Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

This World We Live In

A few short months ago, I remember the big stink made about Miley Cyrus’s performance on MTV’s video music awards. Miley spent days blowing up my Facebook feed. We hadn’t watched the awards, so I missed it. I was super curious what all the commotion was about, so i searched for it. It didn’t take much searching at all to find it. I watched it in shock, with my mouth hanging open. My first thought was she was obviously high. Between the outfit, the hair and the performance I just couldn’t wrap my mind around a sober person doing any of it. Sadly, she was sober. It was a sexually charged performance, to say the least.

Fast forward to today…my feed is being blown up once again, this time by Phil Robertson. Now, in this household, we are lovers of Duck Dynasty. They love God, guns, country, truth and they are silly. Sounds pretty similar to our fam. Not to mention their beards, which my husband also sports. I have to say, what I read in my news feed today made me extremely sad.

It’s a sad, sad world we live in when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh for grabbing her crotch (among other inappropriate things) but Phil Robertson gets suspended for stating his beliefs.

Miley’s performance immediately came to mind today while I was reading the horrible, demeaning comments directed to Phil. We live in a society that is more accepting of a young woman gyrating all over a stage, making obscene gestures and acting crudely than we do a family man wanting to remain true to God and his beliefs. 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 
Isaiah 5:20

So, Phil Robertson has different views from other people. And? Don’t we have freedom of speech? I get so confused why freedom of speech only seems to be directed to other groups and not Christians. An opinion that differs from yours doesn’t mean you should hurry and grab your torch and pitchfork. Everybody should treat everyone else with respect, no matter what their views on life are. Period. Sadly, some people will never treat others with respect, because they believe in something different.

Phil said he would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from him. Oh, wait, that wasn’t one of the quotes the media zeroed in on, was it? He also said we would be better off if we loved God and loved each other. Why aren’t these quotes circulated by the media?

It’s time y’all, time for us to take a stand for Christ. Take a stand for the world we want to live in. God created you and I to have specific roles in His unfolding story. God didn’t create any of us to stand on the sidelines and watch the story unfold; He created us to be center stage.  As for this household, we will stand with Phil and more importantly, with God.

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Forgiveness {Book Review}

Forgiveness
Overcoming the Impossible
By Matthew West

The book description:

Whether giving or receiving, forgiveness is the key toward true healing and blessing.

God says there are no limits to forgiveness toward others or ourselves. And when Matthew West set out on a journey asking people to share their true life stories, Renée shared about how she chose to forgive the drunk driver who hit and killed her daughter.

This remarkable story and others like it bring peace and healing to the one needing and the ones giving forgiveness. Fifty powerful stories share forgiveness through divorce, betrayal, addiction, abandonment, death, and more. Each story ties into the promises of God’s faithfulness and healing, and ends with the story of God’s ultimate forgiveness through the message of salvation.

If there is one thing i’m good at, it’s holding a grudge. Actually, I might even be considered a professional grudge holder. Forgiveness, no matter who it is directed to, is something that just doesn’t come easily to me. But over time I’ve learned a very important lesson, a lack of forgiveness hurts you more than it hurts the other person.  


This is such a beautiful book filled with stories of real people struggling with forgiveness. Forgiveness, either for them selves or for others. It’s a small book but don’t be deceived by it’s size. It’s packed with awesome stories of real people.  So many of these stories resonated with me and I found myself asking questions.  Am I really a forgiving person now? Are there people I need to forgive for the wrongs they’ve done to me?

Forgiveness will wake you up to reality. If you are struggling with forgiving others or yourself, then this book is for you, my friend. It will open your eyes and help you realize that it is not impossible to forgive the wrongs.


Forgiveness isn’t easy, not at all. But it’s what God has commanded us to do. One reason we resist forgiving is because we don’t really fully understand what forgiveness is or how it works. West points out that there is a difference between forgiveness and acceptance. It’s possible to forgive an abuser, for example, without accepting the abuse any further. Most of us (myself included) think that if we forgive our offenders, they are off the hook. Or if we forgive them it shows weakness on our part. Forgiveness means you can let go of the anger. It doesn’t mean you condone what they did or let them do it again. It’s an important distinction and one that people sometimes miss. Once you learn the way of forgiveness, you won’t have to spend all those hours turning over the past, replaying the wrongs someone has done you, holding on to the pain as though it were your best friend.
This book was provided to me free of charge by booksneeze.com in return for my honest review. The opinions i have expressed are my own.

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Five Little Words That Shaped My Life

Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man? The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him. 
Proverbs 20:6-7

When I was a child, there were many days I worked alongside my dad. I was an only child so when he needed a helper, it was me. He taught me how to put shingles on a house, change my own oil and flat tires, sharpen mower blades, how to replace a universal joint or exhaust, how to mix bondo and braze.

During all my days of helping him, there were five little words he would always tell me.  Better than I could do.  Regardless of the job, how I did it, what my performance or attitude was his answer was always the same…that was better than I could do.  It was always accompanied by a pat on the back and a huge smile.  
There was so much power in those few spoken words.
From those words…I’ve always believed I could do anything.  I’ve always believed if a guy could do it, I could do it too.  I’ve never once doubted my ability to complete any task given me.  Those words shaped and molded me into the strong, confident woman I am today.
Don’t be afraid to praise your littles.  It’s not going to spoil them and it’s not manipulative.  The purpose of encouragement and praise is to increase positive behavior with the child’s knowledge.  Everybody responds well to praise, even adults. 

Words of encouragement are so so important to our littles. We see a perfect picture of an encouraging parent in Matthew 3:17, after Jesus is baptized, His Father makes it clear to all of us, just how He feels about His precious son. “And a voice from Heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.’”

I try to make a point to tell my children how precious they are to me, always.  Even if they make mistakes, I encourage them still. No matter how old my children are, from time to time I will just tell them, “There isn’t any other child in the world I’d rather have than you.”  My children usually smile and respond with a “love you mama”.

Take a moment today and publicly praise your child. Ask God to shine a light on areas your son or daughter could use some life-giving praise. Speak those words out loud and in front of the rest of the family. Then watch your child grow!

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