MARRIED: THE REAL ADVENTURE..

     Well this is Truth isn't it? There is definitely not some sort of magic that takes place once you're married is there? I mean, I totally loved all the disney cartoons too but they left out a few crucial details about relationship right? I mean it was all "cinderella, here's the shoe you dropped" and real life it's more like "why can't you pick up your shoes!!!!" Haha, married life is a daily adventure, sometimes it's adventuring in the bahamas and sometimes it's adventuring on top of mount everest but it is definitely an adventure, shared by two people. That. is. beautiful. 
       Being married is about living out dreams and desires. To work at helping each other become better individuals. stronger individuals. always having someone in your corner even if you are mad at them. It's real. I don't think it can get any more real than living with someone you know so well on a daily basis. Granted we are always growing and changing and we don't always know everything about our spouse no matter how long we've been married...but that is also part of the adventure. The really fun part of the adventure if you let it be. Always knowing that there is so much more to discover in the one you have chosen to do life with. -darby

YOUNG WOMAN: New Year...New Beginnings

​The new year can be a time filled with fear, anxiety and worry, but it can also be a time of promises and new opportuntities. A time to change bad habits into good habits, a time to improve one's self and a time to make life into a life of purpose. When we live a life that follows God's path for us, we will find a life of love, contentment and purpose. New beginnings can be a scary thing, but, I believe, it is God's way to lead us to the path that He has made for us to follow. So, embrace the new year and face new beginnings with an open mind, an open heart and with open arms. - Michelle

JOY NUGGET: MAKING GOD A PRIORITY

Now that a new year is upon us, it is a time to decide what will be our priorities in our lives. Will it be our family, work, finances? How about making God a priority? When we make God a priority in our lives, we will find find that everything else in our lives will fall into place. God has a plan for us and He knows exactly what we need, who we need and when we need them. He will never let us down. Setting time aside to talk and share our day with God brings us closer to Him and to His purpose for us. We find freedom when we let Him be the most important part of our lives; mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. We are so important and precious to Him, so let Him be important and precious to us.

When we put God first, we'll never come in last. - Michelle

JOY NUGGET: In the Little Things...

Sometimes it's those little moments that we can find our joy. We can get so caught up in our to do lists that we often overlook the greatness and blessings in our lives right in front of us! What would happen if each day we paused and looked around at the beauty in our lives? From people, nature, things, we are loved by our God and there is evidence literally all around us. We must choose to see it, we must also choose to look for it. Living with joy is about making God our hearts desire, then we can truly appreciate and notice the blessings around us, even in the midst of a busy life, crazy circumstances, and even difficult times. God is still good and we are always loved! -darby

THE GODLY WIFE: 100% Guilty

Just the other day, my husband got home from work and we were eating supper and he looks at me with tears in his eyes and says..." I realized that I haven't been as good of a husband lately that I should be...and I'm going to try harder to be better". 

I love moments like these because they help me realize just how blessed I am to have a Godly husband who "wants" to be all that God is calling him to be.  I also love moments like these because they remind me that God is Faithful. Things have not always been easy in our marriage and things got pretty bad early in our marriage and I really didn't know if we were going to make it...(that's a story I may share sometime) but In the darkest of dark, as I lay face down before God begging Him to help save our marriage and help my husband become a better man...God told me to Trust Him and that my husband WOULD become a better man in the future if I would just hold on to faith. 
 
I don't share this to make it sound like my husband was so terrible but I share this because : If We will PRAY for our Husbands to Love Jesus More than anything...God is Faithful.  I am SO blessed to be married to this man because he is a better man now than the dream of the man I had when I married him. He has already exceeded my expectations and I am blessed to call him mine.

With all that being said... it's wonderful that my husband wants to improve the kind of man he is in our marriage...it poses the question..what do I need to improve as the godly wife God is calling me to be?  

This answer was pretty simple because the Holy Spirit has been convicting me alot recently about an underlying layer of selfishness I have had with my husband. Believe me, I am trying HARD to keep myself in check with this, It is so easy to focus on the things that I need done and when I need them done, that I can quickly overlook how exhausted and physically spent my husband is after a long hard day of work. It's going the extra mile to make his evening more relaxed when he gets home, to serve him better and allow God to use me to encourage and love on my husband. 

Marriage is not 50/50 it's 100/100. If either one of us is not giving 100% all of the time...then our marriage will suffer. maybe a little, maybe a lot but regardless...it's true.  Is it hard to give 100% all of the time? ABSOLUTELY. But, is it impossible? I believe with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. God wants us to give 100% so I fully believe that we CAN achieve this humongous goal if we FIX our eyes on Jesus first. 

I am not at 100% YET...but  know that I am determined to aim for it! I hope you will join in the journey.  

* Some of you may be thinking " But I don't have a Godly husband or one that wants to be better, how can I give 100%?"  This is a good question and the answer is this: You can only control your 100%...his 100% is up to him, and sometimes that means that you will be giving 100% for a long time before he gets on board but you don't answer to God for his 100%, you only answer for yours. So do it with everything you have, hold nothing back, and you will never have regrets that you could've done it better. 
    And the Most Important thing to remember is this: PRAY PRAY PRAY for your husband. God is a God of miracles. God is the ONLY one who can change him into the man He's created him to be... so give your husband to God. He loves him more than you do anyways. Be strong friend. You can do this! -darby

JOY NUGGET: What's YOUR Story?

      So many times we may feel inadequate or overwhelmed when it comes to sharing the "Good News" with someone like we all know we are supposed to do right? Jesus tells us to "go into all the world and preach the gospel"...so why do we get so ...scared? Is it because we think that we have to know all the answers to every question that they might ask? Is it because we are afraid that they might get angry with us and reject the things we are sharing with them? Are we ashamed of what we know????  By not sharing the gospel...does that mean that we are being disobedient to God?
        These may be tough thoughts to make ourselves really think about what we are doing or not doing, but these are crucial questions that according to scripture...we probably need to be thinking about pretty seriously. Maybe the BIG truth about sharing the gospel is that it is really SUPER SIMPLE: We ARE the Gospel. Now, don't take that and run with it just yet... What I'm saying is that...God doesn't say that when you start telling someone about Him that you have to start in Genesis and work your way chronologically quoting the Bible to them and answering every question they might have about creation, and the flood, and the dinosaurs, and why the Israelites had to roam the desert for 40 years, and why people lived to be hundreds of years old, and....the point is...God simply wants you to tell your story about who He is to you and how He is changing your life.
       Now.... We are the Gospel because our lives should BE a reflection of the Gospel. We should be growing and changing and falling more in love with Jesus all the time because He is LIVING in us. If our lives are NOT a reflection of Jesus then maybe we should stop and think before we go representing Him to someone who might get the wrong idea of the Gospel. Because Jesus said to go into all the world and MAKE DISCIPLES.... and Jesus follows up with a list of what that should look like... Jesus didn't just say "okay guys, go and tell people about me" and that's it...no, He said go and make disciples. That means there is WAY more to sharing the Gospel than just telling people about Jesus..it's about making them disciples OF Jesus. We have to BE Disciples first before we can make disciples.  
       So don't take sharing the Gospel lightly, take it seriously. Take it so seriously that you live it out in front of people; That when you share your story of how Jesus has changed your life...the person you are talking to can see it AND believe the Gospel they are hearing. See, when we take Jesus seriously in our lives...sharing the Gospel will become the EASIEST thing we have ever done...because it is simply who we are. Sharing the Gospel is easy, it's getting to the place where we love Him more than everything else in this world that is the part that will test our true heart condition. We are on a journey, every day is one step closer to meeting Jesus face to face. He loves us and His heart rejoices every time we grow closer to Him. He loves those that cross our path every day and His will is that NONE should perish but that doesn't mean that they won't. It's a choice we all must make, and it's a choice we all must live out loud.  We've all heard the quote : "You might be the only BIBLE other people may read"... make sure they are reading the RIGHT Representation of Jesus Christ. Live Him Well and Share Him Well.  ;) -darby

SINGLE LADIES: Loved by God

Out of a father's love, the gift of a beautiful, colorful coat came to be.  It had to be something special, different from everything else.  Jacob gave that coat to one of his sons, to Joseph.  Now to Jacob, it signified a love so deep, so intense that it pushed everything else out of the way.  But to Joseph, a single young man, it was the beginning of an incredible, but bumpy journey!  Joseph was stripped of his beautiful coat by those who should have loved him most, he was cast into a pit and sold to the highest bidder! 

​I would love to say that his journey was unique, but unfortunately I have met to many whose stories parallel his.  If you happen to be one who relates to his story closely, I want you to know that I am so sorry that others have hurt you so deeply.  And know this  too, God's heart was broken for you because he created you beautiful and colorful.  He clothed you with something special.  He loves you intensely. 

​Check out this passage from Romans chapter 8: 35-39, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I pray you find great peace and courage in knowing just how loved you are.

​Loving you in this journey,
​Deb