Category Archives: Confessions of a Christian Wife

Book Reviews, Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Speaking To The Heart of Your Child

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I shared with my church family last Wednesday night about how excited I am about the National Center of Biblical Parenting coming to our church to do a Parenting Solutions Seminar. I came across this organization, when I received the calling to children’s ministry and was researching curriculum and ideas. I followed a link from a DiscipleLand link that led me to the NSBP. As I perused their site I found myself saying, yes! Yes! This is great stuff!

Why do I feel it is great?

This organization is focused on teaching you how to apply the precepts of God to your parenting. How many times have you heard a parent say, this kid didn’t come with an instruction book? 

But the truth is they did.

God has faithfully left us His Word…

 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

So the problem really is not that our children didn’t come with an instruction book… it’s that we, as parents, need help learning how to read the Instruction Book and how to apply it to our parenting.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

If you have ever looked at your kids and said How many times have I told you?

or Do you not understand the words coming out my mouth?

(or maybe that’s just me :-/)

I think a lot of parents feel like they come home and all they do is “get on” to their kids until bedtime.

I think a lot of parents are growing weary of correcting the same behavior over and over and they just finally say “whatever”

I think a lot of parents feel as if they are losing their mind… Remember that one of the signs of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results… so stop.

Stop now and choose to look at your child in a new way.

Choose to give your style of parenting a remake.

Choose to let someone teach you how the Word of God works in parentings… learn to live out the Word inside your home and see it at work in your heart and the heart of your child. I don’t know about you, but I want to speak to the heart of my child… not just correct their outward behavior or control their circumstances.

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Everything we need to reach the heart of our children is in the Word of God.

Parenting comes with many trials and many tribulations… so parenting requires great perseverance. It is that perseverance through these trials that will bring about proven character in your child… and yes, precious one, in you as well.

 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 3:3-5

 

Yes, everything we need to reach the heart of our child and to be successful at this parenting thing is found in the Scriptures. It’s all right there in the Word of God.

The Christian Parenting Handbook will teach you to find it and apply it. You’ll discover simple advice like this:

Grouping offenses around character qualities is freeing for many parents. First, it provides some perspective. Instead of working on fifty different negative behaviors, now you can focus on three or four positive character qualities. Furthermore, once you develop a strategy for character development, you begin to see many of the offenses in your child’s life as opportunities for growth.

This approach also helps parents focus on what their kids need to be doing instead of simply focusing on the wrong behavior. Listen to your words of correction. Are they primarily focused on the problem, or on the solution?

In this book you will learn how to take the Word of God and realize that in it is all the parenting tools that you need that can apply to your own unique and beautiful children. My favorite thing about this book is that it takes away the formulas and steps and procedures that are in a lot of parenting books. I don’t know about you but I rarely even cook from a recipe… there is always something that I am out of, something we don’t buy, something I don’t like, something I forget to do or forgot to get… so I definitely can’t parent from one.

This is why I recommend purchasing this book… it takes parenting out of the box.

Trust me… you will not regret it.

Purchase the The Christian Parenting Handbook here.

bookandhandbook

 

 

I recommend any of their Parenting Tools. Go here and find the parenting solutions you need to meet the needs of your individual child and your own unique family. You can also purchase the Handbook Companion Guide here.

Parenting seminar

 

If you live in the North Alabama area I would love for you to come and meet Dr Turansky and Dr Miller in person as they come to my church to share with us. They are very laid back and are coming ready and willing to spend one on one time with the attending parents.

You can register to attend here: Register for Parenting Solutions Seminar

 

 

Disclaimer: “As a member of The Christian Parenting Handbook Launch Team, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and the opportunity to promote related giveaways and activities to my readers. All opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.”

Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Parenting Seminar

Everyday Parents

 

Who:

Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN

authors of The Christian Parenting Handbook

founders of the National Center of Biblical Parenting

 

What:

Parenting Solutions Seminar

 

When:

Saturday, June 1st

             8:45am – 12pm

Where:

Shiloh Baptist Church

             3941 Hwy 36 East

              Somerville AL 35670

 

Why:

You’ll receive practical, biblical advice for your parenting in a fun and uplifting environment. Although all children are different, a few new ideas will help you tailor solutions to meet the needs of your family. You’ll leave with ideas you can put into practice right away.

Using stories, humor and plenty of illustrations, Dr. Turansky and Mrs. Miller will help you touch the hearts of your kids. Strategies directed to the heart help children make lasting changes, but often require that parents think differently about the way they work with their kids. When parents change the way they parent, kids change the way they live. Having the right tools makes all the difference.

Teach your children how to be internally motivated using the God-given conscience resident in their hearts. The conscience prompts children to do what’s right, deal with wrongs, be honest, and care about others. This seminar will teach you practical tools for changing everyday problems into learning experiences to help children develop the skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives.

This parenting seminar offers you hope and encouragement by helping you…
• Identify the four parts of the conscience.
• Learn how to adjust the words you say to strengthen the conscience of a child.
• Take home a script that helps your child process correction wisely and powerfully.
• Know how to approach difficult problems like defiance, lying, rebellion, and meanness.
• Teach your children to take initiative to show kindness, help out, and add energy to your family instead of draining it.
• Help your children listen to the voice of God in their own hearts.
• Work with kids ages 2-18 in ways that will prepare them for a strong future.
• Raise children who are internally-motivated and want to do what’s right.

Question and answer times provide parents with opportunities to present real problems they’re facing and hear suggestions.

 

How:

 

By clicking here: Register Today

Or email:nvaughn@shilohchurch.info

 

 

Parenting seminar

 

Cost is $25 per individual and $35 per couple

Child care is available.

As well as classes for children up to 12 years old.

 

***Please share this information with friends and families!

Book Reviews, Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

The Giveaways Begin!

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Remember that Mayday I sent out?

Well now is the opportunity to get some tools in your hands for free!

The giveaway begins!

Beginning today until the official Launch Week (April 29th – May 5th) of the The Christian Parenting Handbook you can enter to win one of these 5 prizes right here on my site:

parentingshifts5 (2)

 

Set of 5 Parenting Shifts eBooks by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller,  RN BSN

The Parenting Shifts Series gives specific parenting advice for that particular age group. A team of experts, working together with Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN, have collaborated to bring you the best in a heart-based approach to parenting at any age. Wherever you are in your parenting journey these books will help you move forward with confidence and effectiveness.

Set Includes:

• The Baby Adventure (Birth to 12 Months)
• Toddlers on the Move (Ages 12-36 Months)
• Preschool Explorers (Ages 3-5 Years)
• Elementary Foundations (Ages 5-8 Years)
• Cultivating Responsibility (Ages 9-12 Years)

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Biblical Parenting University

This online class will give you the practical tools to develop more responsibility and cooperation in your home. Parents often comment that giving instructions to their children is the greatest source of conflict in family life. Nagging and angry episodes on the part of parents and kids result when children don’t cooperate. In this class you’ll learn how to adjust your own action point to teach your kids when you mean business. You’ll also learn a five step instruction routine that teaches children the skills they’ll need to follow instructions for the rest of their lives. This class is excellent for teachers as well as parents. You’ll learn how to use rules in your family to teach convictions and values. If you’re looking for a place to start, this is a great class that will help you change significant dynamics in your family using positive strategies.

Access to this class allows you to come and go at your convenience. It’s resident on the Internet so you can view segments whenever you’re online. The 4-hour class is broken into 4 lessons, each with 10-12 five-minute segments. View one segment at a time, or any number of them as you have time.

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gbook-disciplemaking

Disciplemaking at Home eBook:

Parents have a job to do–pass the faith on to their kids. This book will show you how. Parents are the primary spiritual and moral trainers of their children and much of the everyday work of family life is the classroom where children learn. Here’s what you’ll learn in this book.

You will learn

•  Fun ways to pass the faith on to your kids.
•  How to use spontaneous moments to teach children what the faith is all about.
•  A biblical understanding of the conscience.
•  How to develop internal motivation in kids.
•  A plan to help children take responsibility for their part of an offense.
•  Ideas for teaching kids to take initiative instead of relying on parents to get things done.
•  Ways to move from behavior modification to a heart-based approach.
•  Tools to develop integrity in a child.
•  How to get kids to be others-focused instead of self-focused.

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Honor-CDs

Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes, in You and Your Kids Lesson 1 Complete Package: 

Includes Lesson 1 on Video, as an MP3, includes Study Guide pages, and the Kids Honor Club Children’s Program.

Honor is a biblical concept that changes the way people think and the way they treat others. Honor is a relationship term and teaching honor in the family equips children with the relational tools they’ll need for the rest of their lives. This package gives you instructions for both parents and children so that honor can transform the culture in your home.
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bookandhandbook

The Christian Parenting Companion Guide

50 Heart-Based Strategies for All the Stages of Your Child’s Life

by Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller,  RN BSN

The Companion Guide is a workbook of 50 lessons along with 50 audio tips to take you through The Christian Parenting Handbook step by step. Each lesson contains advice from Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller in a 5 minute audio tip and then offers teaching, an assignment, a Bible verse, and a prayer to help you apply each idea or strategy in your family.

You will learn

• A practical tool to stop children’s arguing
• How to separate firmness from harshness
• A strategy to help children change their hearts
• Ways to teach kids to add energy to family life
• Solutions for sibling conflict
• The relational side of parenting
• What to do when parents don’t agree
• How to help kids who are blamers
• and much more.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now here’s the thing… Click here:Launch Week to find out why you will want to wait until April 29th – May 5th to purchase the The Christian Parenting Handbook.

This is why you want to purchase this amazing heart based parenting guide.

It’s taking everything in me to not just blog away about the content in this book… but I am here to promote it and I really want you to have your own hands on it so that you can apply it to your own home.

*** This giveaway is open to Residents of the U.S. only.  Void where prohibited. Must be at least 18 years of age. 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Learning to Pray Instead of Say

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“And I will strengthen them in the Lord,
And in His name they will walk,” declares the Lord.
(Zechariah 10:12)

Today if you have called upon the name of Jesus remember that He is your strength (Philippians 4:13) and do not be deceived by the voices of this world but remember that it is in His name and in His Light that you walk (Ephesians 5:8-16). We may pass through times of trial and distress, but we are not without a shepherd and we have a Shepherd (John 10:14, 27-29) that will never lead us astray or allow us to be snatched away.

This was the mini-devo that I posted after reading through Zechariah 10 this morning. As I continued to ponder the Scripture verses in this chapter and in the verses that the Lord led me to as I typed out the mini-devo I could not let go of how grateful I am for the sovereignty of my God.
I read and ponder these verses and I think on the hopeful family’s that have suffered yet another miscarriage…
I think on the families that have had the opportunity to hold their precious newborn in their arms only hours before that new life breathes her last in their arms…
I think on the friends who are single mothers of children under twelve who have just found out that the chemo made the cancer spread and grow instead of rendering it impotent…
I think on the parents who tried all they knew to do to raise their children in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord, yet the children choose to live in the pleasures of sin and ignore the Lord and all that they have been taught…
I think of the families who have children who have never been able to say they love them or tell them their tummy hurts because autism has stolen their voice…
I think of those I see that can’t seem to let go of bitterness and past hurts and they can’t seem to step out in faith and trust that forgiveness always comes with healing and forgiveness doesn’t mean what happened is okay it just means that you trust that God will repay and He will use what happened for good, somehow, someway…
I think of or world… our nation… our government… our churches… and I ponder.
How thankful I am for the sovereignty of God. If not for the reality of His sovereignty I think I would crumble. My husband and I were talking one night about how far our God had brought us in our marriage. We talked about the changes that growing in His grace and choosing to walk in and by faith had made in our hearts, our minds, our souls, our spirit… and as we talked and thanked God by giving Him all the glory for this work, knowing it was not us in or of ourselves, my husband said…
“You just never know what it’s like to live in someone else’s body”
And that is why and where we must rest in His sovereignty… and put grace into action because, no, we don’t know. All we know is how we think we would react or behave if we were them… but the fact is we are not. We do not know what it is like to live in their in their home, much less in their body..
but we have a God who does. 
We have a God who see their heart…
for God sees not as man sees, 
for man looks at the outward appearance, 
but the Lord looks at the heart. 
1 Samuel 16:7
We have a God who formed their spirit within them…
Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, 
lays the foundation of the earth, 
and forms the spirit of man within him 
Zechariah 12:1
 
So many times we are quick to judge. So many times we think we have all the answers. So many times we think if they would just do this…
I have found myself there as well. I have said my piece and made my assumptions and had my thoughts and concerns, but by the grace of God I am learning to pray instead of say.
The fact is all I can do is pull one moment of someone’s life out of context and try to interpret it according to my minuscule knowledge with only my own life experiences to compare and contrast against…
So I am thankful for the sovereignty of God and for the hope that knowing He is sovereign gives… the fact that I know His Word is true and that He is who He says He is HUGE!  
 
It is by faith that we accept His sovereignty. It is by grace and through faith that we begin to gain understanding of His sovereignty. The more we understand His sovereignty the better we are able to administer His grace… to others and to ourselves.  
Book Reviews, Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

MayDay! Have Kids. Need Help!

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I am currently reading through The Christian Parenting Handbook by Dr Scott Turansky and Dr Joanne Miller. These two are the founders of the National Center of Biblical Parenting. I have been following their ministry for over a year now. I have yet to come across any of their parenting tips and teachings that I have not found to be useful.

I am drawn to their heart approach to parenting.

biblical parenting philosophy

It seems the past few generations have been stuck somewhere between a behavior modification approach to parenting, an I just need to be their friend approach and allow them to express themselves, and a lack of parenting in general because they just don’t know what to do or have the time to figure it out.

nagging and yelling

 

My only hope in my battle against this sin is Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer. As the Spirit continues to use my parenting to reveal to me my sin, I am reminded anew of my great need for a Savior.

~ Christina Fox

The one thing that parenting has taught me is that my God has a lot of work to do on me… and I need His help desperately as I try to raise these beautiful gifts He has allowed my husband and me to shepherd.

I need Him to work on my heart and guide me as I work with Him on the hearts of my children… the last thing I want to do is work against Him.

I don’t won’t my children to just comply to my demands while they are in my presence and just sweetly nod there agreement on the outside while on the inside they plot their escape and deception.

I want to help my children see the true condition of their heart and see the grace of our God. I don’t want to guilt trip them into submission or emotionally manipulate them into compliance. I do not want to provoke my children to anger (Ephesians 6:4) or exasperate them so that they lose heart (Colossians 3:21), but I so desire to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

This takes parenting with purpose.

The National Center of Biblical Parenting is here to help equip us parents to do just that. God has given us everything we need to know in His Word. Everything that we need to raise our children in love and godliness… and I am thankful that God gifts His children with certain passions so that they might help His body.

God has blessed Dr Turansky and Dr Miller with insight into this thing called parenting and He has blessed them with the ability to get this information to all of us… I suggest we take advantage of it.

Buy The Christian Parenting Handbook between April 29 and May 5 and get a package of free resources valued at more than $400.00. You can learn more on our website about the 8 items contained in the Bonus Parenting Package. In addition, you can get The Christian Parenting Handbook Companion Guide (This is a workbook with audio clips that will help you apply the material in The Christian Parenting Handbook.) for free if you purchase 5 copies or more of the book. Simply make your purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM (Books A Million), CBD or Parable.

To  claim your premium, simply forward your purchase confirmation to Gift@biblicalparenting.org and we will send you your special product code for the $400.00 package. If you purchased 5 or more copies of the book, we’ll send you the PDF version of the Companion Guide as well as the audio package.

Keep a watch on my blog… I will continue to post about this new book and will be offering some parenting tool free giveaways pretty soon… well as soon as I figure out how to do all that anyway… I have never done a giveaway campaign before, so bear with me 🙂

 

*** Disclaimer: I received a free advanced copy of this book as a member of their Launch Team. I am not required to share any information with you, and all comments and reviews are my honest opinion. You can trust me on this. 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Nightmare On My Street

confessions

 

I slept horribly last night… fighting nightmares and insanity all night long. I can look back on what I dreamed and see why I dreamed it now in the daylight hours, but knowing that now doesn’t change the terror I felt last night.

Dreams are a powerful thing.

Crazy.

Powerful.

Messy things.

I go back and forth wondering if these are night attacks by the enemy of my soul or just my own craziness. Last night I fell into a restless sleep. The night was spent in heart pounding gut wrenching sobbing moments.

It feels like I fought demons all night. I can’t count the times I said the Lord’s Prayer in my sleep last night… I can’t count the times I have said it total in my sleep over the years… it’s my go to prayer in times of distress when I don’t know what to pray. When I get awoke or startled in the middle of the night it is what first pops into my brain and my heart every time.

It’s the prayer, the Scripture, that I use to get awake enough to fight…

‘Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

‘Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

‘Give us this day our daily bread.

‘And forgive us our transgressions,

as we  forgive those who transgress against us.

‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

[For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

Matthew 6:9-13

And yes… I speak King James version in my dreams, always. It’s the version I learned as a child. It is the one that has stuck.

Just as my John 3:16 verse is in the King James… that’s how I learned it as a child… so that’s how I remember it.

The fact is I can remember having these kind of dreams since I was little. I remember once when I was around eleven or twelve I was having a nightmare and I was being choked by dark things I could see… and as I finally got enough breathe I screamed out, “In the name of Jesus get off of me!” Immediately I woke up with a deep breathe and heart pounding. I have never forgotten that dream or how I felt that night.

I have had many nights when I have been awoken by dreams like this and have sat up in the bed and turned on the light and read the Psalms out loud until I felt eased.

You see I don’t watch horror movies because I feel no reason to invite more of this into my mind… I don’t like the feeling of fear… I see no reason to pay for it to be “entertained” by it. The fact that people can come up with the thoughts and visions for these movies, and then enjoy recalling and reliving them enough to write it, cast it, and film it… well to me that’s scary enough. I see no reason to fund their evil minds financially with the money that God has entrusted with me on this earth.

So last night I awoke around 2:30am… and stumbled to the bathroom. Then went to the bed and lifted the sleeping weight of my eight year old and carried her back to her own bed… and then tried to return to sleep.

The next thing I know I am in my mother-in-law’s driveway sitting in my car… and a girl I went to school with jumps in the drivers seat and looks crazy eyed at me and starts the car and takes off. I ask her what she is doing, but she just looks at me crazy and starts driving faster. I begin to think she’s methed out or something, but then I realize nope, this is her face, but it is not her. This is when I begin to say the Lord’s Prayer as the car begins winding down a backwoods mountain road with huge drop-offs. I somehow time a curve and door opening perfect to jump out of the moving car and then watch the car fall off and roll and crash down the drop-off.

I sigh a sigh of relief, then see another vehicle coming and flag them down for help. As I begin to tell what happened I look over and there she/it is coming at me walking up the drop-off completely unharmed… at this point I jolt myself awake enough to be back in my mother-in-law’s driveway.

But then it gets worse… I get called to a school to identify the body of a loved one who has killed them-self. I rush into the room to see them laying in a pool of blood, but when I scream their name, they try to sit up. They are weak, but alive. I remember running to them and seeing the slit wrist and holding their head in my hands and I am sobbing heaping sobs… and out of my mouth I tell them “God is not through with you yet!”

The next thing I know I am in a hospital waiting room and it is filled with all the loved ones I know, the saints of God, who are all their praying for this one that attempted to take their own life…

Then I wake up. Finally.

This is just the Cliff Notes version of my night… how on earth can all this happen in the span of a three hours of sleep?

So Sunday morning I was drained.

And what was I to go and teach… Romans 3:1-18.

So was this an attack of the enemy or just my own crazy thoughts? I don’t know… but either way these nights like this weary this woman.

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Hold Fast

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Written in March 2008…

I am currently digging into Deuteronomy and reading God’s challenge and charge and commandment to love Him with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might, to fear only Him and to walk in His ways, to cling to Him, and to make Him my praise and my God, for He is an awesome and mighty God and He has done great things (Deuteronomy 10:12-21) and He is worthy and deserves more than even what He requires of me.

I just last week taught a lesson from Ruth and this week I’ll be teaching a lesson from 1 Samuel on Hannah. With all this on my heart I am driving home from my mom’s Sunday night and I hear “Bring the Rain” by Mercy Me and just like that God nails down in me a renewed commitment to Him and to who He has called me to be.

I look around me and just in my short 6 year walk with the Lord I have seen so many who appeared on fire for the LORD sizzle out, now caught up in the things of this world and the issues of life no longer serving the LORD but serving themselves. I can see how they got there, I’ve felt the pull myself, I’ve had the water thrown in my face, the enemy’s attempt to put out my fire, but each time I remember that I am to hold fast (Deuteronomy 11:22), that I am to stand firm (Ephesians 6:14), that I am to fight the good fight(1 Timothy 4:7), that I am to persevere (Revelation 14:12), that I am to run my race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1), that I am not to turn to the left or to the right (Proverbs 4:27), but to walk with my eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfector of my faith (Hebrews 12:2).

The road may be long, the road may be rocky, there might be hills and mountains and rivers and valleys but the road is sure. So each time I begin to stumble or grow weary or just want to “take a break” I remind myself of the charge and the warnings and the promises given to me by my God in His word and I press on (Philippians 3:12-14).

I refuse to be listed among those who shrink back to destruction (Hebrews 10:37-39).

I refuse to be one who makes a mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 2:1-22).

I refuse to allow the circumstances of life to define my relationship with my Creator God.

As Hannah made a vow to God to give Him her son forever if He would open her womb and enable her to conceive that son. I made a vow to my God that I would offer my body as a living sacrifice to Him, holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1).

As Hannah kept her vow and left her son at Shiloh with Eli to be raised up as one dedicated to the service to the Lord, her I am, believe it or not, at Shiloh (Baptist Church) surrounded by wonderful men and women who are raising me up as one dedicated to the service of the LORD.

I was crucified and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives me in me (Galatians 2:20). I was bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). I was set free from the slavery of sin (Romans 6:7), but in that release I was enslaved to God (Romans 6:23) to bring Him glory with my life.

“Tis only one life, twil soon be past, only what’s done for Christ, will last”.

My life is not without purpose (Jeremiah 29:11). If your out there today or sometime in the future and grow tired and weary and the enemy starts whispering in your ear to stop, to slow down, to pause, to let some one else do it “for a change”, encourage yourself in the LORD and do not grow weary of doing good (1 Thessalonians 3:13). Guard what has been entrusted to you (1 Timothy 6:20). Guard it in your heart, in your mind, in your soul, in your home, in your school, in your work, in all that you do. Bring Him Glory! For worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb! (Revelation 5:12).

Confessions of a Christian Wife

The Notebook

confessions

 

Ever since the day I wholly surrendered to the LORD I have had just a plain old spiral notebook with me at almost all times.

This notebook holds my prayers, my random thoughts, sermon notes, my to do list, and also I work out and write my lesson plans in this notebook. At the top of the page I date every prayer entry and every lesson plan, so I know when I learned what.

Last Saturday night I used the last page in my notebook… and I went to grab another from our office/school room (I try to stay stocked up) and I was out. I have been a scattered mess since that moment, though I did not realize it. I went through my office a hundred times looking for at least an almost empty one, to no avail.

I have thought, it will be fine. I will get one this week sometime. I journal my thoughts so much in my blog now, and put my lessons in proclaim now, I can jot notes in my ipad and schedule planner… I probably won’t even miss it…

Let me tell you that my thoughts can be such foolishness!

This morning, after wondering around the kitchen waiting on coffee, and reaching once again for my last used notebook and seeing once again that the pages really were full and feeling like I could not possibly plan out a lesson without it, I broke and was writing “spiral notebook” on the grocery list because my husband was going early this morning…

And of course I went to the office/school room to check one more time…

Then much to my wondering eyes did appear…  I saw one I had not yet looked inside. I opened it. It was empty. The heavens opened up and the angels sang. I grabbed that notebook and pulled it to my chest and smiled so big (I didn’t even need my coffee to smile this morning). You would have thought I had just found a pearl of great price! This girl was happy!

I had not even realized how attached I was to my plain old spiral notebook. Immediately, I began my first entry in it with a prayer of praise to my God. It was an awesome gift for me from Him this morning. It was like finding the keys to the car after a mad frantic search. It was like finding the phone after the panic has done set in… because it’s lost and you know it’s on “silent”.

I think sometimes God lets us miss something long enough just so we can remember how truly valuable it is…

My plain old spiral notebook is like my way of communication with my God. It’s my burning bush. It’s my Urim and Thummim. It’s my quiet escape into the mountain. It’s my inner room. It’s my Holy of Holies.

Yep, my plain old spiral notebook … technology will never be able to replace it 🙂

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Showing His Victory

confessions

 

I am entering into a new day with my walk with Christ…

It began when my husband came home one day and said that he had sat and read through my entire blog in one setting (which floored me by the way because my husband is not a reader). He then looked at me and said, “you talked so much about all the sin you struggled with… and I just don’t see it.” (now I am speechless, because one of my fears is being a hypocrite in my home,)

Then I read this about a month ago:

You will meet well-meaning Christians who teach about crucifying oneself. But I have good news for you: That has already been done. You are in Christ. He was crucified once for all. He died for you so you never need to die again. Because we have our identification with Him, we have all the power needed to live the rest of our lives above the drag and dregs of slavery. Death to sin is an accomplished act, a finished fact. It has all been taken care of. A victorious walk begins with our knowing this fact. Christ’s “Emancipation Proclamation” has put to death the whole idea of slavery to sin. Having died to sin’s power, we are now free to serve our new Master.

~ Chuck Swindoll

I read it and my first thought was, Chuck are you getting a little senile in your old age? Of course we have to crucify our flesh… we have to keep that old man and that old self dead… Right?

So this has been on the forefront of my meditation for months… since my husband’s comment. Then I received a message from a friend asking me about my thoughts on the mortification of sin… and I had to ponder again.

My conclusion and answer to them…

How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having beenraised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:2-11

Christ took care of our sin. He mortified it. If Christ made it dead… it’s dead. He pulled it out by its root… and maybe just like a weed pulled out by the root it might continue to appear alive in me for a little while… but dead it is and the obviousness of its dying death should be evident in my newness of life. If we are truly His we cannot help but pursue Him and to serve righteousness… not sin.

Then earlier this week my daughter was working on her Bible study and she asked me how/if we could not sin… (yes, these are the questions I get at 8am, lol). I answered her that as long as we live in this body we will struggle with sin… but if we belong to God, then we are to be in the process of being conformed to the image of His Son, Christ… and His Son did not live in sin, He did not sin at all, so if we are truly being conformed into the image of Christ… then sin will become less and less an issue for us.

Then another push from my God came through my husband again… as he came home again after blog read where I once again had referenced my past sins. He shared with me that he did not need to read this… and if I mentioned it so much, then their was still something to it. That stuck me. Pierced my heart. I left to head out the door to a sisters in Christ fellowship and all the way I prayed… and asked God to show me what I was missing.

To my heart he said:

Nicole, when your husband looks at you and says he does not see this sin, how then do you think that I see you, when I am the One who washed you clean? Let it go. You have been forgiven.

I then argued with God and said, but God if I let it go, I am afraid that I will forget your mercy and your grace.

He said again, Let it go. Show My victory. Show freedom. Your sin is dead. Show My victory.

You see, all these years, I have held on to who I was out of fear that I would forget who I am. I was afraid if I forgot all that He had forgiven that I would love Him less… and I never want to love Him less… I only want to love Him more. I thought I needed to remind everyone that I know what it means to be a sinner and to be forgiven and I thought people needed to know the depths from which He lifted me so that I could display how great His love and grace and mercy truly is… I feared losing the emotion of my salvation…

Silly me, I forgot that perfect love casts out fear…

This morning I watched a Precepts For Life message with Kay Arthur in the book of Matthew …

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 

“Take courage,son; your sins are forgiven.”

Matthew 9:2

As I watched she said, God wants you to know that your sins have been forgiven. You are now holy to the Lord, set apart, you don’t have to worry about your sin, you don’t have to fear… God has given you His Spirit… His Spirit will help you remember that you are holy unto the Lord…

I think God is making His point with me quite clear.

Therefore I am in a new day with my Lord… I am showing His victory. I am not yet perfect. I have not yet arrived. I have not yet obtained, but I am forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead… and what lies ahead is victory. His victory!

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world;

and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 5:4

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Satan’s Superbowl

 

WARNING: THIS IS A LADIES FOCUSED POST, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

I am not a Superbowl watcher… I do not even care for the commercials… when I hear the word Superbowl I think unrealistic beer commercials, scantily clad cheerleaders, crude halftime shows, fixed game, sex trafficking, and millions of people who profess to know Christ forsaking Sunday night Bible study for a football game.

No offense to you if its your thing, it’s just nothing good really comes to my mind concerning it…

This year was no different.

My man and I had plans to leave the Monday following the infamous Superbowl Sunday for a couple of nights away in Nashville… my man was at home getting clothes washed and I was at church cleaning up after Sunday night children’s classes and setting up for our Monday Co-op. I was looking for a message someone had said they had sent me and when I couldn’t find it in my emails I went on over to Facebook to see if it was there… but when I went, I ended up seeing something that completely threw me for a loop.

An offhanded click of the “like” button sent this redhead into a talespin of self-image deprecation.

I don’t know if people really understand the danger in their offhanded remarks and statements and how much danger they can cause by the open door and foothold they offer freely to the enemy of our souls…

To see the glory and praise and even worship given to that which grieves the heart of our God is a sad sad thing…

So yes even though I did not watch the Superbowl, not even a commercial, the halftime show still managed to find me and so did Satan’s spiritual forces of darkness. As the flood of nausea swept over me I felt every ounce of overweight on my body. I felt completely unattractive and undesired. I felt the wrinkles around my eyes and dark circles that have formed under them. I felt the aftershock wave in my arms and the fact that my bottom is a lot lower than it used to be. I felt the very unfirmness of my once tight tummy. I thought how on earth can I go on this trip with my man and actually think he desires this body? Not to mention the fact that the menstrual cycle that was supposed o have ended several days ago was still lingering on…

The weight of oppression fell on me and I knew the trip my husband and I had been looking forward to for MONTHS was doomed. We had been looking forward to this time alone and away. We both needed to be renewed and to rest in each others arms…

I confessed my insecurity to my man. I sheepishly apologized from my irrationality. Yet, condemnation still weighed on me…

My dear sisters in Christ saw me the next morning and knew I was not right… I confessed and shared how I could feel that slimy serpent on my back, just jumping and breathing down my back… I confessed and my dear sister prayed and we laughed. It’s amazing how obvious satan’s tactics become when we expose them and its amazing how silly some of the crazy things that we think become when we speak them and get them out of the darkness of self…

I knew then that Satan was trying to stir his Superbowl pot…

He knew my husband and I had this trip planned and he wanted to ruin it.

He tried, but he did not succeed.

I came home from Co-op and went upstairs to see my man and as I reached him, he grabbed my chin in his hands and he looked me in the eyes and he told me how beautiful I was to him and that I was all he ever desired… and guess what… I believed him. After fourteen years with this man he still desires me and I still desire him… and I desire for him to desire me. I don’t care if anyone else ever desires me. I am not dancing on a stage hoping that lust filled little men and boys will buy my records. There is only one man’s eyes I want looking at me with desire… and that is my husbands.

We went on our trip. When we pulled into the hotel parking lot the hotel sign said: Rest, Relax, Rejoice, Rejuvenate.

Wow… God knows what He is doing all the time.

We went on our trip and we enjoyed each other. We walked holding hands down the mall. He discovered a tickle spot on me that in fourteen years he had not yet discovered. We laughed. We kissed. We talked. We loved. We made memories.

Satan’s Superbowl tried to ruin it, but we had the last laugh.

What the enemy intended for evil, God intended for good.

It is almost scary how much I love this man. I grow to respect him more each day. It is amazing, this beautiful thing called marriage. It truly is a mystery… when you think you can’t love someone any deeper, this lifewalk together takes you even deeper still… Marriage: a Beautiful Mystery.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

and shall be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh. 

This mystery is great…

Ephesians 5:31-32