ByGrace

I can’t swim. I’d love to know how, but there’s one problem: I don’t like water in my face! My husband thinks it’s funny, but I really do panic when I get water in my face.  A couple of people have tried to help me learn to swim. One was my sister, Robyn. When we were teenagers, she tried to “teach” me to swim by taking me to the deep end of the pool - promising to hold on to me - only to let me go in the middle of the pool. I sank like a rock. I lived, but I did not learn to swim. The other person was my husband. He took a little different approach. He stayed right with me, with his arms under me, making sure I didn’t sink, gradually removing his arms till I could float by myself. He never once left me alone, and although I still didn’t learn to swim, I didn’t almost drown, either. What made the difference in the two people and their methods of helping me? Their level of caring. Yes, Robyn cared for me (she didn’t really want me to drown!), but my husband cared so...

    "Genuine, hearty laughter is one of the greatest gifts imparted to us by our Father. It has the amazing power to diminish our pain, lifting our souls in joyous good cheer, while providing bright hope for the unknown days ahead." W. Phillip Keller

Love is in the Air by JPott Last week, for Valentine's Day, I wrote out a lesson I'd given the ladies at our church concerning Love or Respect in relation to our husbands or fathers. As I looked through the lessons I gave that month, I felt impressed to give you the second lesson in that series: He Won't Know It If You Don't Show It! Don't you just love it when your husband whispers in your ear, "I love you!"? Or, if you're single, your dad tells you he loves you and he's proud of you? I'm sure they love to hear us say we love them, too, but more than that, they love to know that we respect them. Now, it's not quite so romantic to look into your man's eyes and coo, "I respect you so much!" So how do we show our men that we respect them? Prioritize your husband ; put him first (Ephesians 5:31). As you plan your day, take into account things he might need, and ask if there's something you can do for him. As you ...

  I want to tell you about a book that has been a huge help to me: What Do I Know about My God? by Mardi Collier, the wife of Ken Collier, director of The Wilds Christian Camp . This was recommended to me by my blog friend, Mrs. T, of Across My Kitchen Table . Let me tell you, the principle laid out in this book will change your life. Literally. Thank you so much , Mrs. T, for recommending this book to me! Mrs. Collier wrote this book to outline a simple program she'd been using for many years to help her know God better. This system involves keeping a notebook of verses describing God and His relationship with us. Each time you read a verse with information about God, you start a new category. For example, the first page I made My God is Merciful ( Psalm 51:1; Psalm 40:11; Psalm 145:9; Romans 9: 15, 16; II Corinthians 1:3; Lamentations 3:22 - these are a few verses I found when I looked up verses with the words mercy or mercies in them), and I have filled that page with vers...

Love by *Kicki* Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I'd like to share a lesson I taught to our ladies a couple of years ago concerning showing our husbands (or fathers!) love in the way they perceive it. When a group of women is asked whether they would rather be loved or respected, most of them would rather be loved. But when men are asked the same question, most of them answer that they would rather be respected than loved! God made men to crave respect, and He told us in Ephesians 5:33 to " see that the wife reverence her husband. " Now, they surely don't receive that respect (or reverence) in society in general! We're conditioned to see them as incompetent oafs who can't do anything right, and that's the message we send them, most of the time unknowingly. How can we wives and daughters show the men in our lives the respect they so need? Respect his judgment: his knowledge, opinions, and decisions. Romans 12:10 instructs us to " be ki...

I wanted to get back into posting Wednesday in the Word last week, but I also wanted to try to get a little ahead on posting so I don't feel so pushed to get blog posts out. So I waited and set it to post this week. What's one more week when it's been so long already, right?! This is the final installment of a short series I wrote on resting in the Lord. I was asked to give this devotion at the Pastors' Wives Retreat I attend each June. The first two installments are Be Content: Rest in His Provision and Be Confident: Rest in His Promises . I hope you'll go back to them and refresh your memory, or read them for the first time if you haven't already. I'm Comfortable Here by Mel B Be Comfortable: Rest in His Presence Every time we see Mary of Bethany in Scripture, she is in the presence of Jesus, and she is comfortable there. How do I know she was comfortable? By the things she did in His presence. At that time and in that culture, women were no...