a blog about faith, family, food, & more written by a wife and stay at home mom of five
I was able to go to Youth Camp last summer and be a chaperone for our girls, but unfortunately I was not able to go this summer because Vera couldn’t go. I was disappointed about not attending, so I put together some little gifts for our youth girls who went.
I made them little zippered pouches and put some other small goodies inside. I wanted them to know I still cared about them even though I couldn’t be there this year!
Do the fabrics look familiar?
There’s a common saying that goes something like this: You’re either in a trial, you just went through a trial, or you’re heading into a trial.
We just can’t get around it… trials, difficulties, and hardships are a part of life! These things are no fun at all – illness, job loss, unmet expectations, family difficulties, financial troubles, personal struggles, ministry challenges, etc. – but they are what God uses to shape our character into His likeness and provide a witness for Himself to the world.
Yesterday I was reading some verses in 1 Peter that really brought a lot of encouragement to my heart. I hope they will bless you as well if you are going through a trial right now!
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice, insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Peter 1:6-7; 2:19-23; 3:9; 3:13-17; 4:12-16; 4:19; 5:10, emphasis added
…we discussed lies women believe about marriage! We had a great discussion of these lies and the corresponding truths.
If you’re new here, some ladies in our community have been going through Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It has been a challenging and excellent study!
The lie: I have to have a husband to be happy.
The truth: Happiness is not found in (or out of marriage). There is no person who can meet my deepest needs. No one and nothing can make me truly happy apart from God. God has promised to provide everything I need. If He will receive more glory by my being married, then He will provide a husband for me. Those who wait on the Lord always get His best. Those who insist on getting what they want often end up with heartache.
The lie: It is my responsibility to change my mate.
The truth: A godly life and prayer are a wife’s two greatest means of influencing her husband’s life. It is far more effective for a woman to appeal to the Lord to change her husband than to try to exert pressure on him directly.
The lie: My husband is supposed to serve me.
The truth: If I expect to be served, I will often be disappointed. If I seek to serve others, without expecting anything in return, I will never be disappointed. God made the woman to be a helper to the man. We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving others.
The lie: If I submit to my husband, I’ll be miserable!
The truth: Submission places me under the covering and protection of God, who controls the “heart of the king.” When I step out from under authority, I become vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. My willingness to place myself under God-ordained authority is the greatest evidence of how big I believe God really is. Reverent submission is a wife’s greatest means of influencing a husband who is not walking with God. A wife’s response to her husband’s authority should demonstrate the way a church is to submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus.
The lie: If my husband is passive, I’ve got to take the initiative or nothing will get done.
The truth: God created the man to be an initiator and the woman to be a responder. If a woman takes the reins rather than waiting on God to move her husband, her husband is likely to be less motivated to fulfill his God-given responsibility.
The lie: Sometimes divorce is a better option than staying in a bad (unhappy) marriage.
The truth: Marriage is a lifelong covenant that is intended to reflect the covenant-keeping heart of God. As He is faithful to His covenant, so we must be faithful to keep our marriage covenant. There is no marriage God cannot heal. There is no person God cannot change. God uses the rough edges of each partner in a marriage to conform the other to the image of Christ. God’s grace is sufficient to enable you to be faithful to your mate and to love and forgive without limit.
