This is How I Home School!

Yesterday was our first day back to school.  As I sat at our kitchen table anticipating a great day of teaching my children, this became our reality:

Our day of learning certainly didn't look like this!

Child #2 became angry with Child #1 so the boy decided to throw his pencil at his brother.  (Come on now, someone should really train those children!)

The Mother looked up and saw a pencil flying through the air and she laughed hysterically over the situation.  In fact, I think she peed her pants.

Bitter, Miserable, Lonely, or Hurting?

I believe with every fiber of my being that this message needs to be given.  Somewhere out in cyberspace is someone who needs to hear this because:

Your loneliness is unbearable.

Your heart aches day in and day out.

You're filled with guilt and shame because of your past mistakes.

Someone has taken your innocence away or you didn't know any better and you just gave it away.

You've been rejected time and time again.

Your soul is empty and you feel lost.

All your scars from this life have left you bitter.

When You've Lost Respect for Your Husband... & a Marital Oneness Monday Link Up!

Did you ever view your husband as your Knight in Shining Armor?  A man you once had great respect and honor for?  Maybe in the early years of your relationship you thought very highly of him? But then the hard times of life have caused you to view your man quite differently than you once did? Perhaps now the shine and luster in that armor of his is gone and it's been replaced by some rust and dents?  Where did your dreamy man go?  And how do you go on respecting a man you no longer respect?

What's Ahead?

My leisurely summer is quickly coming to an end, but boy did I sure need a break from all of our constant moves, homeschooling through our many trials, and just the demands of life!  However, we still have one day left of free bowling with friends and a day at the beach with our family!  

Here's me and my baby boy, Noah, as we celebrated his 11th birthday this past week.

Words from a Former Atheist, Fornicator, and Feminist

I once took a path where I embraced a life of fornication, feminism, and, oh, and let's not forget my atheistic viewpoint!  And it was just yesterday that I drove back to that city where my former lifestyle all took place.

The memories were strong.  The sights were familiar. It was a bleak and depressing scene as I traveled the freeways for a mere 30 minutes.

Although it's been 16 years since I embraced the narrow-way path of being a born-again Christian, a submissive wife, mother, and homemaker, the memories of my sexual sins, my brazen feminist attitudes and actions, and the dark pit of despair I once lived, rushed to my mind.

Help! I'm Married to an Unrepentant Husband...& a Marital Oneness Monday Link Up!

So your husband professes to be a Believer yet he goes through life in a state of habitual and unrepentant sin. Well, this is one tough spot for a wife to be!  Your man knows the Word of God, however, he doesn't care too much about following the Scriptures unless of course it comes down to these two:

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  Ephesians 5:22 (NLT)

The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs.  1 Cor. 7:3  (NLT)

He seems to neglect the verses on loving his wife like Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25) and to dwell with his wife with understanding (1 Pet. 3:7).  In his mind, he probably thinks he does these things and his wife is either overly sensitive, unrealistic, and/or demanding of him.  Or maybe he doesn't even know these verses!

When the Seeds of Bitterness Sprout Up in Your Marriage

I recently had a reader contact me asking if I could address the bitterness that's growing in her heart towards her husband and what can she do about it.  Well, I don't believe she's alone in these feelings because I think it's pretty common among wives.  In fact, I believe there are so many wives who experience this towards their man that I even mentioned it in my post, 20 Reasons Why a Wife Doesn't Want to Have Sex!

So I figured I'd share some thoughts and ways to combat it for all who stop by here.  By the way, I just love all your questions!  It helps me to know what you'd like me to write on.  So feel free to contact me via email, FB, leave a comment, or write a question in the Forum of Friends and I'll do my best to answer them.

So, you've tried to forgive him and you thought you did, but deep down inside the seeds of bitterness are starting to grow and your love for him is starting to diminish by the second.

Are You a Wife that's Easy to Love?...& a Marital Oneness Monday Link Up!

There was a simple reason why I married my man, I did so because I loved him and I felt his love towards me.  I don't think I'm alone in this because I believe this is the same reason why most brides married their husbands.  We didn't say 'yes' to our man because we wanted to go through life feeling discouraged or rejected by them.  We said 'yes' because they made us feel treasured.

As wives, we need to feel cherished by our husbands but sometimes in our marital relationship the love extended by our husbands towards us can sometimes lessen or fade away.  This can happen for a number of reasons:

She Said I Was Filled with Pride; How Ministry Shattered My Heart

"You're prideful and I can't see your heart and others can't see your heart as well." 

Those were the words I read on the screen.  In a nutshell, her email conveyed she thought I was doing a poor job in ministry.

Well, I would have to concur with her.  I am prideful and I wish that weren't so and although I try to show and share my heart as much as possible, I'm sure I don't do a good job at it.  Oh, and me doing a great job in ministry...well, that's just a laughable notion.  It just won't and can't happen because I know my fleshly tendencies.

Does Your Husband Trust You?...& a Marital Oneness Monday Link Up!

Trust.

It's one of the main components needed for a Godly marriage and if this virtue is lacking, marital issues will ensue and your one flesh union will be hindered.

When I married my man I wanted to be known as an honorable wife.  Being a woman of my word was, and still is, important to me because I am ultimately representing Christ, and because of this, I actively pursue this virtue.

In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.  1 Timothy 3:11

Why My Heart Breaks

It breaks for the Christian woman who is barely holding on to her faith in Christ.

It breaks for the wife who is in a marriage filled with strife, bitterness, loneliness, opression, or God forbid, a form of abuse.

It breaks for the weary woman who doesn't know where to turn for strength, hope, and peace.

It breaks for the one who feels insecure, unsupported, and worried in her many roles of life.

It breaks for the lonely woman with only shallow friendships because she lives in a prison built by her own walls.

It breaks for all the women who are serving the Lord day in and day out who have been wounded by others.

If any of these describe you, friend, then know that I truly do hurt with you and I weep because I can't do much to help.

I'm Looking for a Friend

When I was in my 30's I read a book on how to be a friend.  (Who does that?) Me, because I was damaged goods and clueless in the friend department.

As I was growing up through elementary and jr. high school I was literally kicked out of the group of friends I hung out with.  It certainly was a painful experience for a young kid. I hung out by myself and the insecurities in my mind grew like weeds.  

When I came to Christ I read about the family of God.  

Hmmm, how do I get connected to this family? 

I wanted to be close to another person.  Someone I could hang out with.  And someone I could have fellowship with.  But I didn't know how to do this.