Relationships
-
Support vs Competition #onmyheart
Why must we make hardship a competition? Do you know what I mean? When someone has to one-up you with their experience and how much worse it was in comparison to yours.
-
God Is Still In The Marriage Business
God Is Still In The Marriage Business [editor’s note: This post was originally published on Feb 09, 2016. Due to a recent glitch, I’m just republishing it!] My husband and I decided to get married because we wanted our lives to line up within God’s order. It was not because of love, convenience, or social pressures. We made up in our minds that we will be examples to our families of what God can do when you put Him first. I wanted to share this for two reasons. First, we don’t hear enough. I even have people today that frown up at me when I say it. Secondly, I want to…
-
Companion on the Journey
[Guest post by Samantha Hanni: Trying to conceive, infertility, miscarriages and pregnancy are difficult times and Samantha is right — it’s so important to have a female companion on the journey! God certainly placed someone like this in my life, and what an encouragement she was!] Luke 1:5-36; 39-45; 56 Elizabeth and Mary. Two pregnancies against all odds. A virgin birth? A pregnancy after menopause? Medically impossible. Highly unlikely. Imagine the looks the teenager and grandma-aged lady must have gotten from neighbors, even friends. The suspected immorality. The arched eyebrows and whispered comments behind palms. How trying and humiliating…to be pregnant is to be already vulnerable, but to be labeled as…
-
A Christian Fairy Tale
[Guest Post by La Micia Genova: I’m thrilled for you to “meet” La Micia today because, although our stories are different, La Micia and I both dealt with depression before God gave us our knights in shining armor. I’m all about princesses and fairy tales and this is an awesome Christian fairy tale!] Do you believe God can give you a happily ever after? I’ve done things my way for 20 years and when I finally came to God, he gave me my fairy tale. I probably made just about every mistake a teenager and young adult could make, and what’s crazy is I grew up in the Church! From impurity to…
-
Be Transparent & Get Naked
[Guest post by Alicia Gill: I’m usually one to be pretty direct and honest; I have trouble holding in sour emotions. In this post, Alicia’s Sunday school student gives a great example of being transparent, letting it out, and “getting naked.”] “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?” Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 (NIV) A few years ago, I taught a very sweet high…
-
Why I don’t date men who are ‘willing’ to save sex for marriage
[Guest post by Arleen Spenceley: If you’re an unmarried Diva, this article will give you some pretty hard to argue with advice. Arleen’s writing on chastity is not something you read everyday. Even if you are married like me, this is something we should pass on to our friends, daughters, nieces and granddaughters.] “There’s something I need to tell you,” I said to a man on his couch in a Tampa apartment. He — then in his late 20’s and interested in me — nodded, and waited for me to say it. I, then in my early 20’s, breathed in before I did: “I’m saving sex for marriage.” I breathed out while he…
-
The 3 People You Need to Meet
[Maggie is on vacation so I thought I’d jump on and encourage you all with the three people you need to meet to achieve your dreams. My newest book, Dream Devotional, just released this month. Pick up a copy on Amazon for only $2.99!] Dreaming together is important because we are designed, commanded, and encouraged into a loving relationship with God and each other. I’ll never forget the day I was sitting at the front desk as the office receptionist when a woman walked in for an interview. She thought I was pregnant–say what??–and asked me when I was due. I was completely shocked and mortified. She felt really bad too…
-
Why I Chose to Marry Young
Why I chose to marry young I chose to marry young — at 19, to be exact. As some of you may know, I am still pretty young – 22, to be exact. There’s that Taylor Swift song “22,” but I don’t relate to it at all because I’m married and have been for 2 and a half years. I don’t know if you’ve heard that song, but here are a couple quick quotes: Everything will be alright If we just keep dancing like we’re 22 And It feels like one of those nights We won’t be sleeping Nope, does not describe my life at 22 at…
-
Practice Patience with Your Spouse
[Guest Post by Ashleigh Slater – I always appreciate returning the favor when a fellow author lets me share about my book on her blog. This is Ashleigh’s first book entitled Team Us. I appreciate her sharing wisdom on 4 steps to practice patience with your spouse’s old habits. Enjoy and be encouraged!] In the weeks that led up to our wedding, my husband Ted informed our friends, family, and anyone who would listen of his impending death. “Death?” you ask. Yep, death. Death, that is, to his single self. The self that could buy a new Nord Electro on a whim. Or stay up until two in the morning…
-
Resolved to Surrender
[Guest Post by Andrea Portilla – Why is it that we try to work harder, give and serve more when all we need to do is simply surrender? I appreciate Andrea’s post, and I hope you will too!] At the beginning of the New Year I had made a resolution: I was going to take a bubble bath once a week! A perfect kind of resolution! The first few weeks into the year I was beside myself, for I came to realize God desired so much more from my life than I had been giving Him. In the midst of motherhood and babies; being a loving wife and intentional mother, I…
