The week after my Mom passed away in March, my brothers and their families and I found ourselves in the difficult, but perhaps familiar, position of having to go through all her things. We did this so soon partly because we were all together in one city anyway, so we may as well get it done
Think about the reason you are trying to be in control. Because there is so much going on in your life. How silly of us is it to want to, and try to, be more in control during these craziest of times? As if we don't have enough to do by simply trying to keep our heads on straight and get from one day to the next.
I remember feeling like my heart was being crushed from the inside out after leaving my abusive marriage to a pastor 4 years ago. I felt like my entire being was coming apart—like I was shedding a part of myself. It literally felt like death. Throughout my abusive marriage, I was slowly dying on the inside. But after leaving the relationship, I experienced a new wave of death. This death didn't feel slow and sad like it did during the course of my 4-year marriage.
There are other important issues that take up our time and attention. Where does the family fit into our roles as godly businesswomen? God places tremendous value on the family is which has often been acknowledged as one of the "building blocks" of society. Successful families are vital to the health of any nation. The woman described in Proverbs 31 is able to focus not only on her business, but also on her home.
The first Mother’s Day after losing my child was devastating for me. I did not want to go to church or hear the word “mother” at all. Going to baby showers was almost out of the question. For years I asked myself, “How will I ever get past this?” I just couldn’t see it.
I thought I would share this remarkable new development of tackling my middle age spread even if it doesn't apply to anyone else but me. It is my prayer, God willing that other women can benefit.
Many of us, being women of God, strive at being the “Virtuous Woman”. We are the wife, mother, and companion to our immediate families. Not to mention, the homemaker, taxi cab driver, and all of the other extra activities that go along with the job. In contrast, there are many women who back away from this passage of scripture, because they feel that her shoes are too big to walk in.
The Calvinist preacher stirred up a hornet's nest when he said on his "Ask Pastor John" podcast that women should never be allowed to teach seminary classes. Piper said: "If it is unbiblical to have women as pastors, how can it be biblical to have women who function in formal teaching and mentoring capacities to train and fit pastors for the very calling from which the mentors themselves are excluded?"
I have no idea how long it took for the emotions I had locked away to begin to rise to the surface. Having the freedom to feel and express emotions at all seemed foreign. The grief was overwhelming ...
By Shenita Etwaroo The residual effects of any abuse can be devastating, however, when most people think about abuse – be it spousal, parental, etc. – they tend to focus on physical abuse. Mental and emotional abuse can be just as if not more damaging, especially when the abuser is someone close to the abused. Perhaps […]
When you think of the word "pornography," does it conjure up the image of a scruffy guy with messy hair in the basement watching porn in his underpants?
Why wouldn't a Christian run to her Christ and, instead, run into the arms of another lover like pornography? The answer is obvious: She doesn't know Him.
I wish cancer weren't a thing, but it is, and I'm off to help my baby sister search out some answers, and we will be brave together.
I've always been one to stand out in a crowd. Not because I'm beautiful or tall or loud or all that interesting, but because I'm fat. At times, I've been the widest person in the room.
If we approach the subject of women in ministry holistically from the point of view of what God has said and demonstrated in His word through the Holy Spirit, rather than ‘what the apostle Paul or apostle Peter said’ in these texts, maybe, just maybe the author of God’s word (the Holy Spirit) would be able to enlighten us on the very mind of God concerning this issue.
I am the first lady and my husband is the pastor of the church we attend. We have been married for 15 years. Recently, my mind pushed me to do something that I normally would not do. Because of the reckless spending habits of my husband over the years, I secretly opened a savings account in my name that he is unaware of. We still operate the joint account together, but I am scared of waking up one morning with nothing to fall back on. Is my action wise or foolish?
When a mother has this protective love for her son she becomes fiercely protective of his life, crippling his emotional growth and tying him to her apron strings as 'Momma's Boy.' This tendency has been documented even from Biblical times in the story of Rebekah, who encouraged her favorite son Jacob to steal his brother's blessing through impersonation.
Nobody understands abusive relationships unless they have been in that situation. It is pointless to explain to people why we stayed in that relationship. These abusers take all of our self-esteem, our confidence, then they slowly take our family and friends away.
So, your husband is sold out to Christ, but where do you stand? Do you stand behind him, or beside him? It is disturbing, but I have seen that many wives of true men of God, including pastors, ministers, evangelists, etc. have not themselves accepted God’s love, truly repented of their sins, inwardly given their lives to Christ and turned away from the ways of this world. Therefore, a personal relationship with the Father in their lives is nonexistent.
The feeling of unworthiness is expressed in various forms ranging from distorted body image, resentment toward husbands and children, perfectionism and comparisons with different women.
The tradition of mothering day was not carried to America with the first English Settlers. In wasn't until 1870 when Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, called on an international Mother's Day.
When you seek God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding, everyday will come and pass and you will be smiling and laughing throughout the day, even though you would have done a lot of things during the day.
If your husband is not loving you as Christ loves the church and is increasingly being abusive toward you, then he has become your enemy. He has set himself up as an adversary against you. In the Hebrew language, adversary is translated as Satan. Yes, your abusive pastor-husband has made himself a Satan in your life.
I have wrestled with poor body image issues for as long as I can remember. My first memory of my body image was when I was about 6 or 7 and an aunt said to me, "If you keep eating that way you are going to be as big as a house."
To the outside world, her husband often appears charming, a hard worker, dedicated to his family. But his desperation to look that way is so highly important to him that he carefully prunes the image in public saving his deep-seated anger for those behind closed doors. His accusations are unreasonable and unfair always directing attention away from himself.
Some will battle their depression with exercise, some with hobbies, some with recreation, and some with television. Some are satisfied and believe this to be the answer, but there will always be another episode of despair without the relationship of Jesus Christ. At least, this is what I've found over my lifetime.
By M. Marsh “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling […]
I thought to myself they were probably just as apprehensive as I was, maybe more so because they don't live around all these people. So when my ex-husband and his family walked into the restaurant, I gave them a minute to get their bearings and approached my ex-husband.
Women suffer in silence for various reasons. They may be ashamed or embarrassed to let the world know that they are being violated. Wrong social attitudes especially in eastern countries are imbibed from childhood. In a survey conducted by the International Institute of Population Studies in India, 54% of women thought it was alright for women to be beaten by their husbands. 51% of men thought so too.
We also know that finding time for prayer can be a challenge. We make excuses. We get caught up in caring for our children and all the responsibilities of our day, leaving prayer a distant thought.
If you want to make prayer a priority but cannot seem to find the time, here are some ideas that may help your find time to pray
If you catch yourself falling into gossip - STOP!! If you don't pass on the gossip there is no where for it to go. When you are faced with a statement that may be gossip, check out the facts. Let the gossip end with you and remember the Golden Rule: "if you don't want people to gossip about you, then don't participate in gossip.
