Category: daily life

Romance Novels Yay or Nay? (Discretion is advised tough subjects)

Posted on by Mary

Let’s just say I may make some enemies on this one. I have felt God’s leading on this subject since Bible College where I took a “Counseling Women” course. Our Professor Mr. M challenged our thoughts on said subject.

Now I am by no means here to TICKLE your ears with what I think you want to hear. I am here to grow in my walk and to share my journey and why I am convicted in certain ways. So here it is…whether you like it or Not!

So let’s start at the beginning. Let’s differentiate between Christian and secular……As a believer we should NOT be putting in our minds the SMUT of secular romance novels. There is a lot of pre-marital and extra-marital affairs, profane language, and details we do not need to be thinking about outside our own husband/wife relationship (notice the singular). We should not be thinking on such things. Philippians 4:8-9 tells us that we need to think on good things and not on things that go directly against what the Bible says. Sin is sin and we are to have NO part in it!

OK so that being said, you might be thinking SOOO Christian ones are okay right? Well let’s talk about that!

NOW let’s talk about how each of the sexes gets turned on (I think I don’t need to get more obvious)!! Guys are turned on by sight,  that’s why pornography is so big amongst the male species (I know some girls struggle too).  But what turns on the female species..can you guess it…..WORDS. Our minds just run with words so even though the smut isn’t talked about that is where our minds run. We automatically start going down that road. Did you know that romance novels trigger the same portion of the female brain that pornography does the male brain. NO JOKE! Same emotions, same thoughts. (I know I will have lots of those who say NOT ME! Well let’s give it a little test. Pick up the romance novel you just set down and read an emotionally driven portion that ends in kissing. Now tonight when you are getting ready for bed and kiss you hubby compare the feelings…the feeling you had that morning while reading that portion of the romance novel will trigger feelings that weren’t there when you kissed your hubby that night. THAT should NOT BE!! Not to mention the dangers it has on a relationship, romance novels give the “perfect outcome” in most books. And I have seen on more than one occasion that a marriage or two or a dating relationship has been taxed because the wife feels her hubby cannot match up to the ideal of Joe Shmoe from such and such novel.

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Thankful Thursday-Accountability

Posted on by Mary

We all need  it  and I am no different.  I am so excited…yes excited because this is something I have been praying about for almost  years now.  God will bring someone to mind and I will pray about it, then talk to them.  I get two major responses with some varied in between.

#! No time, I’m too busy!

#2 Yes I’ll do that for you –AND IT NEVER HAPPENS!

It’s not Like i am  some half- hearted  believer.  I am a pastor’s wife. I NEED to be held accountable.  For the things I do,say and believe! Well after many  “rejections”(it starts wearing on you after a year and a half) God provides someone I believe will do the job well…NOT half- heartedly!  She is a pastor’s wife and she is busy too. BUT we make time for the things and people that are most important to us!   And would you believe we haven’t seen each other or talked in nearly 5 years!

We were talking on FB she wanted to share some really exciting news she had going on in her life ….Sowe chatted for awhile. Reminisced about Seminary WivesFellowshipand the Disciplines Bible Study class we took together!  She lives in Ohio and I in New York    We had talked about our families and what we were doing now and at the end I just felt God prodding me…Ask her..ask her…So instead of holding off and praying about it first. I took a leap of faith and stepped out on the proverbial water….You know what i found out….BOTH of us have been living and experiencing the same thing!    We then discussed what we expected out of this and how we were going to go about it…WE MADE A PLAN!  First  call tonight during Awana.

So I am very thankful  for a coupleofthings concerning this..

  1. BIGGEST OF THEM  ALL- God answers our prayers…maybe not on our time and in the way in which we thin He should BUT when He does it is SOOO obvious!
  2. A friend who is as passionate and dedicated to excellence.  She will keep her word.
  3. Telephones  because  everyone locally is too busy.
  4. Wisdom to not be too scared to ask and follow God’s reading!
  5. A friend who cares!

there is so much more that goes into this story and I wish I could share it all BUT alas I can’t and I shouldn’t…SO happy thankful Thursday!

 

A Family Verse

Posted on by Mary

This year I decided that I wanted to focus on one specific area of need in our family.  i prayed about this and contemplated it for some time and finally came up with this idea.

This year we are going to have a family verse. We needed to refocus on why we do what we do.

the verse we are going to be using throughout this year is 1 Corthians 10:31

whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do do all tothe Glory of  God.

 

It takes care of a couple of areas.

Namely selfishness, having right motives,and living a God centered life

 

let me close by asking you this?

Why do you do what you?  And what does God want you to focus on this year!?!

Proud Of Myself…

Posted on by Mary

i am not normally a prideful person and what I am about to say is not really prideful  BUT nonetheless I am Proud of myself.  Today has been a rough day, you see I have been sick all day.  I got sick after church yesterday.  I dismissed it though as being just a very emotionally trying day as we had to say goodbye to some very close friends who are moving on to another ministry and I had some thing to do that i have never done before.   I haven’t been physically ill since then But I have been almost constantly nauseous and growing weaker .  Normally when this happens I kinda check out i sit in  the corner under a blanket with a book.  Despite my lack of energy and sick feeling I was able to press on.  I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped BUT I did get a bunch done and for that i am VERY VERY grateful!!!

 

Thank youLord for giving me the stregth i needed to get done the things that needed to getdone.  Without you none of thi was possible!

A Major case of Writers Block

Posted on by Mary

Hi all!

As I sit here I know I haven’t written a post in a coon’s age!  Its not as if I have not  had PLENTY of blogging fodder and yet nothing!

 

Lets take a look at what the last few weeks have held for our family!

The two busiest weeks of our ministry OR perrhaps our lives where hubbyt had at least 10 extra speaking engagements OUTSIDE of his normal 2 times on Sunday and once on Wedensday…..he also had two funerals tossed in there ass well.  Along with a couple of new experiences for our ministry!

Then Friday before Easter lady bug got Gastroenteritis……which lasted a full 10 days Thankfully not in all its glory BUT she is finally back to Noraml.  Then there was Easter Sunday.

 

During all this my aunt passed away.   And we were praying for a dear family friend as she was lossing her battle with cancer.

I had a very interesting encounter with the physicians assisstant at our Doctors office, I had an upper GI  (with no scope)  Then Hubby gets sick, then I get sick…..all mixed in with whats going on in the world around us with a royal wedding (to which I did NOT get up @ 4 am to watch with the rest of the world) , the tornados that devasted really many parts of the coutry and even here in our state of New York.  And lets not forget the most recent and perrhaps the biggest news in quite sometime….the death of Osama Bin Laden yesterday!

Then yesterday we recieved news that someone in our church dies VERY unexpectedly and this morning our friend who was struggling with here battle with cancer met her Lord and Savior.

 

Whew I am exhausted and I feel as though I have not even done justice to any of them…..but that is for another day!