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How to Trust God When You Don’t Feel Ready
Almost one year ago, my baby boy arrived three weeks before he was due. I had gone to my doctor’s office for a routine stress test, and since I wasn’t feeling great, asked my husband to come with me at the last minute. When the nurse said, “We need to send you to the hospital for monitoring,” I was stunned. Still, my doctor assured me everything was probably normal, and I’d get to go home later that day. My husband dropped me off so he could get our hospital bags just in case. Two hours later, “just in case” turned into our doctor’s announcement: “You’re going to have a baby…
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A Love Story of Eight Months and Beyond
Right now, my gait is more like a waddle. I can no longer see my toes when I stand up, and if something drops to the ground, it’s dead to me. The definition of love that my college Bible professor gave me has taken on new meaning during my pregnancy: Love is purposing the good of another. Right now, everything about my body is purposing my baby’s good—regardless of my own comfort or lack thereof. During the pregnancy period, God teaches us moms to give up our interests for our baby and sets the tone for the rest of our lives as mothers. The short version: This life is not…
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How We Met: My Real-Life Romance Story
I’m delighted to be a guest on Shannon Vannatter’s Inkslinger blog today to share the story of how James and I met–and offer a glimpse into the setting of my upcoming novel, Take My Hand, releasing this December. Be sure to follow the link to Shannon’s blog and enter to win a Kindle copy of one of my currently published novels! post excerpt I love God’s creativity in pairing two people together. As much as I enjoy the creative challenge of writing fiction, I would never have thought to begin my romance story the way He did. In my early thirties, I found myself still single, though wanting to find…
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New Release! For Love’s Sake Bible Study
Good things take time, and this Bible study is one of them. Though it’s been several years in the making, I’m beyond excited to share it with you! I’m one of thirty contributors to this project, published through Lighthouse Bible Studies and compiled by Beebe Kauffman. A huge shout-out also goes to my friend and gifted writer Katy Kauffman for her part in making this publication possible. For Love’s Sake: The Life-Changing Facets of Love in 30 Bible Studies, Devotions, and Christian Living Articles is designed to refresh and challenge our perspective on loving well in the multi-faceted areas of life. About the Bible Study Let all that you do…
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Author Chat with Julie Lavender on Her Book, 365 Ways to Love Your Child
When we think of love, our minds typically run toward romantic love, especially around Valentine’s Day. While I will forever champion the sacred, intimate love between a husband and wife, I am also so grateful for the other types of love that enrich my life. Married or single, we can all choose to experience God’s love for us as our Savior, Lord, and Father. We all also have parents, and many of you are parents yourselves. The parent-child relationship is an incredible opportunity to express love. That’s why today, I am so excited and honored to introduce you to my friend Julie Lavender who shares about her new book 365…
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The Marriage Ark: Review & Giveaway!
Are you single seeking a relationship, dating, engaged, or married? If you fall into any of those categories, The Marriage Ark is relevant for you. Author Margaret Phillips, a licensed marriage and family therapist, uses Noah’s ark as a metaphor for building a marriage that will last. The preparation, choosing a foundation to build, applies to any reader, single or someone with a significant other. She makes the case that before we can do anything else to ensure a strong, healthy relationship, we must first examine ourselves. She says, “When I think of preparing the ground for marriage-the building site-I find the site is YOU. Yes, you and the heart…
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How to Have an Extraordinary First Year of Marriage, Pt. 2
Last time, we saw six choices that can help make our first year of marriage—or any year, for that matter—extraordinary. Today, we’re going to look at six more. Whether we’re engaged, newly married, or married for decades, we can all start today, by God’s grace, to make our marriages the best they can be. #7: Be interested in what interests your spouse. James tells me he’s read more books since meeting me than he has in the rest of his lifetime. That’s a credit to him for wanting to care about something that interests me. On the other hand, I’ve gotten into mountain biking because of him and really enjoy…
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How to Have an Extraordinary First Year of Marriage, Pt. 1
Just over a year ago, my husband and I said “I do.” Like most new couples, we received lots of advice, and we welcomed what wisdom others had to share. However, one reoccurring comment troubled me: “The first year of marriage is hard.” Although I understood that we would both have adjustments to make, I didn’t like this “survivalist” mentality. After all, Jesus came so that we could have life “more abundantly” (John 10:10), and surely that concept applied to marriage, part of His design. But what did I know? Well, I have good news. The first year of marriage doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can truly…
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4 Core Strengths in Marriage, Pt. 2
Today, I’m excited to share the second part of this Core Strengths series by my friend and author Tami Myer who blogs at Manna for Marriage. If you missed last week’s post, you can go back and review the first two strengths needed for your marriage by clicking here. Personally, this posts are timely, since James and I celebrate our first anniversary this week (social distancing style). I’m so grateful for an amazing first year of marriage, and next week, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned this first year. But for now, please join me in welcoming Tami once more as she shares her last two points with us. Post…
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4 Core Strengths in Marriage, Pt. 1
If you received my newsletter this month (if not, you can get next month’s by clicking here), you may be looking forward to my friend Tami’s post as much as I am. Tami blogs at Manna for Marriage where she encourages and equips couples in their marriages. As my husband and I near our one-year anniversary, I asked if she would share some advice for building a strong foundation for the future. Well, I have good news. She shared so much excellent material with me that we decided to break it into two posts: this week and next. Please join me in welcoming Tami today! By Tami Myer Every marriage…
