Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

The Key To A Fulfilling Life | Guest Post

{It is with such pleasure that I introduce Patricia.  She reached out to me recently and was interested in being a guest blogger, I jumped at the opportunity!  Her heart for Jesus is evident as you read her blog.  Please give a warm Forever Beloved welcome to Patricia!  Show her how much you appreciate her by sharing and commenting on her post!}

There are so many self-help books in the 21st century that promise to give us the key to a fulfilling life. But the majority of them are missing the one important thing: a healthy, thriving relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible is full of information on how to achieve that. Let’s dive in…

Read Psalm 37:1-7

King David lived a life similar to us. Yes, he was a great leader, but he also had his ups and downs. He also experienced the valleys and the mountains of his relationship with the Almighty. The Scripture we are reading today is the result of his constant communion with the Lord.

Mind Your Own Business

The first two verses are very clear. God doesn’t want us to worry about what the world is doing. He wants you to focus on what YOU need to be doing.

Trust In The Lord…Do Good

One vital step to a fulfilling life as a Christian is to trust God. But we shouldn’t sit around and twiddle our thumbs. Trusting God is not a passive task, it’s active. It says to “do good”. That means we need to be doing something.

Delight…In The Lord

One of the most exciting things about the Christian life is that God wants us to delight in Him. We should set aside time every day just to be with Him. He wants us to put Him first, even if it means waking up an hour earlier to get that devotional in. Put God first and He might just surprise you.

Commit Thy Way Unto The Lord

Commitment is also vital. How many times has someone told you they were going to do something and then they don’t? We do that to God too. Christianity is not a part-time job; it’s a full-time commitment. We’ve got to be able to, again, put God first and everything else will fall into place.

Rest In Him

In a world where everything seems so rushed, we need to take time to rest. God gave us the Sabbath for a reason.  How can we do our best for Him if we’re burnt out from church work? How can we put our best foot forward when we’ve worn ourselves weary with chores and kids? God commands us to rest, and to take a break.

Wait Patiently

This is a very unpopular term right now. “Wait” and “patiently” should not even be in the same sentence, but God wanted it to be that way. The world says it’s impossible. For proof, just take a trip to your local grocery store and watch how people are so antsy to get out of the check-out line. But if our motives are in the right place, patiently waiting on God to answer us will be second nature to us.

To tie this up, I challenge you this week to take one of the above applications and incorporate it into your daily living.

Until next time, God bless.

Patricia

My name is Patricia, and I am a 25 year old aspiring blogger, musician, and beautician.

I graduated from an online Christian high school program in the year 2010. I went to a local community college from 2013-2014 and received a Certificate in Esthetics Technology, and I am a state-licensed esthetician in North Carolina.

My hobbies include playing music on piano, organ, and guitar. I also enjoy drawing, writing, and collecting makeup and beauty products. I love all things Tolkien and I have a passion to know God more.

I can be found at my blog Southern Grace and Beauty and my Facebook page.

To The Wife That Just Found Out

This week many Christians were shocked at a blog post by Lysa TerKeurst.  Not only shocked, but manys hearts broke for her.  I follow Lysa on Facebook and saw her post there.  I couldn’t help but go to the comments, praying they would be supportive.  And in that comment section, my heart grew sadder.  So many wives were walking through the same valley of brokenness Lysa is.  My heart broke for their hearts.  I’ve felt the nudge for a few days to write this article and today, I knew it was the right time.

To the wife that just found out about her husbands unfaithfulness:

The silent burden you’re carrying seems too heavy to lift some days.  The hurt, the extreme hurt, seems to reach directly down to your bones.  The knife stabbing pains of a broken heart.  There are days where the pain literally takes away your ability to breathe.

Things that once looked so familiar to you now look like things you don’t even recognize.  The coffee pot he made coffee in each morning while he was lying to you.  The couch you snuggled on while watching tv while he was lying to you.  The stairs you both walked up to your bedroom while he was lying to you.  The socks he put on each morning while he was lying to you.  Literally every single item in your house is filled with lies.  And as you glance around each day, that is what you see.

Some might tell you to take comfort in knowing you aren’t suffering alone, that there are so many other women across the world {including Lysa TerKeurst} walking this same path.  You find no comfort in that.  None.  Truth is the valley you are walking through is dark, cold, lonely and so very scary.  Along the path is hurt, anger and bitterness.

Let me speak directly to your heart sweet girl.  God wants to hold your broken heart in His hands.  That is the only way.  Listen to my words and let me say it again…that is the ONLY way.  He can heal your broken heart and He will heal it.  But first, you must give Him all the pieces.  The challenge is first finding all of the pieces.  Like shards of broken glass, the pieces weave themselves so very deep into our hearts.  And Satan is right there, breaking the pieces smaller and hiding them better.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds
Psalm 147:3

The pain touches a deep, vulnerable place often known only to God.  When hurting is the only thing you can feel, it is such a lonely place to be.  So many times when we are going through pain, we are told to get over it, move on and let it go.  They don’t understand how slow this hurt heals.  The world offers so many ways to numb the pain, but they are only temporary fixes.  Please oh please don’t fall for that trap.  If we turn to them, then we aren’t allowing God to heal our hurt.  Allowing Him to search and heal our hearts is the only true way to have them healed.  Only He knows the deepness and complexity of our pain.

Psalm 56:8 says You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.  Our tears are not in vain.  God knows each of His children intimately, and every tear we shed has meaning to Him.  He remembers our sorrow.  And in the end, He will share His joy with us.  Revelation 21:4 says He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.  Sweet girl, find comfort in that.  Not only does he know your sorrow, but He will wipe every tear from our eyes.  Don’t suffer through your grief alone.  Don’t be unwilling to be vulnerable with God.  And please, even though you are angry, don’t blame God.  Give Him your heart, hand it over to Him to search and find all those little pieces of hurt and allow His hands to heal it as only He can.

Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way
Psalm 139:23-24

When it feels like all hope is lost, hand that relationship over to God.  It’s so easy to make rash decisions while our heart is broken.  Many days, divorce sounds like the best and sometimes easiest option.  Hand it over to Him, pray about it and search out biblical council.  And maybe that will be the end result for your relationship.  If it is, cling to God like never before and allow Him to carry you through it.  I pray if this is the end result that you will be surrounded with grace and an enormous amount of love and support.

But maybe God has a beautiful reconciliation full of grace planned for you.  Often times the relationship, once it has endured the storm, will come out of it stronger and new.  Through all the conversations, all the deepness, you now know each other differently.  This is the blessing of true healing from the hands of God.  At times, taking it day by day seems like such a big task.  Just take it minute by minute, and allow His grace to carry you through each one.

I know even reading this post made your heart ache and the tears flow.  I wish so very much I could reach through this screen and give you a big hug and just cry with you.  One day the hurt will be a little less, I promise.  And that will feel like the first “good day” you’ve ever had.  And each week, there will be more glimpses of sunshine.  Eventually your good days will run together, and smiles and laughter will abound.  Trust me, you will get there if you allow God to heal your heart.  He brings beauty from the ashes.

You will move on past this.  You will hold your head high, knowing the storm may have knocked you down but it didn’t win.

Twenty-One Marriage Tips {For 21 Years}

Today I’m celebrating 21 amazing, hard, exhausting, lovely, fun, exasperating, learning, beautiful, blessed and love filled years I’ve been married to this man.

Here are 21 tips on how you, too, can stay married through season one of Survivor, 9/11, the breakup of The Jonas Brothers, the days of dialup, every season of Hannah Montana and the tongue out, car-wreck years of Miley Cyrus.

1. Hold hands. Sounds simple, till you’re hoppin’ mad or can’t agree on how to discipline the kids.  Do it anyway.

2. Go to church together. It’s the most important thing you’ll do all week.  Combine it with #1, trust me.

3. So help me, do not talk bad about him to others ever!  Build that man up.  Let him know that he is adequate, enough and that he has your respect.  The world will be cruel enough. Make sure he knows he always has a friend in you.

4. Have kids.  They’re hard as crap and will make you lose your mind, but man they make the journey so fun.

5. Let him buy the stinkin’ truck.  Better yet, buy it for him.  For goodness sake, it’s a truck not a private island.  And you know you’re gonna think your man is hot driving that truck.   Chances are you’ll even get to drive it a time or two.

6. Don’t pick up his wet towels, don’t match his clothes for him and don’t remind him to take his vitamins: you’re his lover not his mother.

7. But baby him a little!  Don’t be so hard on number 6 that you skip the softness and love of number 7.

8. Tell him he’s a good man, a great husband and an amazing father.  Tell him on days you believe it, so that you’re heart will be reminded of it on days when you wish he’d choke on his morning coffee.

9. Let him pick where you eat out.  Mostly because you’re completely indecisive, but it will earn you points!

10. Never ever talk about divorce.  Don’t ever treat it as an option.

11. Do things together.  Not every single thing, but some things!  Go for walks together, watch Big Brother together, take long drives down dirt roads together and make out together.

12. If he sits with you through The Notebook, sit with him though Mad Max: The Road Warrior.  Yes, you’ll hate your life and mentally plan your grocery list but boy will he appreciate it.   Make sure to look up every once in a while and act interested.

13. Kiss him.  If you don’t, someone else will be happy to.

14. I understand that listening to him chew gets on your nerves, but your constant whining gets on his nerves.  You’re even.

15. Let him be the man of the house.  Let him make decisions.  Sometimes you won’t agree, bite your tongue if you must, but allow him to shine.

16. Send him a little text for his eyes only.  Believe me, he’ll appreciate it.  But first, make sure he isn’t sitting in a business meeting in a room full of people.  Or that he hasn’t let his phone set on the kitchen table.  We’re trying to spark romance, not years of therapy for the kids.

17. Love his children well.

18. Be his best and most important friend.  Listen to him talk about his work day, his truck exhaust and the gun he wants to buy next.

19. Marriage counseling is not for babies, losers or emotional basket cases.  It’s for couples who think $80 an hour is nothing compared to getting to the 50 year mark.  It’s worth it and it works.

20. If you’re in a restaurant and you see your old boyfriend sitting across the way, look back at your husband and thank God for him.  Don’t think about what could’ve been.  Garth got that one right, thank God for unanswered prayers y’all!

21. Give the kids ice cream for dinner, turn on some Spongebob…and lock your bedroom door.  The house won’t burn down and ice cream won’t kill them.

Thank you for the last 21 years sweet boy. I’d repeat 19 of them in a second!!