Blog: Life of Jesus
Posted: March 17, 2012
“My husband will not take spiritual leadership in our home, and our family seems to be falling apart.” It hurts me to tell you how often I hear similar statements from numerous women who are angry, fed up and feel helpless because of their husband’s apathetic attitude and lack of spiritual authority in the home. “If only he would…life would be so much better.” I agree, but let me help you defuse your frustration by giving you insights why “Some men are bored and disinterested in church and spiritual matters.” God designed lines of authority in this world so that government, people in authority and families can live peaceful, fruitful and harmonious lives. Men were designed to be the “god-head” of the home, because there always needs to be that one person who has final word of authority and is then accountable before God. Somehow, over the past century, these…
Posted in: Balancing life, Beauty through Boldness, Beauty Unleashed, Communication, Control, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Friendship, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Patience, Respect, Tension, Uncategorized, Valued
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Posted: February 17, 2012
My husband Jack and I have a blended family of 5 children, and 9 grandchildren. They are all active, energetic ambitious people and they either go to school or live in different cities all across Canada and parts of the United States. We feel very helpless when our children call us and let us know there is some kind of trouble; perhaps illness, struggles in school, feeling overwhelmed, financial breakdown or a divorce. We feel vulnerable because we are not there to help them. Fourteen years ago, this feeling of helplessness caused us to make a decision that has empowered our lives in a way we could never have imagined. Jack and I made a radical, bold choice to meet each morning for bible reading and prayer. We could never have anticipated the beauty and power of our morning encounters. The bible tells us that: “The earnest prayer of a…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Communication, Encouragement, Fear, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Overwhelmed and Undervalued, Prayer, Respect, Tension, Uncategorized, Understanding each other, Valued
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Posted: February 11, 2012
The most beautiful love can be expressed right in the middle of our biggest messes. I found that out again last night as I was on my knees unleashing a violent stomach flu. Each time I got out of bed to “unleash” more supper; my husband was at my side holding my forehead and rubbing my back. Every trip out of bed he walked with me, steadied and comforted me. Today I am still in bed (with my computer) but he is out conducting a funeral on one hour’s sleep. That’s love. It’s easy to be in love when the lights are turned down low, candles burning, roses sitting in the middle of the table and Josh Groban or Leonard Cohen crooning love songs in the background. Love comes easy when everything is going our way, everyone is in a good mood and there is enough money in the bank…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Communication, Control, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Friendship, Good Marriage, Hope, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, messes, Overcoming Struggles, Patience, Respect, Tension, Valued
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Posted: February 4, 2012
There are at least 10 ways to kill a marriage without realizing you are doing it. I am a big believer of looking at all the positive, grateful aspects in every relationships; especially marriages. But today I am going to give you a list of DON’TS that will be your guideline to surviving sabotage. The 10 items I am going to list are aspects of behavior that were modeled for you and you have learned to follow. These were the people who had influence in your life such as our parents, teachers, magazines, TV sitcoms, movies, neighbors, siblings or even misguided bible teaching. But we all have to let go of old belief systems that are simply not working for us. 1. DON’T: Hide your resentment. Every time you feel hurt, overlooked, rejected or unloved, don’t smile and tuck it away. Each resentment that is not dealt with is like…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Communication, Control, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Patience, Resentment, Respect, Tension, Understanding each other, Valued
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Posted: January 27, 2012
My husband is the pastor to the 55 and older generation in our local church. Every year there is a celebration for those who have been married 50, 60 or 70 years. I listen intently to the stories of “how their marriages stayed together for all those years.” I need to glean their practical, lived out in real life…wisdom. There is something so incredibly beautiful about an older couple walking along holdings hands and still smiling at each other. After talking to many of them over the years, I have learned that their original endorphin, chemically induced feelings of “falling in love” took on different dimensions over the years. It went from “feeling” of love to “being” in love. The transitional word is the word “ACTION.” Here is how some of them describe it: 1. Learning to look past the daily irritations. We all have irritating habits. Why are his…
Posted in: Beauty through Boldness, Beauty Unleashed, Communication, Encouragement, Expectations, Forgiveness, Friendship, Good Marriage, Hope, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Patience, Resentment, Tension, Understanding each other, Valued
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Posted: January 20, 2012
There must be a bit of Cinderella syndrome in us. I confess that every once in a while I love to curl up with my duvet and watch several episodes of Say “yes” to the Dress. I know it’s corny; but there is something magical about watching a woman emerge from a dressing room in a vision of sequence, pearls, silk and layers of beading and stitched elegance. It’s what we envisioned, talked about, practiced from the time we were little girls. Even though we may have already experienced our own enchanted, glorious wedding day, we can still live vicariously through a T.V. show. Unfortunately getting our husbands to watch a show with endless wedding dresses was not part of his wedding vows when we exchanged promises to honor, cherish and obey. Neither did we agree to sign up for watching football three days a week. Don’t get me wrong;…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty Unleashed, Communication, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Freedom, Friendship, Good Marriage, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Pain Pleasure, Respect, Tension, Understanding each other
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Posted: January 14, 2012
When you get together with your girlfriends, what kind of picture do you paint of your husband? I ask this question because the answer to this may determine the type of authority and leadership your husband exercises in your marriage and home. I am saddened and horrified that I see an escalating movement on television commercials and sitcoms depicting men as stupid, lazy, and dumb. And we wonder why many men are relinquishing their God given authority of leadership in our homes and even churches and workplaces. We wonder why men are withdrawing and finding pleasure not in the marriages and families, but behind their toys, sports programs and recreational activities. The pictures we paint of our husband will have a unique and powerful effect on the way they respond to us. I realize I have opened a can of worms because this is a catch 22 situation. You, the…
Posted in: Communication, Control, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Freedom, Friendship, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Pain Pleasure, Patience, Respect, Understanding each other, Valued
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Posted: December 18, 2011
A number of years ago I had an insightful, explosive conversation with a group of men that I work with. It started out as a simple conversation about Christmas preparations. It got more specific as we started to define “what the women do, and the things men do to help out with all the responsibilities.” It got animated and intense as the men got defensive about helping out and then all of a sudden it got real quiet. One of the men made this statement, “I don’t do Christmas stuff; on Christmas morning I show up!” I had to breathe and tell myself, “Back up Heidi and walk away…walk away!” Generally speaking, for many women Christmas preparations have become an intense journey of “climbing the Christmas Hill.” It starts somewhere in November (or earlier if you’re more organized than I am) and begins with the climb towards completing all the…
Posted in: Balancing life, Beauty from the Inside Out, Communication, Control, Encouragement, Freedom from Busyness, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Pain Pleasure, Patience, Resentment, Respect, Tension, Understanding each other, Valued
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Posted: November 22, 2011
“What comes out of you when life squeezes you?” I think about that quite a bit actually, because I’ve had a bit of “squeezing” going on in my life. No matter how I act, or “fake it until I make it”…when life squeezes me, the REAL ME SHOWS UP! It’s not always pretty, but it is the truth. How does this reality affect your marriage; because life can be tough. © You find out a child has an addiction. © The balance in the bank account is so much lower than you anticipated. © You find out your spouse had an affair, or a friend deceived you. © Your career change is so much harder than anticipated. © Your spouse will not take on spiritual leadership. © You found pornographic sites on your spouse’s computer. © Some you love-dies. © You lost your job. © You got a life threatening…
Posted in: Balancing life, Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Communication, Encouragement, Expectations, Fear, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Freedom, Friendship, Good Marriage, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Obligations and Offenses, Overcoming Struggles, Pain Pleasure, Resentment, Respect, Tension, Uncategorized, Understanding each other
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Posted: November 6, 2011
I had a fascinating encounter with one of my colleagues last week. As I walked by his work area I saw him pulling items out of his lunch cooler and describing each item to a customer. The encounter looked so intriguing that I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. I went up to his counter and say, “So Colin (not his real name), what’s going on here?” His face lit up and he could hardly wait to show me his lunch. “Look at these barbecued ribs, a salad with homemade dressing on the side and real bacon bits. And look, here are roasted potatoes, a drink, cutlery, salt and pepper and a little dessert.” My mouth hung open and I said, “Wow, you go to a lot of trouble with your lunches.” “Oh no”, he responded, “My wife always packs my lunch. She’s amazing!” Now my…
Posted in: Balancing life, Beauty from the Inside Out, Communication, Control, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Freedom, Freedom from Busyness, Good Marriage, Hope, Intimacy, Kindness, Life of Jesus, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Patience, Resentment, Respect, Understanding each other, Valued
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