|
Aug. 19, 2009
Keeping the Love Alive
How many marriages seem to end with the words, "But I just don't love him (or her) anymore!" Too many.
I've had too many friends who had what appeared to be strong marriages, but who, in the end, claimed they just didn't love their spouse anymore and they decided that ending the marriage would fix that problem.
Thankfully, there's a better, God-honoring way to recapture the love we felt on the day we said "I Do!"
Many of us have read, or even said ourselves, that love is an action word not an emotion, and that part is true enough. A marriage can last even if the feelings that first our hearts have faded, just by determining to honor the vows we made on our wedding day. There is something to be said about simply being determined to keep our commitments. However, we can also help love to last by keeping the memory of why we fell in love in the first place alive, long after the routine of the everyday has replaced the excitement of courtship, with three simple practices: The REST HERE...Keeping the Love Alive
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families 
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Aug. 19, 2009
Single OR Married: Intimacy = Not a Sliding Scale, But a Step
Dr. Michael Lawrence, a Pastor at Capitol Hill along with Mark Dever and others, put out what I think is an EXCELLENT series on Christian sexuality, dating, and marriage, with one topic directed at men, one topic for women, and Q & A sessions for both groups.
Jerod has grouped them all here in one nice & neat blog post for ease of accessibility. Each selection takes roughly one hour, and they are all highly relevant and quite engaging. Please take time to listen to any and all of them that fit your needs or interest.
I want to share one particular clip that gives a taste of the unique wisdom you'll find in the series...
The REST HERE....
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Jul. 20, 2009
Don't put up with it anymore...
|
 There are so many women and men that I know who have been harmed by the entertainment and marketing industries. Sex seems to sell more burgers, body spray, and laundry detergent than any other form of marketing. It is harmful to say the least.
I have watched my self image deplete after trying to compare myself to the touched up versions of celebrities and models. I have witnessed the life being drained from men I knew who were in bondage to pornography. I well understood when it started as I witnessed my own sons begin to be drawn to the women on billboards and the mannequins dressed in lingerie at the stores in the mall. I have witnessed the demise and falling away of too many men who have been affected by this acceptable form of pornography. I say "No more!"
God designed men to find the physical aspect of a woman appealing. He made women differently, so I believe most times it is hard for us to understand just how much of a struggle this is for them and why the media makes it worse. After hearing my 8-year-old child say that he can't get the girls out of his head that he saw in the picture on the road (a billboard), I now understand that males are just wired differently and have trouble just "not thinking about it." The media takes advantage of this. I find too few of them are willing to stand up to these companies and producers of such filth. Even worse, few women are willing. This shouldn't be.
The Rest HERE!
|
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Jun. 19, 2009
At the Well - Nag is Not My Name
"How many times do I have to say something before that man will get up and help with the kids!?"
"Doesn't he realize how stressful my day is?!"
"How hard is it to put the towels in the hamper?"
"It would be nice if he would just do one thing without me needing to ask him...."
Have you ever said something like this to your husband?
Or maybe more likely, have you thought them?
The rest HERE....Nag Is Not My Name
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Jun. 3, 2009
At the Well - Feminine Power
I wonder if you are aware of the influence you wield over your husband--for good or for bad. We have feminine power and charms that can subtly turn the hearts of our men.
Satan knows this and he makes the most of it! He used this knowledge to tempt the man in the very beginning. Satan knew that if he was to tempt Adam first, that Adam would have stood up for truth and told the serpent to get off! It was a different matter with Eve. She was more easily persuaded, but more than that, the serpent knew that she had the power to sway her husband.
Basically men want to please their wives. They want to make them happy, because that makes them happy. Just as women have a weakness to deception; men have a tendency to be influenced by their wives. This may not be obvious in their initial reactions and response to what we say, but in the end, our words and influence can determine their behavior and course of action. We can build up our marriage or we can destroy it. We hold this power. It is in our hands. No wonder Proverbs 14:1 says, "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands."
Read the rest Here...
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Apr. 22, 2009
In the sharing of duties in your home, are you and your husband satisfied?
In the sharing of duties in your home (childcare, work, house cleaning), are you and your husband satisfied with the way things get done? If not, how would you or he like it to change?
Mark and I believe that I should do the domestic duties in our home of cleaning and cooking, although he does make TERRIFIC breakfasts on the weekends! I, also, do most of the childcare, since I homeschool the children and am a "stayer-at-home" (see below for explanation). I have NO PROBLEM with accepting these as my duties in my role as keeper of the home! I believe that God gave me the role in Titus 2 of being a home worker! I am to be WORKING at home, which if done as it should be done will result in a clean, organized and efficiently run home and family, as is pictured in Proverbs 31. Is this always the case at our home? No....but it is most of time, I believe, because we are all fulfilling our God-given responsibilities.
Let's look at Titus 2:3-5. Note that in the parentheses is the direct translation from the Greek. This helps us to understand exactly what the writer meant! "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may teach sober [instruct/chasten/correct], the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible [self controlled], pure [modest], workers at home [home workers/domesticators/stayer at home/good housekeeper], kind [good], being subject to their own husbands [obedient], so that the word of God will not be dishonored."
Now, that's pretty clear and straightforward as to our role as wives!
Mark's role is biblical, also, in that he is the provider, protector, and priest of our home. He provides for us, is our protector and he is our priest, meaning that he conducts family worship and devotions!
We are very satisfied in our roles and wouldn't alter them in any way! God's plan is perfect and we never seek to alter His plan for our lives! After all, HE knows what we need better than we do! In obedience to God's plan we will truly find perfect peace!
~ Lisa
Subscribe to God's Plan For Families
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
Apr. 13, 2009
Have I "Arrived" Yet in my Marriage?
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you [Greek - reveal; disclose]. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Philippians 3:12-16
Whew! Now I can relax. No need to be perfect quite yet, although I should have that as my goal. I have not arrived, nor will not arrive until I get to Heaven. What I must do now is:
- Keep running the race
- Focus on what's ahead
- Strive for perfection, but know that it is only possible moment-by-moment through Jesus!
- Pray that God will make all things clear to me, so that I might strive to live up to what I know to be true, according to His Word!
~ Lisa Metzger
|
• Comments
(0) • Post A Comment! •
Permanent Link
|
|
