17 Years

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary. 17 YEARS...that is a big number...Almost half of the years I have been alive :) I wanted to write a little post today in honor of my anniversary. Well, really not in honor, but in praise to God for these last 17 years.

Actually, I wanted the title of this post to be "Divorce is not an option". Those were some of the first words that were spoken by myself and my husband that began the healing and saving of our marriage.

Before I begin, I just want to say that if it had not been for God's intervention, my marriage could have ended in divorce. I take no high road here and act like a divorce could never happen to me, but I do believe that as long as my husband and I keep seeking God individually and as a couple we will not head down that path. I could write a book about this subject, but I will only write a little bit of my story today in hopes of encouraging those who might stumble across my blog and take time to read this post.


Like many young couples my husband and I jumped into marriage without thinking everything through...we loved each other and that is all we thought we needed. Boy, were we wrong. Again, I could really go into a lot of details, but I don't want this post to go on and on. The "get to the point" version of this story is that my husband and I both had issues (emotional baggage) that we brought into our marriage. Since this is my story I will focus in on my issues.

I never lived on my own, basically I went right from living with my parents to living as a wife. I was extremely selfish and I didn't have a clue on how to be the wife that God called me to be. Not to mention that I indulged in a steady diet of Hollywood movies from a young age, and that perpetuated the idea of what romance and marriage should be like...A BIG FAIRY TALE with everyone living "happily ever after". Well, "happily ever after" takes a lot of work.

Take all of that, and add a nice helping of "financial woes", and you have a recipe for a marital disaster. Before I go on, I don't want you to think that all of my early years of marriage were bad, actually my husband and I had many enjoyable seasons in our early years. But we were not dealing with the deeper issues, and that in and of itself would come back to wreak havoc in our marriage.

I had said that I wanted to title this post "Divorce is not an option" that is because during our early years the word "divorce" was thrown around by myself and my husband when we were arguing. Half the time I said that word, I didn't really mean it, I just wanted to hurt my husband or maybe at some level I just wanted out of the conflict, but not out of my marriage. I think I hoped that if I said that word, my husband would suddenly wake up and act more loving toward me, or at least do what I wanted him to do. However, I never realized the damage that came from both of us throwing the word "divorce" around so easily. Not until God opened my eyes to the damage that word could cause.

During those early years, God opened my eyes to many things. One of the biggest things God showed me was that I needed to look in the mirror and stop trying to change my husband. Changing my husband was not my job, but God's job. During that time, I realized that using the word "divorce" was a destructive force in our marriage. I remember one time sitting down with my husband and having the discussion about us not using the word "DIVORCE" anymore. Even if we didn't know what to do to solve our problems, we knew that we would be together figuring it out.

It is time to bring this post to an end, but I have to say that it wasn't the fact that my husband and I stopped using the word "divorce" that saved our marriage. It was that fact that during those early years, I stopped focusing in on changing my husband and sought God to help me change, and God got a hold of my husband's heart as well and changed his heart. God was changing my husband and changing me, and at the same time He was healing and saving our marriage.

17 years later... my husband and and I are still fighting, but not in a bad way...we are fighting for our marriage. We are far from perfect, but we are committed to each other. We have a good marriage that is thriving, and I know that is because God came into our marriage and into both of our hearts and changed us forevermore.

Today on my anniversary I am reminded of God's goodness and God's power to save anyone or anything. Thank you God... You are Life and Love...

Made to Crave Monday (Online Group Meeting 4)

Hey "Made to Cravers". I am back. Sorry it took me so long to get to this week's post. The end of the school year came fast and furious and it never seemed like I had a free moment to post a new set of questions. OK, enough excuses...I am back and ready to finish strong.

Since we have not "met" in over a month, let's do catch up for this week. Personally I have not been doing as good as I had been a month ago. My take on that is that I took my eyes off God as the source of breaking my food addiction, and treated this journey like a diet. Along that same line, after having some success I got into the mindset that I was doing OK, and thus I slacked off on my commitment to becoming free from my food addiction. So, here is to a fresh start...

To my Facebook Group...Make sure to answer this week's questions and hopefully we will get back on our regular weekly discussions. As always, if you drop by my blog and want to join the weekly "Made to Crave" online group, please leave a comment and let us know you are on board with us.

Questions

1. Since we have been on a little break, let's do catch up. Tell me where you are right now on your journey (whether it is breaking the bond of food addiction, or becoming more healthy with your food choices).

2. Have you been reading Lysa's book? If so, how far are you into the book? Anybody finished? What have you been learning from the book? Or like me, did you stop reading for awhile? Are you ready to pick up the book again?

OK, I am keeping the questions simple this week so that we can make a fresh start with this group. Can't wait to see what you all have been doing.

Blessings...

Tyndale Review for "unPlanned" DVD

Click HERE to be directed to a trailer for the DVD...

Recently I was asked if I wanted to participate in Tyndale's Blog Tour for the new DVD "unPlanned", and I instantly said yes because I love to watch any DVD that will encourage me in my Christian walk. Tyndale sent me a complimentary copy of the new DVD titled, "unPlanned", and I in turn must write a review of the DVD on my blog. "unPlanned" is a documentary about Abby Johnson, a clinic director of a Planned Parenthood in Texas. Abby made national news when she left her position as director of Planned Parenthood to join the right-to-life- movement.

I have heard Abby Johnson speak on a couple of Christian radio stations over the last year, but I did not follow her story as it was happening. The "unPlanned" DVD is a Focus on the Family production so I felt that I could definitely trust the views presented in the film. As mentioned, I did have a little bit of knowledge about Abby's story from listening to her on Christian radio programs, but I did not really grasp the whole story until I watched the DVD. I really enjoyed the DVD, and I loved how Abby authentically shared her life story in this documentary. She shares much of her own past that lead her up to her decision to pursue a career with Planned Parenthood, and how she dealt with some of the doubts and questions she had during that time.

One of the things that impressed me was how Abby interacted with the employees from "The Coalition for Life" organization (Pro-Life). In this documentary you will see interviews with the people that were involved with "Coalition for Life", and they discuss how they built a relationship with Abby over many years as she worked for Planned Parenthood. I like that you get to get a glimpse of what some Pro-Life organization are really about, as so many negative views are out there about Pro-Life movements that are radical and the people, judgmental. You will see that the "Coalition for Life" organization reached out to women and wanted to love and encourage them by sharing God's love with them. They fought for the life of unborn children, but they also loved and cared for the women and employees that were at Planned Parenthood.

Overall, I think this DVD was very good and it would be great to watch individually or in a small group. I could even see this resource being used in a Church for the whole congregation, especially those churches that are involved with Pro-Life ministries.

Tyndale has so graciously agreed to give an "unPlanned" dvd away here at my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment and a way to reach you, and I will randomly pick one person next Friday (the 13th) to win the DVD.

If you are interested, there will be an Unite for LIFE free webcast featuring Abby Johnson on May 17 at 8:00 P.M. (in all time zones) at the website, www.uniteforlifewebcast.org . This webcast will benefit pregnancy care organizations and you will be able to purchase "unPlanned" resources at that time. 33% of all purchases will be donated to several crisis pregnancy organizations.

Again, make sure to leave a comment to enter the giveaway for a free "unPlanned" DVD.

Blessings...