... you know the ones.
This week, I read this Easter egg dying tip in the latest edition of Family Fun Magazine. It is so practical and creative that I knew immediately it might just change my life. Or at least renew my hope that I’ll have an Easter photograph of my children without multi-colored hands.
Do I have a treat for y’all!!
Prize Package:No Changin’ Us CD $14Cooking with Grace Cookbook $15Tote Bag $12Meet & Greet Laminate $5Postcard Set $5Point of Grace T-Shirt $15Total Value: $66
I tossed my three year old girl in the tub with her ten year old big sister the other night.
The Weight of It All- Anne of Flowerdust
Once upon a time, I went to Africa. I took my nearly new Flip Video Camera that I bought with birthday gift cards, coupons and money I found in the washing machine.
Congrats to The Cline Family, the latest Bedtime Theater winner! Stay tuned for one more of these amazing giveaways from GoodNites!
He Said/She Said (1): Intro
He Said/She Said (2): Lust and Marriage
He Said/She Said (3): Confessions
He Said/She Said (4): Prayer
He Said/She Said (5): Resources
He Said/She Said (6): Healin
He Said/She Said (7): Warning Signs
This is our last post of this series “Lust and Your Marriage.” We really want to continue the He Said/She Said Series…. please leave topic ideas, questions or comments in my community to help us decide what topics to look at next from his/her perspective. Thanks!
She Said:
For me, rebuilding trust in my marriage was very difficult. I was insecure about even recognizing truth because for so many years I was oblivious to many lies. I wanted to trust my forgiven husband. From the beginning of his confession, I knew something significant had happened in him and to him. I knew he was different.
But I struggled.
He wanted to be trustworthy, but I couldn’t make myself trust him.
It took time. Days of watching him in his new found freedom, turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. If he admitted being tempted to lust or giving into that temptation to look too long at a passing woman, it was a huge disappointment and regression for me.
Trusting after pornography is a painful dance, two steps forward, one step back, but we were both seriously committed to beat this at whatever cost and we were gaining ground.
I also struggled with trusting men in general for months after this. It was just another reminder that God is really the only One who will never fail me. Everyone else is capable of being nothing more than human.
This article on Rebuilding Trust by the author (and his wife) of Every Man’s Battle, is powerful and very effective. I urge every wife and husband to read it.
Trouble is, when it comes to trust, there’s a catch. No matter how desperately you want it, you can’t manufacture trust on your own. Trust requires two ingredients: Your husband must become trustworthy, and you must trust again. Each of you is responsible for bringing one of the ingredients to the table.
Neither will be easy to provide. Becoming trustworthy will require an immense character change on his part, and that’s no small task. On your end, trusting your husband again will require obedience and submission to God, in spite of your scars. That won’t be easy, either.
- Brenda Stoeker, Every Heart Restored
I recommend open communication. We talked about everything (and we still do!) I wanted to help him fight. But at some point, it became unhealthy for trust-building for me to know of every temptation. Remember, it’s not wrong or sinful to be tempted. Jesus, Himself, showed us that. My hubby got in an accountability group and shared those temptations with other men. This was a tremendous help to both of us.
As time passed, and we were three months, four, six months out, each day got easier. I learned to trust again because my spouse became trustworthy.
Many of the women who’ve emailed/left comments are struggling with men who are not trustworthy. Their hearts have been damaged over and over because their mates have failed over and over. You cannot be expected to trust someone who isn’t worthy of it. Put your trust in God, ask your spouse to clean up their act, get counseling or schedule an intervention with family, friends.
Rebuilding trust isn’t easy or done quickly, but it is possible.
(We apologize for the quality of this video–serious technical difficulties this week! Turn down your volume)
Please visit my community to leave topic ideas, questions or comments in my communityfor future He Said/She Said posts.
One of my favorite celebrations is Easter.
Originally published April, 2009
An actual conversation that occurred in my minivan a few days ago:
To enter, please leave a comment that might help a child overcome adversity (like “have faith”, “don’t give up!’ etc) Who knows, you might even come up with an idea for the next chapter in Iggy’s Great Adventure at the Bedtime Theater.
Maasai Dancing from keely Scott on Vimeo.
“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.” “Well, why don’t you ask Him?” “Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.” (Anonymous) -a quote from A Hole in the Gospel, by Richard Stearn, President of World Vision. —————————————————-
I’m working on the answer.
(Ages 8 years & up/Approximate Retail Price: $39.99/Available: Fall 09)
Gear up and go with the new NERF DART TAG FURYFIRE 2-Player Set. Complete with two new rapid-fire FURYFIRE blasters featuring auto-advance barrels that hold ten darts, two redesigned scoring vests, two sets of VISION GEAR eyewear and 20 DART TAG DARTS, the NERF DART TAG FURYFIRE 2-Player Set inspires engaging, energetic team play.
NERF DART TAG CAPTURE THE FLAG Set
(Ages 8 years & up/Approximate Retail Price: $34.99/Available: Fall 09)
You’ll have to use your stealth and speed to win NERF’s adrenaline-pumping twist on capture the flag. Complete with two redesigned scoring vests, two STORMFIRE blasters, six DART TAG DARTS and a new Electronic Flag, the NERF DART TAG CAPTURE THE FLAG Set offers an advanced way to enjoy classic DART TAG action.
Do you have any ideas to add to this list? I’d love to read them! Compassion International has a couple of forums where people can share ideas. (Want to rescue a child from poverty by sponsoring them? click here)
“Female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriages of 13-year-old girls to men decades older than them characterize the lives of 99 percent of Maasai girls. A gender-oppressive culture, few and understaffed education facilities, and long treks from home to school and back across the vast savanna plains full of wild animals are some of the challenges girls in my community endure to access education” a quote from one of the Maasai women who grew up as a sponsored Compassion child. (You can continue to read her amazing story and how Compassion saved her from this traditional life here).
I wasn’t invited to Kenya to blog Compassion’s relief efforts because I’m special or because my blog is a certain size.
But I don’t think I’m supposed to.
I want to do hard things. I’m asking you to get uncomfortable. I’m asking you to stretch further than you’d like. I’m asking you to do something hard, bigger than you imagined, greater than you planned.
She’s not so different from me, really. Sure, our worlds are like night and day, one American living in opulence, the other African, living in squalor. But there is a chord that binds our hearts together: we are both mothers.
She wore a yellow dress, cinched at the waist, with shoes too big for her feet and a smile too big for my heart.
Her name is Paris and she is a child at Compassion’s Child Survival Program (more info on CSP) in one of Kenya’s 42 projects, that focuses on aiding and educating pregnant women and their unborn. We spent the day learning of this amazing project that invites expecting women into the program for the first three years of their child’s life. This program is crucial since so many children die in the first five years of life.
We were welcomed by song and native dance that left me a weeping mess. Joy and beauty mixed. (here’s a 17 second clip)
Women shared their testimonies of how Compassion teaches them prenatal care and the importance of a balanced diet, vaccinations and breastfeeding. They also learn useful skills (jewelry, soap-making) so they can make money for their families.
Parking on the side of a dirt road in a congested area, we walked down a winding path to the home of one of the mother’s in the Compassion Child Survival program. Her name is Jackline.
She proudly showed us her skill of turning dirt and charcoal into briquettes she used to roast corn, making a profit of around .7 cents each. She usually sells 7-8 ears of corn, making less than around $.50 cents a day, but enough to make a difference for her precious family.
Paris’ mother prays the same thing. She has the same hope for her child. She prays that someone will be moved with compassion. She prays for you.
You can make a difference today, right now. For only $38 a month, you can change a life! Please, I’m asking for the mothers I met today, will you to be the answer to their prayers?
“Christ has not body on earth but yours,
no hands, but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” Saint Teresa
Click here to see the children waiting for a child sponsor.
But we made it! The travel was smooth and uneventful and we’re just getting to our rooms to catch a few hours of sleep before a packed day tomorrow. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
So, yes, Mom. I’m okay. Thanks everyone for your prayers! I felt them traveling across the globe during the last 30+ hours.
The amazing adventure has begun!
I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a tough journey to get to today.
We’ll arrive in Amsterdam Wednesday morning for a layover and then on to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving after about 36 hours of travel.
p.s. Please don’t forget that WFMW is being hosted at Rocks in My Dryer this week and next!
