We are nearly ten months into this whole blended family thing. Ten months. Sometimes it feels more like ten years. Marriage is hard. Second marriages are harder. Blending two families into one peaceful, cohesive whole is incredibly hard. Add a lifetime of painful circumstances hitting you in less than ten months, and it could be […]
Lord Jesus, I’m desperate. Desperate for strength. Desperate for renewal. Desperate for fresh breath. Desperate for change. I am worn and weary. My strength fails me. My heart, my body…they fail me. I need YOU. I need a fresh dose of your power, of your Spirit. I need a fresh filling of your strength, of […]
It takes two… I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase as it applies to many different things in this life. I spent the majority of my life believing that divorce took two, that if a divorce occurred it was because both people were responsible for the failure. I now know just how wrong that belief is. […]
I’ll never forget the conversation I had with my then husband about the woman he was having an affair with. “It’s just exhilarating that someone like that would be interested in me,” he said. Adultery hits at the core of your being. Every ounce of self-confidence and self-respect you carry is destroyed. You look in […]
The last few weeks, a firestorm of controversy has erupted in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Allegations against Paige Patterson, now president emeritus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, have been made public, allegations that include his stance that women should stay with their abusive husbands and his mishandling of a rape on a seminary campus […]
Dear Blake, It’s been almost 19 years since the nurses placed you in my arms, that precious little preemie who was struggling to breathe. The weeks before your birth were tumultuous as we discovered a problem with your kidneys and watched my health deteriorate. Your birth definitely wasn’t what we planned, but in that […]
Nine years ago when I was going through my divorce, my parents were living two hours away taking care of my then 98-year-old grandfather. They decided to sell their home, move closer to me so they could help me with the kids, and bring my sweet grandpa with them. My grandmother had died a few […]
“Get your security from me,” God whispered to my heart. It might have been a whisper, but His voice was louder with each passing day. I was in the midst of some of the most painful days of my life. My husband had been caught in an affair, and despite my attempts to reconcile, I […]
I wrote this article a couple years ago. It has come to my mind repeatedly today as I have been debating how the church (particularly the Southern Baptist Church) deals with abuse in marriage. Unfortunately, many want to continue to turn a blind eye to the abuse and destruction that is so prevalent. Many fail […]
Monday, I drove out of state for work. A quick down-and-back trip, but it provided ample time to think and pray and listen to sermons. It was a welcome change of pace. Before I left, I was faced with an unexpected situation that brought a flood of memories to the front of my mind, reminding […]
