Preacher’s Wife Teaching Life

I've talked about God's redeeming love in almost every one of my posts so I feel like I can talk shorthand with y'all on this one. The quick synopsis is: No matter what you did, what you're going to do or what you're thinking about doing, God forgives. With his forgiveness, he brings love and generous redemption (Psalm 130). His love is all consuming and runs so deep that when he's truly allowed into your life, it changes you.   All over the news, social media and every day events I see hate and anger. I see love too, but the anger consumes the lion share of "news". It's almost as if hate and anger is like a virus that keeps spreading. I'm challenging you to spread God's love. As a child of God, you've been forgiven, set free and are a vessel of God's love. God's love is so big that it can be spread to an infinite number of people - it won't run out. Please take the love you've been given and make it contagious. Sho...

I went to the store and bought some pants. When I got home and tried them on, they fit like I might be wearing my 10 year old nephew’s pants so I placed them in my car to exchange for a normal sized petite human being’s pants. I kept forgetting to return them for about a week or so until I finally took them back (with my receipt). I went to the customer service counter, returned the toddler pants, got cash back and went to find another pair in the size I needed. Apparently in the time I waited to return the pants, they had gone on sale so when I bought the new pair they were less expensive! Now that’s what I call a great exchange! Cha-ching! I came out on top in that blunder of forgetfulness and timing and sale times. The feeling associated with this exchange is similar to the exchange that happens in our lives when we hand over our vices for God’s love. Trading in bitterness for kindness is even better than the natural high you get from exchanging that too-tight pair of pants for...

My friend asked how Jarrod and I keep from getting our feelings hurt all the time. Well, my feelings DO get hurt. They get hurt less often now than in the past but not because of a hardened/calloused heart or walls I’ve built up around my emotions but because of Jesus. Jesus has healed the pain caused by others and replaced the wounds with love, peace and patience. When someone hurts my feelings, I’ve learned that MOST of the time the offender is dealing with his/her own issues and has taken it out on me as an easy target, OR they’ve taken their issues out on me because I resemble the person they really need to forgive. HOWEVER, when someone has attacked me and I’ve been offended, that means there is something that needs healing inside me. So how on earth would I know whether I’m an easy target or if something in me needs to be healed? The answer is found in prayer to Jesus. When you feel the familiar pain from hurt feelings, for the sake of your spiritual well-being, go to the...

I know this girl from high school who was...let's say less than nice to me. And I have to confess that maybe I wasn't very nice back to her. I think we resolved in our minds that we just didn't like each other (for who knows what reason 16 year old girls choose) and stayed away from each other as much as possible while trash talking each other at the same time. We graduated, went to college, graduated again (not at the same time), and guess what? Our paths crossed again. We were put in a situation that was awkward given our background and were forced to talk to each other and work together. And do you know what happened? She spoke up and said, "I think we knew each other in high school..." and I said, "yeahhh kind of." And she said, "I don't think we were very nice to each other." I replied, "no not really." God prompted us both at that time to agree that our tiff was stupid and high school brings out the worst in people and we fo...

Were you ever a subject of a rumor? Did something ever get spread around about you like wildfire and you didn’t have the tools to put it out? The thing about rumors, gossip, and slander is that if the originator would have just asked you about it, you probably could have put a stop to it. It was probably something so minor that could have been cleared up in the matter of one conversation. Instead, people went around trying to solve your problems, trying to say what THEY would have done and what YOU should have done…when all they had to do was ask. They build up a case against you and sometimes even formulate a plan to fix you or your problem. Most of the time with gossip, it’s an issue you and one other person can work out between the two of you before God…if you’re willing. That’s where Joshua 22 comes in. We had a special Sunday this week with baby dedications and a personal testimony so Joshua 22 will be spread out over two weeks. This week, God wants to deal with gossip and hono...