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Asking for Help
I don’t know exactly when it started, I just remember feeling angry and frustrated with my husband – almost every single day – for weeks. One evening after a pretty intense “discussion,” J.J. told me that no matter what he did or how hard he tried, it was never enough. He was right. I constantly found fault in him as a husband and as a dad. But the fact that he implied I was impossible to please … well that sent my already-unreasonable emotions reeling. I grabbed my coat and stormed out the front door. Hot tears streaming down my cheeks, I replayed our conversation in my head. Determined to…
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The Best Move You Can Make in Your Marriage
He wasn’t about to budge. That much was evident. I could see it in his eyes. Could tell by his body language. My husband was in his Brick-Wall-Mode and he wasn’t moving. All I’d done was ask him to change – only change this one thing that bothered me greatly – and yet he was rather closed to the idea. Completely closed, in fact. I’m not even sure if he was listening. What to do now? That’s what I was left wondering. Because I sure wanted him to do it differently. I figured I had options. I might resort to crying, yelling, whining, pouting or maybe some serious nagging—although I’d…
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5 Good Reasons to Pray for Your Husband
I wandered through the airport like a hungry mouse in search of her cheese, following sign after sign, until finally I arrived at the baggage carousel. It had been four nights and five days–I was ready for “home.” Examining each black suitcase that passed my way, I asked myself the same question I often do, “Darlene, why haven’t you tied a pink scarf to the handle?” Every time we travel I ask myself the same question, and every time I get home I forget about the pink scarf that hangs in the closet. It’s adorable by the way. Finally hoisting my bag over the edge I was done. It was…
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31 Ways to Pray for Our Husbands
Last Monday we talked about reviving prayer in the process of reviving our marriage. And I did promise you a list of 31 ways to pray for our husbands. That’s one prayer every day for a month! So today I’m giving you part 1 of this list and tomorrow I’ll complete it with part two. It’s time for a marriage revival ladies! Let’s go! 1. That he would draw close to God. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ~ James 4:8, NIV 2. That he would grow in wisdom. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get…
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31 Ways to Pray for Our Children
A few weeks ago I shared a post called, Praying for the Purity of Our Children. In that post we talked about the warped values and corrupt definition of beauty that the media is feeding to young girls. It goes without saying that this message can also affect the way that young boys view the women around them. At the end of that post I invited readers to join together in praying for mothers everywhere so that we would step up to our God-given responsibility of nurturing our children the way God designed them to be. Since that time I’ve put together a list of 31 ways that we can pray for…
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Praying for the Purity of Our Children
I’m sure that many of you have come across the “Toddler and Tiara” videos that circulate the net, some of you might have even watched the show. They’re every where you look these days and many of them are disturbing as we see young children in provocative clothing prancing around on stage. In fact I touched on the subject a few weeks ago in a post called, “Raising Girls in a Me Generation.” Even more disturbing was a video I saw last night. The coach on TLC’s new show “Dance Moms” instructed the girls to dance “topless.” Well, not exactly “topless,” they wore flesh colored bras to give the illusion…
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A Gift of Solitude
It was God’s way of whispering, “I want to spend this moment with you.” I knew exactly what that whisper meant as my mind traveled back a few weeks to an evening of loneliness when all I could do was drive, and pray, and wipe the tears from my cheeks. Not a wound waiting to be healed. Not a space needing to be filled. A gift. A gift of alone time spent with my Lord. The gift itself wasn’t the answer to prayer that came in the morning, confirming that He heard my hearts cry. No–it was that moment when my spirit of weakness was laid in His hands. As…
