Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Your Grace is Enough

Everyone has a story.

As we stood to sing, I glanced around the room quickly.  Oh, how many stories there were in that room.  Stories of triumph and failures, happy and tragic endings, healing and sickness and pain and suffering.  But most of all, the room was filled to overflowing with His grace.

Thinking of my own story, my eyes filled to overflowing with tears and I quickly wiped them away.  I think of how many times I feel I’ve failed not only myself but also Him.  In those failing times, I’ve allowed the enemy to make me feel not worthy.  To make me feel like, just as Adam and Eve hid their nakedness from God, I felt I had to hide my failure from Him.

How many times I’ve given it to Him only to take it back.  I can only imagine how that must break His heart, to think that I don’t trust Him enough to give my failures to Him completely.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

I recently read a devotional by James McDonald that made me stop in my tracks and really reflect on myself, my heart and do some “God talk”.  It says…

Notice that the Lord explains how I’m all the grace you need actually works in our lives: “For my power is made perfect in weakness.” “Perfect” means fulfilled, accomplished, completed, finished. It’s the same term Jesus spoke as His final word on the cross, tetelestai, which means, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God brings His sufficient and powerful grace to the relationship; all we bring is weakness. All of this is grace because we can’t do anything to deserve what He does for us. And He makes sure the results are perfect and complete. 

God wants His grace to be completed in your weakness. You never really experience the grace unless you see the need for it—and even that realization comes by grace. The power of Jesus’ grace is not fully seen until weakness is fully acknowledged. The moment you are overwhelmed with your absolute helplessness is the moment you are ready to hear Jesus say, I’m all the grace you need.

Reading this took me instantly back to the day my husband told me he was leaving. I sat on the bed, watching him pack. I was hysterically crying, telling him I couldn’t do this without him. I couldn’t live without him. Two days after he left, the kids and I sat in the living room watching Jonathan Falwell and immediately I felt that we should all get together, hold hands and pray. As soon as that prayer ended, I felt peace. In my moment of absolute weakness, He gave me the grace I needed.

Throughout our lives, we’ve all faced struggles.  Every single one of us.  We’ve all had seasons of storms when it seems you can’t even see the shore.  These are as much a part of life as the sun rising each morning and setting each night.  Whether your season comes in the form of a health issue or simply feeling like a failure, we all know what struggling feels like. Every single one of us. It’s not a good feeling. And normally, it’s not pretty.  At least for me it’s not.  It normally ends in me ugly-crying through singing hymns in church.

What makes the struggles a little easier to bear? Knowing we have someone to lean on. It’s so comforting to know that during those times, we are never ever truly alone.  We can take our problems, fears, failures, concerns, tears and the worlds lies to Him through prayer and have Him grace us with strength, wisdom, patience and compassion. We need to allow our struggles to remind us to lean on Him when we are weak, tired, sad, broken and need to be nurtured. He will meet you right where you are. And He will gently lead you through it with His grace.

When I suffer and when I fail, I want to do it with faithfulness. Whatever I am going through, I want to be faithful to God…even when I don’t feel like it. Join me as I express those feelings to God today.  Leave them there with Him today.  He is big enough to handle them. And His grace is enough… for me and for you.

The Passion Principles {Book Review}

The Passion Principles
Celebrating Sexual Freedom in Marriage
By Shannon Ethridge
About the book:

Move beyond the mechanics of sex to a rich and rewarding connection! 

God’s desire is for couples to enjoy vibrant sexual relationships without inhibition, awkwardness, fear, resentment, guilt, or shame. With honesty and frankness, life coach and best-selling author Shannon Ethridge opens the minds of both husbands and wives to embrace a lifestyle of passion and pleasure. 

Divided into four sections, The Passion Principles helps couples celebrate the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical dimensions of sexuality. Questions include: 

  • What was God thinking when He created sex?
  • Why do humans think about sex so much?
  • Will there be sex in heaven?
  • How did we get such different ideas about sex and love?
  • How can I get past his or her sexual past?
  • How can I help my spouse heal from the sexual abuses he or she suffered?
  • What if my heart is telling me I married the wrong person?
  • How can we balance mismatched sex drives?

Some chapters end with questions for personal contemplation or for couples to use as conversation starters, and other chapters end with prayers that foster a deeper spiritual and emotional connection, making this book a perfect guide to a more passionate love life.

Why yes, you did read that right.  A sex book review up in here, woo!  Before you start blushing, remember God created sex for husbands and wives to enjoy together.  And that, my dear sisters, isn’t shameful at all!!!

Shannon is a million-copy best-selling author, international speaker, and certified life coach with a master’s degree in counseling/human relations from Liberty University. Her passion for healthy sexuality actually began in Mortuary College. Her first career choice, becoming a mortician, led Ethridge to work on dead bodies. Many she embalmed were young people who had died from AIDS or committed suicide as a result of an HIV positive diagnosis. Because of her own promiscuous teenage years, she knew it was a miracle that she was standing over the embalming table rather than laying on top of it.

What I liked the most about this book is that Shannon holds nothing back, much like myself.  She doesn’t dance around a subject, skip the hard stuff or give a candy-coated answer. I could totally relate to this book from front to back. The questions on this book are questions we have all had at one time or another and Shannon answers are based on Biblical truth, what other kind if truth is there?

There are a few things the world (and the enemy) want to see fail. Christianity and marriage rank among the top of that list. And when you put them together, a Christian marriage, you get hit that much harder. The enemy wants to keep sex and intimacy in marriage in the dark so their continues to be disillusionment. Thankfully Shannon wrote a book that is full of grace, freedom and encouragement that matches with God’s plan for sex in marriage!

My favorite question that she answers…will there be sex in Heaven?  What?  The thoughts of that never even entered my mind, ever.  So I was totally intrigued!

This book is an amazing read for engaged couples right up to couples married for 30 years. If you want to read an honest book of what is right or wrong, or normal or not when it comes to sex with your spouse you should consider grabbing a copy. It will open your eyes in a brand new way.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Dude’s Guide to Manhood {Book Review}

The Dude’s Guide to Manhood
Finding True Manliness in a World of Counterfeits
By Darrin Patrick
About the book:

Discover the path to true masculinity—to an adventurous life of strength, purpose, and clarity.

Didn’t we used to understand manhood? Wasn’t there a time once when it was clear and straightforward? Are we lost?

Dudes, look around you: The trail we once traveled from boyhood to maturity is now so overgrown, it’s almost impossible to trace. Our vision is blurred, rendering the map that previous generations followed unreadable. Our compass needles are spinning in circles, making navigation impossible. We are stuck in dense, dangerous woods, and our communities—the wives, children, friends, and colleagues we could be influencing—are suffering as a result.

It can be tempting to give up and, like so many men today, simply exist, but take heart: Now is not the time for men to abandon our quest. We can discover the path to true masculinity—to an adventurous life of strength, purpose, and clarity.

In The Dude’s Guide to Manhood, pastor, author and dude Darrin Patrick charts a course back toward real manliness, mapping out a vision to help men find significance and influence in today’s broken, mixed-message culture. Revealing his own frailties and missteps, Patrick doesn’t preach at you but walks with you on a journey toward healing and wholeness.

Filled with timeless wisdom, accessible insights and practical guidance, The Dude’s Guide to Manhood issues an encouraging and doable call to all men, whatever your age or stage. We need not settle for wandering aimlessly through our days, wounded, weak, and passive. Instead, we can get back on the trail, embrace our gifts while facing our imperfections, and trust the God of new beginnings to lead us into all that we are destined to become: forgiven, connected, determined, teachable, content, heroic, and so much more.

When I saw this book available, I had an inkling that my husband might like it.  And, well, the beard on the cover drew me in.  I called my husband in the room and had him read over the description, he agreed it sounded like a good read.  What really convinced us was when we watched the video on it.  Once you watch the video below, you’ll understand why.


And with that, I ordered the book.  My husband couldn’t wait for me to receive it so he could start reading it straight away.  Here is his review…

What do you say when the book you start to read sounds like someone wrote it about you? That is what this book was in the first four pages! From the young years of life to now. Men today feel that we have it all under control.  When actually, when we try to do it alone it’s a no go. Darrin Patrick hit’s the nail right on the head in this! From ones self, to the wife and kids, and even work.  He shows us how to help and guide each other in Gods word. A must read for every man!

An amazing quote from the book…Sadly, most men quit. We tend to channel our drive and energy away from overcoming our weaknesses–and toward whatever makes us feel better. Men hit the eject button and hide in juvenile behavior such as video games, pornography, sports leagues, or substance abuse.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.