Category: This and That

Where Have The Older Women Gone?

Hello All!

I’ve taken a break in my regular blogging schedule for a while, I’m not sure how long this break will last but for now we are adjusting to our back-to-school-homeschool routine. I hope you will be understanding that my desired schedule did not work out quite as I had planned, so I am trying to be flexible under the circumstances. I am still planning and writing, I just don’t know when I will get the green light from the Lord to go again like before.

As a young wife I have had some times when I really had a yearning in my heart and a great need for an older woman’s advice and help with some situations in my life. Sometimes God had the right people in my life that I felt comfortable talking to and find help, comfort and answers. Other times I would look around intimidated unsure of whom to ask or how to approach an older woman about the challenges I was facing because basically no one seemed available. I struggled through some rough times but God really used those times to burden my heart to want to be a blessing to other women, especially other women in ministry.

Recently while reading a magazine article the mallet hit the gong and “bwonnggg” it hit me that the same reasons in the article for younger women not finding older women to help mentor them in the workplace may have been some of the reasons why I was unable at times to find an older woman to talk to and help me.

I hope you’ll go over to the Young Wife’s Guide and read my article, “Where Have The Older Women Gone?”

I have written a compelling letter to older women about why they should still be seeking others to be a blessing to. God instructs in Titus 2 that the older women teach the younger women about life, marriage, and godliness. I admit some of us younger women need more help than others, growing gracefully and adjusting to the changes of marriage and mamahood. If you’ve walked that road and God has helped you learn valuable lessons, pass it on…it will never hurt to give God the glory for the wisdom He’s given you.

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Until I post again, keep on keeping on and walk hand in hand with God as He shows you the areas to serve Him. Don’t neglect your family, live in the Word, and speak the truth in love!

Our Wedding Anniversary

Hello to you all!

Today my husband and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary, we’ve almost made it to the big 1-0! A little over a week ago I was given the opportunity to write about our marriage over at Yes They Are All Ours. The creator of this blog features Marriage Mondays, and writes about particular helps for married women of all ages to be able to help your marriage in godly ways and teach your children to love and respect marriage.

9 Year Anniversary

The blog is titled Persevering Through Trials. Click here to go to the article.

She has allowed me to write about the ups & downs my husband and I have faced over the past 9 years. I have included 4 specific helps we have used to be able to make it through the stress and trials. Did you know that we experienced a complete loss after our apartment caught on fire 2 months after we were married? Yeah… that’s only 1 of the stressful things we have been through together. But God has kept us and helped us along every step of the way. Go read about it!

I wanted to introduce Elizabeth from Yes They Are All Ours and let you know a little more about her. She is a mother of 10 and blogs often about her life as a Christian woman, recipes their family enjoys, and just about any other thing a mother of 10 would write about. Right now she is in a new phase and situation in her life where she is trading off being a caretaker for her mother and having to leave her house full of kiddos and husband in another town. I hope that you will go and visit her blog and learn from her. She has great helps and insight as a woman of experience with many of life’s situations.

I liked this blog she wrote about marriage about What To Do About All Those Warts, that your husband has.

Thank you for allowing me to share this post with you, we’re not a perfect couple, as you will see but we do love the Lord and are striving to make our marriage better.

While we are sad about the history of this day for the nation of America, we also are filled with love and joy for the marriage God has given to us!

Conquering Bad Thoughts

Conquering Bad Thoughts

Our mind is a battlefield where silent battles are fought daily. In our mind we can hide our thoughts and walk about our life without others knowing any of our thoughts. The enemy, Satan, can whisper lies to us that will swim around in the fish bowl of our mind until we begin to believe them. Once our thoughts have been established, then we begin to change… that is why we must be vigilant about conquering bad thoughts.

Wrong thoughts generally begin with “little” thoughts of:

  • Discontentment
  • Unthankfulness
  • Jealousy
  • Unfaithfulness to God, spouse, or children
  • Quitting church
  • Walking away from God
  • Prideful and self-exalting thoughts
  • Any other type of sinful thought that goes against scripture

Why are bad thoughts bad?

Because wrong thoughts turn into wrong actions.

Evil thoughts are listed with murder, adultery, and theft in Matthew 15:18-20. Someone does not kill, steal, or commit adultery without first thinking about it. That is why we must learn to conquer bad thoughts!

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How to Conquer Bad Thoughts

1. Slay wrong and sinful thoughts immediately by casting them down.

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. II Corinthians 10:5

If Satan can infiltrate your thoughts subtly then his goal is to get you to compromise Biblical standards and ruin God’s testimony through your life. His tactics are to render you useless for God’s purposes. When you realize that you have a sinful thought it must be brought into the obedience of Christ immediately.

Example: If the thought of being unfaithful to your spouse comes into your mind, you can quickly bring it into captivity by saying to yourself or out loud, “I am not going to commit adultery even in my mind. Marriage is honorable in all things.” Quoting scripture is the best way to bring your thoughts into the obedience of Christ. If the thought is about abusing prescription drugs  to run away from life’s problems, then bring it into captivity by reminding yourself that your body is the temple of the Lord, not for abusing drugs. You may have to cast down wicked imaginations repeatedly throughout your day.

2. Pray. Go to God with your thoughts and ask Him to take them from you.

Ephesians 6:18a Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…

Disobedient and wrong thoughts are not wicked in and of themselves, it is when we begin to entertain the thoughts, agree with them, and validate them as truth so that we can justify wrong and sinful behavior. God understands that we will be tempted to do wrong things, but He also understands the source has originated because of spiritual warfare. God gives us the choice to choose to go to Him to fight our battles or He will allow us to fight them in our flesh.

In time our flesh will fail us, that is why it is so beneficial to go right to THE source for our help in prayer.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The battle in your mind is against principalities and evil. Humble prayer to God brings you into submission to Him for the answers and help for bad thoughts. God wants us to pray always and be dependent upon Him for our help, because where we are weak, He is strong.

3. Think Godly Thoughts.

To remove bad or wicked thoughts from your mind you must replace them with godly thoughts.

This is a simple principle that is used in Biblical counseling, sins must be replaced with something biblical and godly.

God has an entire list of wonderful things He wants us to think about to replace bad thoughts in Philippians 4:8.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue or praise, think on these things.

You may need to take a few minutes and write a list of things in your life that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report. Thinking of the blessings of God has given to us will drive away wrong thoughts so we can show forth praise to Him and allow us to live in victory.

4. Put on the Whole Armor of God.

We must be guarded spiritually by the armor that we put on every day. Ephesians 6:13-17 is an entire study by itself, explaining the spiritual armor of a Christian.

God wants us to have:

  • Loins girt with Truth
  • The Breastplate of Righteousness
  • Feet shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace
  • Shield of Faith
  • Helmet of Salvation
  • Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God)

When you’re in the battle of your mind you can dress yourself in the armor of God or simply go to Ephesians 6 and read it asking yourself, “Do I have loins girt with truth?” “Am I putting on God’s righteousness instead of my own?” “Am I ready to give the gospel of peace to any person that may ask?” “Am I full of faith, wearing the helmet of salvation, and ready to conquer bad thoughts with the Sword of the Spirit?”

Give yourself a self-evaluation. The Holy Spirit will point out what you need to work on and enable you to stand strong against any type of thought that would hinder your relationship with God.

Pay attention and guard yourself as you notice what things in your life trigger thoughts that are not godly. Be ready for the battle of the mind to come against you on a daily basis, run to God for help in prayer, and deal with the bad thoughts accordingly. Do not allow them to conquer you, be ready to conquer them first!