The House You're Building

  22  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  23  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  24  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  26  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  27  so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [ a ]   28  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  29  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,  30  because...

Let me set the scene for you this morning.  I'm sitting on the couch with my son.  It's 8:30 am and the smell of coffee is in my house.  He's wrapped up in his fuzzy red blanket and I can only see the tip of his hair.  My husband is sitting adjacent to me, white mug in one hand and bible app open in the other.  The sun is up but none of the lights are on so there is a lazy, ease-into-the-morning diffusion in the living room.  We are sitting together in a comfortable silence.  Reading, reflecting, thinking our own thoughts.  When Ethan emerges from his bleary-eyed cocoon he grabs his Bible and reads a morning devotional.  Afterwards he asks a question and a rich discussion begins. Friday nights and Saturday mornings have a unique culture around our house.  After a long week of work, sports, piano lessons, the family gathers around the table for homemade pizza and a movie.  We have "intermission" where we stop to make popcorn and gr...

Hello friends, Are there any of you still out there?   I have been so busy creating studies for my own bible study that I haven’t had time to finish Proverbs.   I also decided to share on-line what my women’s group is doing, so I’ll be able to post more regularly for those of you who are doing the study and needing something more consistent.   With that said, I will be doing a super-sized post today to finish up Proverbs.   This post is not meant to be done in one sitting but in topical sections.   If you’ve been doing this study it’s the same process, read each verse, take notes on what you observe, summarize your learning in one or two sentences, and then journal about a verse that the Holy Spirit reveals to you as important.   That is a verse that when you are reading pops off the page; there may something inside you that feels inspired, curious, or emotionally attached to it.   That is the best way to describe what I feel when I am re...

Prepare Your Heart: Read Deuteronomy 11:18-21.   Pray about your desire as a parent for your children to know the Lord and His word.   So it happened!   Last night was the end of a very long week.   I had been up since 7 a.m. working around the house, moping, laundry, etc.   It was my first week back to teaching and the house needed some serious TLC.   Like most days when I try to fit in too much, I reached the point of exhaustion.   My mind was filled with anxiety.   Thoughts started to cross my mind about my business and   need to cut something out of my schedule.   Of course the things that came to my mind were all ministry related, including not teaching through this blog anymore.   Now I should have seen this right away as an attack from the enemy; he exploited my circumstances to catch me busy at my tasks and not in communion with God.   Then the Spirit answers with the Word, from a passage in Proverbs chapter 8 w...

Prepare Your Heart:   Read Psalm 127:3-5.   Meditate prayerfully on this verse.   What are the blessings you have received as a parent?   Like my marriage study, I approach this lesson with slight trepidation.   I am not a perfect parent and don’t claim to be.   We are all on this God-seeking journey together.    It’s often nice to know you aren’t the only one who hasn’t got it all together yet.   This week I’ve returned back from a trip to Colorado to visit my college roommate who is also a new mom.   It was pure joy to see the love in this family.   He is a miracle.   It was difficult for them to conceive but they have come out on the other side with a healthy baby boy.   In coming home, I was greeted by big hugs from my own two and “a what did you get me.”   Having dinner that night as a family for the first time in a few days, my son was having a hard time remembering to use his table manners.   At our h...