My Husband Is My Brother In Christ First

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers...Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more." 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 9-10

One thing the Lord impressed upon my heart early in our marriage was to always remember that my husband was and is my brother in Christ first. Jim and I are God's children first. God then brought us together beautifully as husband and wife.


This true perspective of our relationships with God and each other brings an immediate reverence for God and for my husband. If I look at him only as "my husband", I can become entitled and self-righteous. Tapping my toe with hands on hips, I could begin to make selfish demands, spoken and unspoken. This is damaging. I genuinely love and respect my husband deeply, yet my sin nature can be destructive if my heart is not yielded to the Holy Spirit. I want to be the wise woman who builds her house, not the foolish one who tears it down with her own hands. "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." (Proverbs 14:1 NIV)


To read the rest of this post, please go to:

Bread of Life - Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Style!

"When He was at the table with them, He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they could recognize Him...Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread."

Luke 24:30-31

Jim and I were humbly blessed to serve the Lord together in many ways this past weekend at the Love and Respect Conference at our church. One of the ways we were invited to serve was to host and hostess the "Green Room" for the speakers and their ministry partners with whom they travel. While Jim and I would have been quite content serving behind the scenes where truly only God sees, we were humbly blessed to serve the Lord by serving Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs and their precious "peeps". Making their "Green Room" a quiet and refreshing sanctuary for them before, after and in between sessions was lots of fun and a sweet privilege.

On Saturday morning, I was leaving my house at 6 AM and wanted to stop at the local specialty bread shop. Their seasonal "Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Bread" was a perfect selection to complement the Green Room nosh on an autumnal morning. As I pulled out of my driveway, I prayed, "Lord, I'd really love to pick up some of the Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Bread for our guests in the Green Room. I don't know if the bread shop is open at 6 AM, Lord, but You are the way maker. Please make a way for me this morning. Thank you, Lord."

As I pulled up to the bread shop, all the inside lights were on and I could see the bakers working. The sign on the door indicated that the shop opened at 7 AM. It was only a few minutes after 6 AM. Ugh. What to do?

I bashfully, but hopefully, got out of my car and walked up to the door. Knock Knock Knock. The bakers looked up and read my smile, which said to them, "Can you please open the door for me?" Because I frequent the shop with my cherubs, the bakers chuckled at my familiar face and said, "Are you serious?" I nodded.

One of the bakers came over and graciously unlocked the door. Here is our conversation:

Baker: [Laughing in a friendly way.] You want to buy bread at 6 in the morning?

Me: Yes, I do. Thank you so much for opening the door for me. We have some special guests speaking at our church this weekend, and I'd love to have some of the Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Bread for them.

Baker: Sure. Come on in. How many loaves would you like?

Me: Two please. [Paused and prayed for God to bless this baker. Then this is what God put on my heart.] I want you to know that you are an answer to prayer this morning.

Baker: I am? Really? Me...an answer to prayer?

Me: Yes. I prayed that God would make a way for me to get some of this bread for our guests. You were the way. You are my answer to prayer today. You opened the door and welcomed me in.

Baker: [He looked sincerely moved by this, but his words reflected his wounded soul.] Look, my wife believes in God and she takes our children to Bible classes. But me, I don't pray. I am a recent war veteran. I have seen lots of ugly in this world, and...I don't know....but my way of seeing things is different than my wife's and different than yours. Being in a war...that really changed my way of seeing things.

Me: [with a lump in my throat] I am so sorry for all the ugly you have seen through war. Thank you so much for serving our country. I can understand how you would feel the way you do. But you need to know that God loves you, and His heart is grieved over the same ugly sin you have seen. Ugly is not of God. The truth is God loves you, and God even used you today to answer a prayer. [I could see his heart softening a bit.]

Baker: Thanks, lady.

He packed up my baked goods, and we exchanged pleasantries before I went on my way. But I knew this pre-dawn encounter wasn't over. This was a God appointment. While the baker didn't come out and say he didn't believe in God, it was clear that he was very disappointed in God. The ugly he has seen in this world has damaged his view of the true and living God.

After arriving at church and re-setting the Green Room for Saturday morning, one of the Eggerichs' truly precious "peeps", Joanne, came in and said, "This bread is delicious!" I shared with her the bread story and about the baker. I also shared that as I was driving away from the bread shop, God put it on my heart (and hubby said "absolutely") to get the baker a "Love and Respect" book for him and his wife. Joanne asked me if I would share the bread story with Sarah. I happily agreed.

A bit later, I saw Sarah and right away, without me even saying anything, she said, "Joanne told me the bread story! We want to give the baker our DVD teaching set!" Wow! God had touched Sarah's heart for the baker, too. I could tell she was excited to lavish God's love on the baker through the DVD set of THEIR ENTIRE CONFERENCE! Oh I wanted to jump up and down and do a happy dance! I love when God works in tandem!

God is reaching out to this baker and his family. God is sending His personal, intimate love to them! My 6 AM visit to the bread shop had more to do with reaching and satisfying a wounded soul than filling sweet bellies. I love God's serendipitous blessings of allowing us to be His vessels. Isn't that just His way?

Please pray for our baker friend. We will be bringing him these gifts of God's love, hope and truth this week. God's hope does not disappoint. Please pray for God's mighty work in the hearts of him, his wife and his children. We are excited to see what God has planned! Just as the baker opened the door for me to purchase some bread, I pray he opens wide the door of his heart to Jesus, the Bread of Life. Just as God used the baker as my way that morning to buy some bread before hours, may the baker accept The Way into his heart before time is up.

Something tells me God is going to multiply the blessings of the Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Bread! We will keep you posted! Oh, and always remember to tell someone when they are an answer to prayer!

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

Romans 5:5

Love and Respect

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Ephesians 5:33

Two simple words. Two profound commands. Husbands, LOVE your wives. Wives, RESPECT your husbands. (And did you notice the word "must" in there each time?)

Today and tomorrow at my home church, we are hosting the live Love and Respect Marriage Conference with Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs. (I love God's timing and His always perfect attention to detail...the first "Marriage Matters" post is today...the same day as the Love and Respect Conference that has been in the works for over a year!) Emerson and Sarah teach in-depth how these two nuggets of Truth can transform a marriage....(to continue reading this post, please click here: "Titus 2 In Action"

"Marriage should be honored by all..."

Hebrews 13:4

Steeped in God's Word

"I delight in Your decrees;

I will not neglect Your Word."

Psalm 119:16

"Steeped in God's Word". One of our pastors said this recently when teaching about Daniel. Daniel was steeped in God's Word. And Daniel's life was marked by obedience to God because of his love and reverence for God and His Word. Wow!

This is my prayer. I want to be steeped in God's Word. Loving God's Word, I want to steep myself in it daily.

Look at the definition of "steep" from http://www.dictionary.com/

steep–verb (used with object)
1. to soak in water or other liquid, as to soften, cleanse, or extract some constituent: to steep tea in boiling-hot water; to steep reeds for basket weaving.
2. to wet thoroughly in or with a liquid; drench; saturate; imbue.
3.to immerse in or saturate or imbue with some pervading or absorbing influence or agency

I want to soak, drench, saturate and immerse myself in God's Word. I want to soften and cleanse my heart by washing myself with God's Word. I want to extract His love, truth and wisdom and plant it forever in my heart. Dear Lord, steep my heart in Your word!

Today's devotion in "Experiencing God Day by Day" devotional by the Blackaby brothers said this:

"Through the ages, the wisdom found in God's Word has been tested and proven true. It is critical that you measure everything you hear against the Scriptures. Trends...come and go, but God's Word is timeless. Whenever you share an opinion...make sure that is comes from the Scripture and not merely from your best thinking. As long as you base your life choices on the Word of God, time will be your defender and will validate the wisdom of your choices. If, over time, you clearly see you are wrong, ask God's forgiveness and seek a fresh word from God through the Scripture. Then obey that word and watch to see God confirm His wisdom in your life."

Will you join me in this bottomless tea cup of God's truth? Let's steep ourselves in God's Word!

One of the ways I have been steeping myself in His Word is by reading the NIV One-Year Chronological Bible in 2009. What a blessing to take in God's entire Word in one year. My friend, Wendy Pope, is reading through again in 2010. If you'd like to join her and hundreds of others, please visit Wendy at: Read Through The Word!

"Save me, for I am Yours; I have sought out Your precepts."

Psalm 119:94

Treasure Verse Tuesday - Psalm 119:54-56 - Mine!

"Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I remember Your name in the night, O LORD, And I keep Your law. This has become mine, because I kept Your precepts." Psalm 119:54-56 NKVJ

In slowly going through Psalm 119 with the cherubs for morning devotions, so many "treasure verses" pop out! Verses 54-56 above just blessed my heart so much a few weeks ago. My prayer is that it soaks into our cherubs' hearts and that this blesses you today, too!

His statutes are my song. I remember His Name and, by His grace and strength, keep His word. This has become mine BECAUSE I KEEP HIS PRECEPTS. Yielding our hearts to His will. Obeying His word because we love and revere His name.

This just literally delights my soul! This has become MINE! Normally, we are teaching our children not to selfishly say "Mine!" But I pray they make His Word theirs, that His statutes are their song on the pilgrimage here, that they remember His name day and night, that they keep and obey His commands, and that His word and all these blessings of obeying His word become theirs! I want to them to say about God's Word "MINE! MINE! MINE!" Simply because they are HIS HIS HIS!

May the blessings of loving and keeping His word be YOURS as well!

To dig deeper into this Treasure Verse, click here: Blue Letter Bible

What Matters Most

"...train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

1 Timothy 4:7-8

Joshua's team has one more football game left this season. We are very proud of Joshua for how well he has done his first (long-awaited) year of playing tackle football. All of the players have done very well. They'd like to have a few more wins in the records books, but they have shown a lot of strength and growth.

Earlier this week, the team received an e-mail from the head coach. It's just the type of e-mail a parent, especially a praying parent, wants to receive. We are thankful to the Lord for faithfully guiding us to the exact team He wanted our family to be part of this year. We are so thankful for the work He is doing in Joshua's heart through football. Training in godliness: that was our greatest prayer. Here's the e-mail:

"We had a challenging loss yesterday. While our record is disappointing, I believe it is important to focus on and reinforce to our young players, the many positives that are more meaningful in the long run.

+We have a terrific group of boys on our team that work very hard all game long and conduct themselves with great sportsmanship.
+They are becoming better football players each week.
+They treat each other with respect. I have not seen any players blaming each other or pointing out errors. That is the spirit of team that we will continue to reinforce.
+We have seen incredible improvement from our many first year players as well as returning players.
+They are staying positive and having fun.
+We only had three substitutes yesterday so each and every player was tired but continued to fight against a team that was bigger, stronger and has been together since the 70 pound level - three to four seasons.

Our boys play with pride and sportsmanship and act like quality young men which we will continue to celebrate and reinforce. We have two more games, two more opportunities to fight hard, and two more opportunities to win. More importantly, we have the opportunity to continue to teach football and life skills.

This e-mail brought tears of thankfulness to my eyes. We are so thankful Joshua is able to be part of a team with excellent coaches and wonderful young men. (And the best "Team Medic" -- Daddy!)

As I have said before, I am not much of a competitor, so winning doesn't mean much to me personally. But this cheering mom would love Joshua and his teammates to be encouraged by a win on the scoreboard. Perhaps next week's last game. But win or lose on the scoreboard, I know our son and his teammates are winning where it matters most: in strength of character and as friends.

Go Lions!

"So we make it our goal to please Him..."

2 Corinthians 5:9

Thankful Thursday - 10/29/09

“Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”Isaiah 51:3

I am very thankful to the Lord that...

1. God does not change. He remains the same. "I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6

2. God is truth. He speaks and then acts. He promises, and He fulfills every promise. "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 "You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." Joshua 23:14

3. These rainy days are snuggly days with our "tender plants". Lots of teaching opportunities, too! "Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." Deuteronomy 32:2

4. Surprise "stay well days" at home from school with mom (like Tuesday of this week) are fun and heart-warming (and productive through team work...the basement play room is sooooooo clean)! "A cheerful heart is good medicine..." Proverbs 17:22 "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." 3 John 1:12

5. God indeed strengthens my heart by His grace...and even more so when I have cut out all white and beige foods (flour, sugar, rice, pasta) again. And I am thankful for sugar-free ice cream as a little sweet treat. But I am still wishing Ben & Jerry's would bring back Carb Karma Chocolate! (Yes, I have requested that on their site!) OK, here is where I wish God had mentioned ice cream in scripture! It's one of those simple pleasures in my life. "It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods..." Hebrews 13:9 (is ice cream a ceremonial food in my life? Hmmmmm....)

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

Psalm 50:23