Search Results for: label/Women Living Well Wednesdays

Equality in Marriage

June 22, 2011 by Courtney 15 Comments

4 years ago at St. Josephs Beach in Michigan

This quote below is taken from Girl Talk Blogs.

I LOVE it so much I had to share it with you all!

“I once had a lively discussion with a brother who insisted that in his relationship everything was equal, and that this was the hallmark of their marriage. To him equal meant same and therefore interchangeable. He proudly rejected the idea of male initiation and female response. And what is more, he thought he was serving the cause of women in this.

I responded by saying that in my marriage, my wife and I never think about equality, though if forced to think about it we would affirm our mutual worth before God. Instead, I see my wife as better and more precious than I–of greater worth. And I told him my wife took no offense in this matter. Indeed she gets upset with me precisely at the point when I start treating her as my equal. To her it feels like a step down.”

~John Ensor, Doing Things Right In Matters of the Heart, p. 95

Walk with the King!

This post is linked to Titus 2sdays, We Are That Family and Raising Homemakers.

Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

Filed Under: Marriage, Women Living Well Wednesdays

I Need Help!

June 8, 2011 by Courtney 41 Comments

Today I’m thinking about the Mom who is frustrated with her home and feels miserable. I turn to Psalm 23 and I think about the inner dialogue of a woman who is hurting…

1 – The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. (want. want. want. I want…)

2. He makes me lie down (lie down…if only I could lie down for just 20 minutes…if only if only if only) in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. (quiet. quiet. quiet…this home is so loud…television, ipods, cell phones, chatter, I can’t get a moment of quiet here).

3. He restores my soul (my soul. needs. restored. …it hurts). He guides me in paths of righteousness. (I am so alone…I have no one who understands…if only I had someone to get me out of this mess. mess. mess. Someone besides me please clean up this mess!).

4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil (what if. what if. what if. what if I’m not enough?) for you are with me (you are? why are you so silent God?); your rod and your staff they comfort me. (comfort. who needs comfort. I am strong. I will pick myself up and press on. I am not weak.)

5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (overflows. overflows. overflows. Dirty dishes overflow, closets overflow, my trash cans overflow, my laundry baskets overflow, my calender overflows…if everything is so full – why do I feel so empty?)

6. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. (follow. follow. follow. I feel like difficulties, trials, disappointments, bad relationships and financial problems follow me… goodness? love? follow me?) and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (put on fake smile. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever…BUT…I want. I want. I want. if only. if only. if only. my soul hurts. mess. mess. mess. I am weak. no. I am strong. empty. empty. empty.)

Do you hear the self talk? Do you hear what is happening between this woman’s two ears? She is saying rotten things to herself about her life, about the people in her life, about her circumstances, and even about God. And then she wonders…why? don’t? I? have? peace?

The problem is not out there – it’s inside of her. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Do you want to see a change in your home? It starts in your mind.

The Lord is indeed your Shepherd and you shall not be in want. You must claim these truths. Let him lead you by still waters…are you thirsty? Sit still. Drink a tall glass of his living word! Let him restore your soul. He is with you. He loves you. You will one day dwell in his house forever. You only have one life and living it in the Eeyore state is not living at all!

Are you in a storm? Do you need help? Psalm 121:1 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

At the core – I am empty, ugly, self-seeking, insecure, questioning myself to death regularly (even cried for about 30 minutes in my husband’s office this week over my fears. fears. fears. and failures). I hurt. I struggle. I wrestle. But then – I lift my eyes up to the maker of the heavens and the earth and this world pauses for just a moment and all my ugly thoughts and self talk are washed away by his love, grace and peace. The storms do not disappear but seeing a glimpse of the sunshine that awaits me, lifts me up when I am weak. I am weak. I am weak. He is strong. And so I rest. And he restores.

(If you are discouraged, I pray you will take just 5 minutes to let this song speak truth into your life. Stop the inner dialogue and habits of doubt and negative self talk and fill your mind with truth. truth. truth. You must hear the truth.)

Walk with the King!

I’m linked up here today:

Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!

Filed Under: Women Living Well Wednesdays

The Problem of Envy and Selfish Ambition

June 1, 2011 by Courtney 8 Comments

The day you were born-again you grew in wisdom. Your eyes were opened to god’s wisdom and your life forever changed. There are many who are wise in the world’s eyes but true wisdom comes only from God.

“Wisdom, does not mean knowledge. It does not mean information. It means the application of knowledge with divine power to the reshaping of life, transforming attitudes, transforming behavior into righteousness. Wisdom then is not what I know, wisdom is how I live. And so how I live according to the wisdom of God is a barometer on my spiritual condition.” ~ John McArthur

James tells us in James 3:14 that envy and selfish ambition harbored in our hearts is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic wisdom. Take note of where this envy and selfish ambition lies – it lies quietly in our hearts where no one may see it…but there it lies and it leads us down a path into disorder.

This next quote is LONG lol! but bear with me as John McArthur says it so much better than I ever could:

“So earthly wisdom is spawned by demons, it is reflective of sensual feeling and it goes no further than the fallenness of mankind. That is earthbound sensual demonic wisdom. And that’s the way most people live. But Satan calls it wisdom.

When Eve was in the garden in chapter 3 verse 6, she looked on the fruit because she heard that the tree was able to make one wise. That was a lie. Satan always promises wisdom. And he always promises that you will know and be in the know and understand and be erudite and be educated. But the wisdom of the world proceeds from evil spirits. It proceeds from fallen angels. It proceeds from demons. It proceeds from Satan and his agents who are disguised as ministers of light when in fact they are ministers of darkness.”

This video below touches on worldly wisdom, God’s wisdom and how I pursue peace in my daily life. Peace is my theme word of the year!

James 3:13-18 ESV

Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Selfish ambition leads to disorder. Is there disorder in your home, work place, friendships or church? Perhaps selfish ambition has reared its ugly head. Pursue wisdom from above – be pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Walk with the King!

Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!

I’m linked up here today:

Filed Under: Peace, Women Living Well Wednesdays

The Danger of Bloggers

May 24, 2011 by Courtney 26 Comments

Faith plus nothing equals nothing. You can know more about a person by what they do rather than what they say. I would say this is one of the dangers of bloggers. The world mainly sees my words. But the integrity of my writing comes by how I LIVE out the words I write.

Sally Clarkson once said “The first book anyone ever reads will be your family.” What she meant was – live the truth out in your home first – then write. I want to write from the faith that is lived out in my home and that takes repentance and the pursuit of God daily on my knees.

There is NOTHING good or Godly within me. I am a sinner saved by grace and it is through his strength that I can do anything good at all. My true faith brings good works. Those with a dead faith can substitute words for works. Words are cheap – they are easy…but living out our faith, that’s hard!

In the James 2:14-26 it says “19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! “ And again the danger of bloggers come to mind. We must ask, could some of those who blog in the name of “faith” not actually be of the “faith”? Absolutely! We must test those we follow – do their words and their life match. And the truth is in blog land that is hard to do!

So my two thoughts: 1. Let’s be on guard as to whose voices we listen to – from our Pastor, to our Bible study leader to our favorite blogs. Test their words against God’s word – are they true? Watch their life closely. 2. Let’s look into our own hearts, if someone were watching us closely would they say our walk matches our talk?

(This video was first played on the Good Morning Girls blog. Our groups did a challenge where we mailed care packages to the Mercy House – this challenge is over but you can visit the Mercy House here.)

James 2;14-16 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Walk with the King!

This is linked to Titus 2sdays, We Are That Family and Raising Homemakers.

And please take a minute to vote for Women Living Well and other faith based bloggers here(there are some non-Christian bloggers listed there so beware – test them before trusting them): Circle of Moms Top 25 Faith bloggers.(you can vote for more than one, once a day through June 8th!!)

Walk with the King!

Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!