Marriage

Grace Upon Grace in Marriage

You can listen to this post here on Refresh Her podcast.

The grace of God is appropriated to all who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  So many songs are written about God’s grace.  A newer one is “The Lord is my salvation”. It starts out – 

The grace of God has reached for me

And pulled me from the raging sea,

And I am safe on this solid ground

The Lord is my salvation

We are so thankful for God’s grace to us in our daily lives, aren’t we?  Grace forgives, helps, equips, guides, and restores. It gives to me what I do not deserve.

John 1:14, 16, 17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Recently my grandsons were at our home for dinner.  When it was time for dessert, I brought out three different flavors of ice cream and asked the boys what kind they would like.  One of the boys answered with, “I’ll START with the cookies and cream.”  That clearly meant that he was not going to stop with one bowl.  He would have one scoop and then he would have another.  That’s a visual of grace upon grace at Gigi’s house.  

Christians receive grace and then more grace—grace served on top of grace—grace and then, in place of that, more grace. The point is that Christ is full of grace, and those who know Him get showered with grace.

What’s abundantly clear is that, when we come to Christ, He dishes out grace in heaping, huge servings.

Our marriages are to be pictures of the Gospel.  What would grace in marriage look like?

Grace in marriage would mean giving to my spouse out of my unselfish love what they may not deserve. 

Here are ten ways to show grace to your spouse ~

Continue reading “Grace Upon Grace in Marriage”
Marriage · Mentoring

Need a Little Help Loving Your Man?

This post is a continuation of the Adorned Study #11. You can listen to this post here on the Refresh Her podcast.

A long-distance friend on Facebook is engaged.  She wrote on her fiancé’s wall this week,

“You are so easy to love!”

Anyone who has been married for a month or two, knows that husbands AND wives don’t STAY easy to love; both need grace at times in order to love the other as we should! 

Continue reading “Need a Little Help Loving Your Man?”
Marriage

The Cost of Neglect In Marriage

Weeds!  It’s amazing what just a little time away will do to a summer yard!

Proverbs 10:4 reminds us ~

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

I remember a time when my hand had been idle, while on away on vacation, but when the temperatures had cooled off some and the humidity was in breathing range, I donned my garden gloves and headed out to give this poor Dianthus some badly needed attention.  My hand was diligent to take care of the neglected landscape.

While I was tugging and pulling at the stubborn intruders, the Lord brought to my mind a simple truth: neglect in any area of our lives spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e!  You name it – if you neglect your health, your work, or your spiritual walk, it’s an invitation to disaster.

Let’s think about another area in which neglect is deadly…a marriage.  It’s so easy to “take a little vacation” from really connecting with our spouse.

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Goals · The Scenic Route

What We’re Doing – Including the Appalachian Trail!

If you know anything about my husband, you know that he LOVES to hike. One of his life-long dreams has been to hike the Appalachian Trail. He has done plenty of sections on the trail, but certainly nothing close to the whole thing.

If you know anything about me, you know that sleeping on the ground in the cold and eating dehydrated food with the possibility of bumping into a snake on the path is NOT my idea of a fun day! But recently I stood before my husband and I told him I would DO the Appalachian Trail with him and I meant it!

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Family life · Marriage

People Are More Important than Things

After a two-day trip away, my husband returned home.  It was a snowy, wet night, and because the garage was full with two cars inside –  mine and our daughter’s, he parked in the slushy driveway and stepped inside.  His shoes dripped with the remains of the winter weather, so he stepped across the hardwood floor onto the dining room rug…the “pretty” rug meant for covering the floor, but not necessarily for wiping wet feet.  I inwardly cringed, then asked,

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