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One of the first things that 15 years of marriage has taught me is that when you’ve been married this long and have gone through a lot together, you’ll do some crazy stuff! In honor of our anniversary we decided to celebrate by getting “ring tattoos”. A friend of mine said, “Pain to symbolize the pain of 15 years?” 🙂 Like many marriages, we really have had our fair share of pain though. I’d do it all over again, pain and all–that’s how much I love this man!

What 15 years of marriage has taught me... You'll do some crazy stuff together, like get ring tattoos to celebrate!

15 years celebrated with ring tattoos–Shout out to Josh at Davis Street Tattoo in Dallas for taking such great care of us!

What 15 years of marriage has taught me – Eric:

That you shouldn’t joke or say things facetiously that are negative to your spouse.
That when your wife knows she’s right, you probably shouldn’t bet against her…be it music artists, a certain date or a sitcom theme song from the ‘80s. 🙂
That when you’re at a restaurant and you order something that looks good, your wife will want a bite.
That when you have a nice sweatshirt that’s comfortable, your wife is going to want to wear it.
That it’s very beneficial to identify your wife’s love language and use it. This will only work to your benefit—showing them love in their love language, not just your own. (see this post here)
That when your wife is tired, hungry or hormonal, you should just back off and give her some space. And definitely don’t say anything about why you think she might be so cranky.
That sports aren’t the most important thing in life. (Tracy just said, “Yeah, apparently you have to have time for hunting and fishing too!”) After watching football on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Thursday, maybe you shouldn’t watch the World Championships of Curling on Friday…might be best just to let that one go.
That when your wife says, “I don’t care”, it really means, “no”.

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I’m Thankful For…

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1 (ESV)

I had anticipated sharing some of the things that I’m thankful for this year in last week’s post, but it didn’t seem to fit in very well with 6 Ways to Stay Thankful Year Round. So this week, I thought I’d share some of those things with you. This has been a pretty big year for me with lots of changes and scary new opportunities. I’ve experienced a whole lot of new ways to be brave this year. Maybe you have too?

Here are just a handful of the things I’m thankful for this year:

I’m thankful for the usual 🙂 …my husband, my children, my family, my church, my job, my strong friends, my volunteer work and for God’s faithfulness (He ALWAYS comes through).

I’m thankful for being able to cultivate some relationships this year and to make some new friends.

I’m thankful for God always bringing me through some hard and seemingly impossible situations this year (financial, career, and relational).

I’m thankful for new abilities, new courage, new opportunities, and teachable moments (both for me to be taught and for me to teach others).

I’m thankful for the strength and Continue reading →

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

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Learn How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

**Please read the companion posts too: How to Recognize Love and Feel Loved by Others, and subsequent posts on What If God’s Love Isn’t Enough? and Recognizing God’s Love by Building Your Relationship with Him–Part 1 and Part 2.

Feeling unloved or unwanted is one of the 9 Common Causes of Insecurity that we previously discussed. When we feel loved, we tend to feel good about ourselves. The opposite is true too, and that’s why we can become insecure (click here to read more posts on overcoming insecurity and poor self-esteem and how to realize your true value/worth). There might be several reasons for someone feeling unloved. Below are some examples of the types of people who might sometimes feel unloved or unwanted.

People who might feel unloved–You might see yourself in one or more of these examples.

Those from a family of divorce
Those who have gone through a divorce themselves
Those on the receiving end of infidelity
Those who have lost a job
Adopted children
Those on the receiving end of a breakup
Those living in a dysfunctional family
Those from a family of absentee parents
Those from an abusive home or situation
Victims of sexual abuse
Those who have made a lot of mistakes (or feel like they’ve messed up so bad they don’t deserve to be loved)
Those who have difficulty finding a significant other
Those who have experienced rejection in any form

An unloved girl in the bible

In the bible, Leah was married to Jacob, but she was not his first choice as a wife. Her father actually deceived Jacob into thinking that he was marrying Leah’s sister, Rachel. Jacob eventually did marry Rachel too, and he favored her above Leah. Leah felt unloved by her husband (and rightly so) which made her insecure and believe that if she gave her husband children then he might finally love her.

“So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”” Genesis 29:32 (NLT)

You can’t earn love. It must be freely given. #feeling unloved

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Come to the understanding that you are loved and wanted by God

People often try to overcome feeling unloved the same way Leah did—by trying to earn it. Continue reading →

How to Lead Someone to Christ

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How to Lead Someone to Christ

Knowing how to lead someone to Christ may seem like a no-brainer to some. However, for me this was an issue that made me extremely nervous. I was always afraid I wouldn’t do it right. Even though I had seen and heard people be led to the Lord countless times in church, I still questioned myself on how to do it. To be honest, I hadn’t had much experience personally on how to lead someone to Christ. I had only led my kids through the prayer and a couple of their little friends (it’s a lot less threatening with kids for some reason!).

One time though, I had the opportunity to lead a very special friend through the process. Talk about being a hot mess! I was terrified. This was the most important decision that they would ever make in their life, and I didn’t want to screw them up. We said a prayer out loud together (I had them repeat after me). To be completely honest, I really don’t even know what I said because I was such a nervous wreck. In my efforts to make sure we did it correctly, I pulled out my iPhone, opened my Bible app, and read Romans 10:9. Then, I googled how to lead someone to Christ just to double check! I know…I’m a goofball sometimes! 🙂 I felt a lot better because it really was as easy as it seemed. For some reason though, it just didn’t seem like it should be that easy.

In an effort to help you, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I would like to share with you how to lead someone to Christ. Continue reading →

In Loving Memory: Cinders

Instead of Funny Friday, today I have dedicated this post in loving memory of my forever friend, Cinders. Today would have been her 14th birthday. She was such a blessing in my life (and my family’s) for all these years. Painfully, we lost her this week. We have an aching hole as our hearts heal. This verse has given me some comfort this week…

“The lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 34:18 (NLT)

Please keep my family in your prayers as we continue to mourn her loss. And please…go snuggle your pet with lots of extra love this week.

You’ll Meet Me in the Light -Author Unknown

I know that you can’t see me,
but trust me I’m right here.
Although I’m up in heaven,
my love for you stays near.

So often I see you crying,
many times you call my name.
I want so much to lick your face
and ease some of your pain.

I wish that I could make you see
that Heaven indeed is real.
If you could see me run and play
how much better you would feel.

But our loving God has promised me
that when the time is right,
you’ll step out of the darkness and
meet me in the light.

Flaws, Imperfections, Mistakes: Are they really all bad?

Sometimes our flaws, imperfections and mistakes can be a trigger for insecurity. I kind of bundled these in with “appearances and imperfections” as one of the 9 Common Causes of Insecurity. Throughout the bible we see character after character that appeared flawed or unusable. For example, Moses felt that he had an imperfection that would hinder him from doing what God wanted.

“But Moses pleaded with the lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” Exodus 4:10 (NLT)

If I’ve learned one thing though, it’s that God uses the unlikely. This gives me hope…That even through all my flaws, imperfections and mistakes (both internal and external), God can and WILL still use me.

God uses the unlikely.

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“[No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are” 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (AMP)

Jesus, himself, was unlikely…a baby, from Nazareth (considered a lowly town in Galilee), born in a manger (feeding trough) in a stable, and born of lowly parents. This is not at all how most would expect the King of Kings and Savior of the world to come—unlikely. Jesus’ blood line was also unlikely…including a liar/cheater (Jacob), an ugly/unwanted/unloved woman (Leah), a betrayer (Judah), a woman who acted like a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law (Tamar), a prostitute (Rahab), a murderer and adulterer (David), a polygamist and sex-addict (Solomon), and many kings who turned away from God. Basically, Jesus descended from some pretty flawed and shady characters! Continue reading →

9 Common Causes of Insecurity

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9 Common Causes of Insecurity

The last couple of weeks we’ve been talking some about self-worth and self-image (see the posts here and here). Those of us who have negative pictures of ourselves deal with INSECURITY. Actually, I would venture to say that most people deal with insecurity in one form or another. This is also not just an issue that women deal with (notice most of the examples in the scriptures below are from insecure men).

Insecurity is not a gender-specific issue. #insecurity

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Insecurity is not a gender-specific issue. I’ve learned that even though men and women may be insecure for different reasons, the root causes and overcoming them are the same. I’ve also discovered that there are 9 common causes of insecurity (there are definitely more, but these are the most common).

9 Common Causes of Insecurity:

Comparing yourself to others
Appearances and imperfections (external or internal)
Acceptance by others (i.e. fitting in, other’s opinions, etc.)
Feeling unloved or unwanted
Not measuring up to the standards of others (culture/society, media, etc.)
Fear
Failure (fear of OR previous failures, bad decisions, wrong living, etc.)
Tragic incident or circumstances (death, abuse, infidelity, etc.)
Getting significance in wrong things (job, gifts/talents, spouse, children, appearance, material possessions)

Happy, Healthy & Prosperous

Life Skills for Success ~ Pressing Toward the Mark

Search Results for: how to pray

What 15 Years of Marriage Has Taught Me…

What 15 Years of Marriage Has Taught Me…Just a few things we’ve learned over the years…

What 15 years of marriage has taught me – Eric:

I’m Thankful For…

I’m Thankful For…

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1 (ESV)

Here are just a handful of the things I’m thankful for this year:

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

People who might feel unloved–You might see yourself in one or more of these examples.

An unloved girl in the bible

Come to the understanding that you are loved and wanted by God

How to Lead Someone to Christ

How to Lead Someone to Christ

In an effort to help you, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I would like to share with you how to lead someone to Christ. Continue reading →

In Loving Memory: Cinders

In Loving Memory: Cinders

You’ll Meet Me in the Light -Author Unknown

I know that you can’t see me,
but trust me I’m right here.
Although I’m up in heaven,
my love for you stays near.

So often I see you crying,
many times you call my name.
I want so much to lick your face
and ease some of your pain.

I wish that I could make you see
that Heaven indeed is real.
If you could see me run and play
how much better you would feel.

But our loving God has promised me
that when the time is right,
you’ll step out of the darkness and
meet me in the light.

Flaws, Imperfections, Mistakes: Are they really all bad?

Flaws, Imperfections, Mistakes: Are they really all bad?

9 Common Causes of Insecurity

9 Common Causes of Insecurity

9 Common Causes of Insecurity:

Examples in scripture: Continue reading →

TOP 10 POSTS OF 2014:

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What 15 Years of Marriage Has Taught Me…Just a few things we’ve learned over the years…

What 15 years of marriage has taught me – Eric:

Share this:

I’m Thankful For…

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1 (ESV)

Here are just a handful of the things I’m thankful for this year:

Share this:

How to Overcome Feeling Unloved or Unwanted

People who might feel unloved–You might see yourself in one or more of these examples.

An unloved girl in the bible

Come to the understanding that you are loved and wanted by God

Share this:

How to Lead Someone to Christ

In an effort to help you, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I would like to share with you how to lead someone to Christ. Continue reading →

Share this:

In Loving Memory: Cinders

You’ll Meet Me in the Light -Author Unknown

I know that you can’t see me, but trust me I’m right here. Although I’m up in heaven, my love for you stays near.

So often I see you crying, many times you call my name. I want so much to lick your face and ease some of your pain.

I wish that I could make you see that Heaven indeed is real. If you could see me run and play how much better you would feel.

But our loving God has promised me that when the time is right, you’ll step out of the darkness and meet me in the light.

Share this:

Flaws, Imperfections, Mistakes: Are they really all bad?

Share this:

9 Common Causes of Insecurity

9 Common Causes of Insecurity:

Examples in scripture: Continue reading →

Share this:

I know that you can’t see me,
but trust me I’m right here.
Although I’m up in heaven,
my love for you stays near.

So often I see you crying,
many times you call my name.
I want so much to lick your face
and ease some of your pain.

I wish that I could make you see
that Heaven indeed is real.
If you could see me run and play
how much better you would feel.

But our loving God has promised me
that when the time is right,
you’ll step out of the darkness and
meet me in the light.