Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

To All Married Women ♥

I’m re-posting this blog entry from a few years back, for a few reasons.  First, I think there are some sweet women that need this encouragement today.  And second, there is lots of good advice here that all of us {myself at the top of the list} can benefit from.

1. Don’t give up. With God in your marriage, all things are possible. {1 Corinthians 13:7}

2. Respect your husband. It’s important and something he’ll be grateful for. {Ephesians 5:33}

3. Forgive. We are all sinners and none of us are perfect. {Ephesians 4:32}

4. Talk + talk + talk + talk. Communication is a necessity in marriage. {Proverbs 15:2}

5. Don’t speak badly of your husband in front of others. Ever. You would expect the same in return. {Ephesians 4:32}

6. Never go to bed angry. {Ephesians 4:31}

7. Don’t focus on his faults. Everyone has faults, including you.

8. Passion doesn’t have to fade. Simply don’t allow it to. {Proverbs 5:18-19}

9. Be nice. {Galations 5:22-23}

10. Keep God in your marriage and honor Him. This is SUPER important. {Colossians 3:17}

11. Pray for your marriage and your spouse. Pray hard and pray daily. Pray alone and pray with your spouse.

12. Guard your heart. You don’t realize how quickly and easily someone else can get to your heart. {Proverbs 4:23}

13. Say I’m sorry. Something that isn’t easy but it’s needed. {Colossians 3:13}

14. Even if you feel your marriage is broken, there is always hope. Give it to God! With God all things are possible! {Matthew 19:26}

15. Go to church together. I have to say, I adore sitting in a pew with my husband, holding hands and listening to the sermon together. {Hebrews 10:24-25}

16. Kiss him, dance with him on a whim and hold his hand in front of your kids. Show them your romance. What a perfect place for them to learn about love.

17. Laughter and fun are important. One of the things that drew me to my husband was how easily he could make me laugh. 19 years later we are still laughing.

18. Have a gentle submissive spirit. Voluntary submission is something asked of us directly by God. {Ephesians 5:22}

19. Don’t be selfish. Life isn’t all about you. {Philippians 2:4}

20. Your marriage is a testimony! You never know how many people might be drawn closer to Christ because they were watching your marriage walk.

Anything {Book Review}

Anything
The Prayer That Unlocked My God and My Soul
By Jennie Allen
About the book:

What if you told God you would do anything . . . and he took you up on it? 

In the years since the initial release of Anything, God continued to stretch Jennie Allen and her faith because of the courageous prayer of surrender that she and her husband, Zac, prayed, “God, we will do anything. Anything.” Previously caught in the dizzying haze of worldly happiness and empty pursuits, Jennie went on to begin living out the adventure God had written for them-to include becoming the founder of IF: Gathering, an organization to gather, equip, and unleash the next generation to live out their purpose. 

Anything is a prayer of surrender that will spark something. A prayer that will move you to stop chasing things that just make you feel happy and start living a surrendered life that matters. 

This newly revised edition is updated throughout to include a new introduction and an in-depth Bible study component for those who have been wanting to lead a study on this topic. 

Join Jennie on an adventure to discover your anything, those things that actually mean nothing until you know the God truly worth giving it all up for. And when you do, that will change everything. 

I’ve always felt like a bad prayer.  Who in the world has a problem praying? Certainly not anyone I’ve met…Our Pastor doesn’t, my Mama never did, no one ever did on the Waltons and even my littles don’t…but I’ve always felt as if I do.  And if asked to pray in a group, oh boy, Lord help us all.  It normally ends with the tears streaming, no one being able to understand a word I’m saying and me feeling like a fool.  With that said, any time I can review a book about prayer, I snatch it up in a hurry.

Anything – The Prayer That Unlocked My God And My Soul provides us with an intimate look at the spiritual journey Jennie Allen embarks on the day she realizes that the God she has heard about all of her life seems more plastic than real to her, and that she wants more.  Reading that captivated me.  I’ve grown up with the mindset that there are just some things you may kinda feel but you try hard not to think them, and you certainly never voice them.  Feeling as if God was more plastic than real was one of those things.  I’m going to be honest, that made me want to read on!

The book is an updated version of her first book with the same title. While her new book is similar, she writes about how her faith continued to grow and her relationship with God became deeper. She “let go, and let God” take over her life, for good. Her book is a prayer to surrender, a prayer to stop you from pursing a safe, boring life and start living the life God intended you to live.

Her search leads her to grapple with issues that most Christians would rather not think about… and ultimately, to pray with her husband a prayer of surrender and abandonment that will change their lives and the lives of those around them.

Jennie Allen does a wonderful job conveying biblical truth, explaining that our lives are not meant to be safe and comfortable, but radical and profound.

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.

Jennie Allen is a passionate leader following God’s call on her life to catalyze this generation to live what they believe. She is the author of Restless and the Bible studies Stuck and Chase, and is the founder and visionary of IF: Gathering. Jennie is married to her best friend, Zac, and they have been blessed with four children.

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday