment would seep back in and these feelings and thoughts that had to…
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The Proposal
Last week I attended a writer’s conference in St. Louis. On one of the evenings a bunch of us went on a cruise down the Mississippi. We had a spectacular view of the skyline and Arch as dusk fell. And an even more spectacular view as we returned to our hotel. We trekked up the…
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Kids in the Mix – Marriage Monday
It’s Marriage Monday and I am able to hop in and share this week. As most of us “Add Kids to the Mix,” Marriage Monday is expanding to cover the topic, Kids. I recently finished writing a talk for MOPS, about raising kids: Raising Kid’s to Integrity and Faith. It was a wonderful process to…
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The Sanctified Unbeliever
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. – 1Corinthians 7:14 This Scripture came up in my Bible study this week. A dear friend at my table said something…
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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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Weekend Devo – Stepping Out in Faith
This last week has been "interesting." I can't think of any other way to describe it. I've grappled with a my daughter's messy yet vacant room, my emotions over letting her go, and the unknown of what life will be like as empty nesters. God is calling me to step out in faith in new…
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Bittersweet Blessings and Letting Go of Idols
Yesterday I said goodbye to my husband and daughter. They are at this very moment driving cross-country to reach my baby girl's new home. It's the start of a new chapter in her life. This is the bittersweet part-letting her go. But in that mix of sadness and missing her is this amazing joy. God…
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Weekend Devo – Purple Turkeys
My daughter and I have this code word when one of us upset or discouraged. The other will say “purple turkeys.” It never fails to make us laugh and break the down moment. (And special thanks to her 6th grade, Ms. Ward, teacher for this wonderful tool.) Now I really believe God has the best…