I have always had a very independent mindset. And when I say that I mean, I needed to have complete control over my life. It’s just me against the world. If something needs to get done, it’s better to get it done by myself. No sense in asking for help because people are unreliable. Not only that, but it’s a dog eat dog world, and I need to fight for what I have and then hold on tight to it, lest it be ripped away from me. It has always been easy for me to feel self-reliant like this, because…
I have to admit, my husband and I have not always had the best relationship. When we first met, I actually did not like him. At all. In fact, he annoyed me. I actually love to tell this story, because now we are very close and in love. He is my best friend and I cannot imagine life without him! It was a miracle from God that moved my heart toward him in a time when I did not even believe in God or even in love. We started dating when we were just friends and I was far from…
My whole life I have been asking the question “Who am I?”. Even from the earliest years in my life, I have struggled to find an answer to this question. I think many of us spend a good portion of our lives trying to find our identities. As children we don’t worry as much about where are identity lies, because we find it in being a son or daughter. Yet as we enter in to our teen years that question of identity begins to loom over us, to take a stand about who we are. As I look back now…
When I was a child I had a deathly fear of the dark. I was sure that something was going to get me. I know there are many children who are afraid of the dark, but this was an intense fear. I was so afraid that something was waiting to get me, that I could not go to sleep unless I was under the covers and in the middle of the bed. It would get to be over 100 degrees in the summer and I did not have air conditioning in my room. I would suffer through the heat of…
As a young adult I wanted nothing more than to be free. To make the choices that I felt were right, and to do what felt good. I wanted to define who I was and how I saw the world on my own terms. I had felt oppressed by my parents for so long and the new-found freedom of adulthood was like a breath of fresh air. So who was I to define myself as? I had to get in touch with myself, and the world around me. To figure out what life meant and where I fit in with that.…
For most of my adult life I was a pagan. I was in rebellion against God, and a lover of all things of this world. I hated Christianity. I had met some of those Christians and they were a judgmental bunch of hypocrites. And so perfect. How can anyone be so perfect and pure? It really made me sick. I was not alone. Society as a whole seems to have the same views on Christians. Judgmental. Perfect. Hypocrites. It is an age-old idea that has permeated our culture in America. I really thought that I would be perfect too, when I became…
I have never been one to think much about modesty. As a young adult and on I pretty much-loved to dress to show off my body. I loved showing lots of cleavage and leg and accentuating my butt. It made me feel sexy and I loved the attention. I didn’t care what other women thought, or if they were upset or jealous. It was all about me and it felt good. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 For most of my life…
What do you really know about God? Everyone has their own concept about who or what they think God is, even if they don’t believe in God. The idea of God is so pervasive in our culture that you must have formed some opinion on what God is. Some believe God is a story or that Jesus is a historical figure. Some believe that God was active in ancient times, but no longer a part of our lives. Some believe God is love, and accepting of everyone just as they are. Some believe God is an angry God, who punishes people.…
During your life God will let you experience things so that you can learn a lesson. Like the loving Father He is, He has to let us struggle through things so we can gain wisdom and understanding that we otherwise would not have. Sometimes it is the life experiences that teach us the most, when we would not have listened to His instruction for our lives. Other times we want something so bad, that we just have to have it to see it was not what we thought it would be. Indeed, it was not actually even good for us. I have heard the question asked…
Once upon a time there was a young man whose purity was virtuous and true. For no other man in the whole land had made a vow to hold onto his purity until marriage, as he had. All the young women coveted this precious gift he had left, because they had all given up their rights of virtue and the keys to their kingdoms long ago. When they saw such a young man who was so valiant and pure, they wept loudly and mourned openly. For who else would make such a wonderful husband as this man? Who would take…