Author: andichorley

Idle or Reliable

.Reading time 8 minutes.

There was a time in my life when all I could do was exist. I live with a chronic illness. There are times that my illness will put me in bed for days. There was a time in my life that I had more sick days than healthy. There was also a time in my life that I was idle. I would get up in the morning and take my kid to school then I would come home and lay on the couch watching TV all day until it was time to go get him again. Life slowly got busier and busier. As more kids came and more “mom duties” started to come, I always felt under water. I remember getting on Facebook and looking at the lives of other moms. They all seemed to have it together. They were juggling kids, PTA, sports, bible studies, church on Sundays, date nights with their husbands, careers, and still managed to do laundry and have dinner on the table every night. I was puzzled how they had so much time on their hands.

It took me a while to understand a few things. It also took Discipleship. The first thing that I had to understand, was that I was not to be measured up to other moms or women. No where in the Word have I ever found that I am compared with other women. There are things that the Word lays out for women. There is guidance on how a woman ought to manage herself and her home. The word is the only thing that I should measure myself up to. Much of this information can be found in Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. Now don’t roll your eyes at the thought of yet one more Proverbs 31 study. This is not one. However, if you have never looked at the text (without commentary from someone else) and asked how you can apply it to your life… do it now.

The next thing I had to understand is that I have the same 24 hours in my day that everyone else has. No one took any hours from me. Now I may have more free time in one day than another day. I may need more rest on some days. I may get more work done on others. The things that I had seen other women doing on Facebook, was a choice for them. Spending time with their kids was a choice. Having time for date nights was a choice. Doing a bible study was a choice. Getting the laundry done, was also a choice.

What is the sacrifice of these choices? When we look at our life and we are making time for the Lord, our spouse, our kids, and our chores… what are we sacrificing? I know that if I want to get my house clean, I need to sacrifice some free time. If I want to get to church early for a class, I need to rearrange my schedule and come prepared. If I want to walk with women, I have to sacrifice some of my evenings. Now we can also look at things from a different perspective as well. Am I sacrificing intentional time with the Lord, so that I can sleep in? Am I sacrificing intimate time with my husband so that I can be out with my friends? Do I sacrifice a clean home so I can binge watch Netflix? Everything is a sacrifice. You just have to ask yourself; Is this a sacrifice that I want to make?

The key word that the Lord has been showing me this past month is definitely: Idleness. I was drawn to check out 2 Thessalonians 3. When I got there, I realized that I was there to check out verses 6-15.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy but warn him as a brother.

There are so many ways that you can look at this. One way that I am looking at this is: Who am I around and being influenced by? Am I around people that gossip and sit around doing nothing? Am I around fellow believers that speak life into me? I can’t answer these questions for you. I also can’t tell you what you need to sacrifice. I do pray that you find a way to sacrifice for things that grow you closer to the Lord. I also pray that I show myself to be a reliable minister of the Gospel, by not being idle; Idle in my relationship with the Lord, idle in ministry, and idle in the affairs of my home. I can be idle or I can be reliable, but I cant be both.

Grace & Peace

Chorley

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the Truth x Grace Summit through Brittanyrust.com There is going to be some great resources revealed!

grayscale photography of flowers

What Do You Do?

.Reading time 9 minutes.

I am writing this on Mother’s Day. I read an article on Mother’s Day that spoke about the woman that conceived Mother’s Day. Her name was Anna Jarvis. Anna’s mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had organized women’s groups to promote friendship and health as well as give classes to mothers. The classes centered around mothering. Cooking, cleaning, and most of all keeping your children healthy. Ann gave birth to 13 children. However only 4 survived childhood. Over time Anna started Mother’s Day to honor her mother for her sacrifices to motherhood and the sacrifices of all mothers. Anna later grew to hate the holiday, as it became commercialized.

One thing I wanted to ask you all; What do you do when the flowers die? You will be reading this at least one day after Mother’s Day. Every year mothers around the nation are woke up with breakfast in bed, fresh flowers, candy, and while children are young, a unique hand made card or craft. As children age they either begin to purchase more expensive gifts or stop caring all together. I recognize that this is not what happens to all mothers. Many mothers wake up to another May morning. Another morning of getting up to take care of a family that just assumes you will do your “mom” duties. After all, they still have to eat. Many single moms get up alone and have no one in the home to teach their children to admire and lush over them. Many moms wake up to grief. Grief of a lost child. Grief of an empty womb. Grief of a strained relationship with their mother. Grief of a strained relationship with their child. Grief of a passed mother. Grief from abandonment. My heart is with those who wake up with grief. I think I wake up with this on Mother’s Day because I am an empath. If you cry in front of me, I will cry. I cried twice today just because I saw two other women cry at church and my heart hurt for them.

            So, I am wondering, what do you do when the flowers die? Or for some when the flowers never come? All fresh flowers given as a gift will die. Chocolates will get eaten. Hand made cards will get tucked away in a random drawer and kept for years. When all the frills and fluff of Mother’s Day celebrations are over, what do you do? Also, if the celebration doesn’t come… what do you do?

            You will be asked to return to the grind. You will be asked about laundry, game schedules, bills, dinner plans, carpool, new shoes, pto meetings, bible studies… the list goes on and on. It literally never ends. Your moment to shine is over. If you have lived in motherhood grief, you are expected to “move on”. The day has passed. What many don’t understand is that motherhood and motherhood grief never ends. At least not here on Earth.

            I have recently been very motivated by the verse from Proverbs 31:27, She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. I have been very mindful of my idleness. I have watched videos from Amy Darley. She makes videos of herself cleaning her house and gives cleaning tips. I find the videos very motivating for me. I watch one before I go to bed and it motivates me to get up early and clean some stuff up. She is a Christian woman who also motivates people to look to Christ. I am always looking for motivation. I walk daily through anxiety and depression, so motivation is something that I always need.

            I wanted to write this to motivate yall. To motivate you for when the flowers die. When your family is over the celebration of your sacrifices and just need more from you. I want to encourage you to run the race marked out for you. I want to motivate you to not grow weary of doing good. I want to motivate you to persevere under trial. (all of these things are in the Word) The only way that we can continue to walk through motherhood and motherhood grief is by remaining in Christ. By spending time in the Word every day, we can find the strength to walk through motherhood and through motherhood grief. The two of which are not mutually exclusive. I am not saying that being in the Word makes motherhood or grief easy. I am only saying that it makes it possible. I know that I am not the mother the Lord wants me to be when I don’t spend time with him. I can, however, strive daily to emulate the motherly example he lays out for us in the Word.

            We have been given one great example of motherhood straight from Mary. She chose to trust God’s plan for her conception. She protected him from Herod’s reign and slaughter. She received encouragement from Simeon. She misplaced her son during a yearly Passover trip. She showed him grace when she found him. She showed her friends his miracles. Then she stood by and trusted God while her son fulfilled God’s will on the cross. A pain I can only imagine. By all historical accounts, Mary lived 11 years after her son’s torturous death. An 11 years that I speculate were hard.  

My question remains… What do you do when the flowers die? Do you remain in the peace of the Lord? Do you remain joyful of the heritage the Lord has bestowed on you? Do your mercies renew every morning? Do you strive to walk through your grief?

Or…

Do you lose all grace for your children? Do you stress over the mundane mom tasks? Do you allow your grief to keep you from living your life?

Either way, I have no judgement for you. I have done ALL of these. My only hope is that you are encouraged to cling close to the Lord.

I pray this finds you well as I have taken three weeks off from writing to get healthy.

Grace & Peace

-Chorley

Entrusting in the Reliable

.Reading time 13 minutes.

When I first got married, my husband and I had agreed that neither of us wanted to have children. We were 18 & 19. We were still kids ourselves. While my husband had a relatively great upbringing, My childhood was less desirable. We deployed very shortly after we got married and we spent a lot of our time in Iraq watching how horrible humans can be to each other. We decided that we didn’t want to bring a child into this world because of that and because we were both very consumed by our careers. I had a goal to be a Sergeant Major. Then we both had too many close calls in Iraq. When we returned from our second tour in Iraq, we decided that we would like to try again.

In 2009 after we had a couple miscarriages, we finally got pregnant again. We did the normal pregnancy tests and lab work. That is when we found out that we had to go see a specialist. When we saw the specialist, we were told that Our baby had trisomy 18. Trisomy 18 is when a child has an extra chromosome. This disease causes severe abnormalities and ¾ of all children born with the disorder are still born. The 1/4th that survive birth have all died before the age of 18. There is only one that has survived to 18. The doctors suggested that we abort the pregnancy. This was a hard thing for me to learn. I was already three months along in my pregnancy. I remember just laying in bed for days crying. We decided to wait and get a second opinion. I finally got a second opinion a month later. A month after I was supposed to have a scheduled abortion. When we got the second opinion, the doctor informed us that he was glad we waited because he discovered that our child had been misdiagnosed. Our child was currently very healthy.

My Calvin was born on his due date. September 14th 2009. He was beautiful. He was Just under 6lbs with dark brown eyes. I don’t have any memory of the two weeks after his birth because I was in a medically induced coma. I didn’t get a chance to bond with him until he was about six months old. I had a severe case of amnesia and the lack of bonding had created a separation from Calvin and I. The first thing I remember saying about him was, “Is that Kevin’s baby? Did he have another kid?” (Kevin is my little brother.) That is when I was informed of the reality of what all had happened. Then everything just clicked at 6 months and I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

When I said yes to Discipleship in my life, I had no clue what it would look like. I thought that I would start to understand a little more about the Bible. Then the longer that I walked with Rachel, I began to understand the termination theory. The termination theory tells us that as long as we continue to pass on the knowledge we have been given, some of those who receive the knowledge will then pass it on to others. I remember sitting in someone’s living room when I first learned about the termination theory. I remember being asked what the theory meant for me and my life. I looked over at the women who had spent almost a year poring her life into me, the woman who had cried with me and helped me understand what the Word says and what the Lord says about me. The woman who invited me into her life before she knew what I mess I was. The woman who I had watched fight cancer for months. The Lord had revealed to me through the story of Tabitha, that my dear friend and spiritual mother’s body would not survive cancer. I cleared my throat and managed to tell her that, “If we were the last people that she ever discipled, I could not let that be in vain.” I could not let the things that she taught me, die with me. From then on I knew that I had to start looking for the women that the Lord wanted me to walk with in the process of discipleship. The Lord presented four women to me. I walked with those women for two years. I am now walking with another group of four women. I have this hope that all of them will pour into other people. They may not walk with women in the same way and they may not all start groups of their own. What I do know is that through this process all of these women have been transformed to look less like the world and more like Jesus. While, they may not all start groups in the same way I did, I have personally seen them all pour Jesus into their friends and families. I know that I followed the Word when I chose to walk with these women.

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2

            2 Timothy came to mean something vastly different to me last week. When I picked my son up from school last week, he was clearly distraught. He was stressed about the number of tests that he had coming up the next day. I remember telling him that school is not the end all be all of his life and that his test scores in fifth grade are not going to follow him the rest of his life. I had debated letting him skip school the next day. Take a mental health day. He seemed like a different kid the next morning. He woke up early and was ready to go well before his sisters. I started to think that he was much better because he had gotten a good nights sleep. I was wrong. I had sent him to bed a little early the night before. I figured that he just went to sleep. I was wrong. Apparently he stayed up and listened to worship music while he sat in the Word.

            My son keeps an abide journal. On the first page he has:

“people were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the Disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them. “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.      Mark 10:13-16

This is one of his favorite verses. If I look through his book, I can find notes from every sermon that he has sat through. You can find words like chesed: Covenant love, Logos: The divine Word- Christ, words become a mirror in your life, horeo: perceive with inward spiritual perception, a list of grain offerings the Lord has brought him, as his admission of faith and Christ’s Lordship in his life. When my son got home from his test day, I asked him how his day was. That is when he informed me that the night before, he sat in the Word and the Lord reminded him that he is in control and he is going to get him through his tests, and he is the one who gives him hope.

            When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 2:2, he was letting leaders know that they have a responsibility to train up more leaders. They had a responsibility to reproduce. I am reminded that the Lord first gave us the direction to go forth and multiply. When Rachel told me that I would be reproducing other disciples by walking with other women, I thought that would be my only job. I never even considered the fact that while I may be making Disciples with other women, my main disciple making duties will be done inside the walls of my home. The Lord has blessed me with three beautiful children that I don’t deserve. Three children that I plan to Disciple to Jesus, for the rest of our lives.

            Disciple making looks different for everyone. Sometimes it looks like walking with a group of adult women, sometimes a group of teenagers, sometimes one on one, and sometimes your own children. You may walk with people twice your age, and you may walk with a five-year-old child. What matters is that you make an effort to pour Jesus into everyone in your life. If you believe in Christ and the truth and love that he brought us, you will never regret sharing that with people in your life. When my son told me that his hope is found in Jesus, it gave me hope for not just him and the women in which I walk. It also gave me hope for the people that my son walks with; his teachers, his best friend, and his sisters. My son shares the light of Christ.

Who do you pour into?

What does the termination theory mean to you?

What is it that you are reproducing?

Grace and Peace

-Chorley

How Love Grows

.Reading time 13 minutes.

There is a poem or writing by Bishop Fulton Sheen that I wanted to share with you all. I found it on a dusty shelf in a thrift store. The book is titled, That Tremendous Love, An anthology of inspirational quotations, poems, prayers, and philosophical comments. It was edited by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Ph. D., D.D. The book was published by Harper and Row. I find it important to share the author and publisher so that I can give credit where credit is due. The Christian world of writing, speaking, and ministering is one of the biggest stages of plagiarism and I want to make sure that someone’s hard work is accredited to them and no one else. This not only allows credibility but also gives room for criticism of the author.

How Love Grows

At the beginning one loves God only for his gifts or for the emotions He sends us. He treats us then, “like a young woman who is being courted.” If gifts are no longer given in abundance after true marriage has occurred it is not because a husband’s love is less, but because it is greater. For now he gives himself. It is not the husband’s gifts that his wife loves nor his compliments, nor even the thrill of pleasure she gets form his company. She loves him. The moment the Lover is loved for Himself, then the nature of the gifts ceases to matter. If God withdrawals all sensible gifts it is only because He wants union between the soul and Himself to be more personal and less dependent on his generosity. – FJS

I will never forget the first gift my husband really gave me. It was for Valentine’s day .It was a yellow gold necklace with two interlocking charms. The heart charms were about the size of a nickel. The outer heart was an outline of diamonds and the inner heart was an outline of rubies. Two hearts as one. One regret I may always have was my response to the gift. We were both serving in Iraq at the time. He had found a computer and went to the military mall website and ordered the first piece of jewelry that was on the home screen of the site. I was disappointed that he didn’t put more consideration into it. All I did was express that he was lazy in his gift and I didn’t like yellow gold. I didn’t even consider the fact that he was a 19-year-old, married, kid deployed to a war zone that was exhausted from back-to-back missions picking up our friends demolished vehicles that were covered in blood and bullet holes… and still went out his way to order a diamond and ruby necklace and have it shipped to his wife in a war zone. I didn’t consider that this was the first piece of jewelry he had ever bought in his life. The thought of my actions still makes me say, “Ugh!” A few months later, still in Iraq, on our first anniversary he had made a notebook that had listed different memories and he had cut out pictures to help tell a story of us. He wrapped it up and had a friend deliver it via military convoy from his small camp to mine. I still keep it in my nightstand next to the gold necklace. He has only gotten me one Valentine’s Day gift since 2005 and I don’t mind because his love is worth more than anything he could buy.

I started thinking about the gifts that Jesus has given. I didn’t want to make this a list of just the gifts that he has given me or my family. While that testimony is great and full of joyous tears, I wanted to direct yall back you the Word, so you may see the witness accounts for yourself. This is not an all inclusive list. I encourage you to find more! The first one I would say was his first miracle.

(John 2) When he turned water to wine. He was just starting his ministry and starting to have people follow him. His mother was in distress over wine at a wedding. We may first think that this is people upset because they wanted to drink like many people do now at weddings. However, at traditional Jewish weddings, the Rabbi that is performing the wedding will pour two glasses of wine into one cup, he will bless the wine, and recite the seven blessings for the marriage. He will then give the cup to the couple and they will both drink from the cup. The wine symbolizes two lives becoming one new life. This tradition is called Nissu’in. This gift was not only for his mother and disciples. It was also a gift to the couple and everyone in their life to see the seven other blessings in their marriage.

(John 4)We then see Jesus heal an official’s son. We don’t know if this was the official’s only child. What we do know is that lineage is important. We all desire the gift of offspring. The gift of a man’s child healing from sickness is one of the biggest gifts a father can receive.

 (John 5) Jesus goes over to the healing pool of Bethesda. There were sick people seeking healing and getting into the pool to be healed. What we now know about healing waters and the power of radiation in hot springs, was not well understood at the time. Jesus told a lifelong paralytic to, “Get up, take your bed, and walk”. The love of Christ healed the man and the man believed he was healed by Christ and not by the world. This gave hope to many. I am not saying that your faith will make you healed of all sickness in your life. What I am saying is that there is healing that comes from Christ alone. You may die from a sickness. That does not mean you must have a lack of faith. The Word Never says that. The healing of this man led to the faith of many. The faith of you in sickness may lead to the faith of many. We don’t get to decide the Lord’s will. The Lord’s love is steadfast in sickness and in health.

(John 6) The Lord feeds 5000. The Lord shows that he can take something so small and do great things with it. He loved by feeding people that were open to listening to him. People that were seated before him ate!

(John 6) The disciples got on a boat in the sea of Galilee. Now the sea is huge at 64 sq miles and about 140 ft deep. This is no lake. The sea got rough and if a wave takes the boat, they would all surely die. Jesus just walks up to them and the sea is calm, and they are near the coast. Jesus loved them by comforting them and showing them that he subdues the world by his will. He is the one that calms the storms.

(John 9) Jesus heals a blind man. The Lord tells his disciples, “It is not out of sin that this man is blind but rather that the works of God may be displayed in him”. It is not sin! It is to show the works of God. The gifts of God!!

 (John 11) Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Jesus waited a few days before he went to give his gift. Some lost faith or judged the Lord’s gift. It wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t what they wanted. They wanted him to prevent the death, not bring him back. Then Jesus wept. He shed tears. We don’t know if the tears were for the lack of love that they had for Jesus or because of the death of Lazarus. I know that when someone shows their lack of love for us by not believing us or not believing in us, it hurts. It cuts us deep in a way that can take a long time to repair. We may strive for them to believe in us by showing actions. However, we can not force anyone to believe in us and the Lord chooses not to force us to believe in him. That would not be love.

(John 19) Jesus gives up himself for us. The ultimate sacrifice and gift. His life for ours. With this gift Jesus gave us himself forever. This is a gift that can never be rescinded. The last gift that Jesus physically gave his Disciples was his excruciating death. This last thing was not considered one of the “Seven Miracles” However it was a miracle. There is no way that it wasn’t. His generous gifts were all perfect and according to his will even if they were not seen that way. Even if some were seen as a necklace that wasn’t good enough. Could they have loved him for who he was and not for his gifts?

Do you love the Lord for his generosity or for who he is?

Do you pray for blessings or do you pray to be in one accord with the Lord?

Do you spend time in the word to check off a box or to learn more about the Lord?

Grace & Peace

-Chorley

P.S.

Make sure to check out the resources page for new content!

grayscale photo of couple walking on road

Geneva’s Model

.Reading time 11 minutes.

            I was not raised to be submissive or subservient. I was raised by a very feminist mother. The Lord was not prevalent in our home. Not because of feminism. These are just two separate facts but I think that they go hand in hand.

My grandma was a submissive woman. She would get up early every morning and make my grandpa breakfast before he would leave to work at the family body shop. She would take care of house chores, balance the shop books, or run errands. Then she would make sure to have a big, in my opinion, lunch on the table for my grandpa around noon. Correction, a dinner. Where I grew up the mid-day meal is called dinner. Lunch is for fancy people. I cant remember what the main course was. However, I do remember there was often a cucumber and onion salad, or yellow squash and potatoes cooked in cornmeal. My grandma, Geneva, and her five siblings were raised by a one-armed widow. My great grandmother “Mother” came from Missouria-Osage mixed breed Indians and Irish immigrants that had settled in the Appalachian Mountains. Most Missouria descendants still call the state Missoura’ Our Irish side that came over, were not slaves so much as indentured servants working off their boat ticket. No royal blood here. My grandma married my grandpa before her 18th birthday. After facing the Dust bowl and the great depression, my great grandfather died in a farming “accident”. I think this is important to note because Geneva was never shown how a marriage should work. She was never shown a good example of love between a husband and wife.

My grandpa was an orphan. In 1934 there was a funeral for the notorious Pretty Boy Floyd. It is said that between 10,000-40,000 people were in attendance. When the police finally got the crown to disperse and leave by nightfall, My grandfather was left abandoned. No one came forward to claim the infant, so he was put up for adoption. He was raised as Calvin Kernell. I loved my grandfather. He taught me how to work on cars and fish. He encouraged me to join the Army while my grandmother discouraged me. What I didn’t know as a child is that he had been a raging alcoholic most of his life. The alcohol lead him to be a mean abusive husband and father.

Knowing what I know now about the early life of my grandparents… I wondered how their marriage worked. I wondered how a woman could love and serve a man who was hateful and abusive for so many years. This showed me so much about my mother as well. She grew up watching her mother be submissive and serve a husband who did not deserve her. This type of trauma as a child will usually have a direct impact on intimate relationships later in life.

I walk with women through the process of Disciple making. I pour into them and teach them what the word says about different situations in their life. Most of you know this. One of the biggest things (One of!) I teach them is that they are to submit to their husband. The first time I ever heard the Bible taught that… I was appalled. I wanted nothing to do with it. I didn’t want to submit to anything, let alone a man. I was a strong independent woman! I was fully capable! I didn’t NEED a man, and I didn’t WANT to submit to him.

I am not going to write out all of the verses that tell a wife to submit to her husband. All you have to do to find them is google: Scripture about submitting to your husband. You will find plenty. I do want to highlight a couple.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, … 1 Peter 3:1-22 ESV

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, …  Ephesians 5:22-33 ESV

My grandma knew the word and she was faithful to her convictions about submitting to my grandpa. I spent a week at my grandpa’s deathbed with my mother. He was slowly becoming less and less. The doctors gave him three weeks. The week that my mother and I were there, my grandpa talked to us both whenever he was awake. He knew my mother was his daughter. However, he believed that I was my grandma. My grandma who had already passed. I admit, I do look remarkably similar to my grandma. I also didn’t want to repeatedly tell a dying man that his wife had passed away. We had a few talks about how the dogs were and how the shop was doing. The one conversation that will always stick with me was when he made a confession. He looked at me and said, “Geneva, Thank you for…(then he just cried)”. The only thing I could muster myself to say was, “Oh, Calvin” Which is something my grandma would often say when my grandpa was rambling on about random things he felt was important. In that moment I saw that he had been won over. Not with my actions that week. No. He had been won over by years of my grandmother submitting to him and loving him well. No matter what, she loved him and submitted. I am not encouraging women to stay in abusive relationships or leave. I am not saying that you become a yes man or a doormat. I am only saying that I have witnessed how a woman who was never shown how a healthy marriage should go, was able to read what the word says and walk it out the best she could under the hardest circumstances. It took me years to really understand the whole situation. She inadvertently modeled this well for me and I will always be grateful. I do want to testify that my submission to my husband, has moved his heart in amazing ways and has never once demeaned me or made me feel less than.

Married?

-Do you submit to your husband? (if no, why not?)

-Do you understand what biblical submission is?

Single?

-Is the person you are dating worthy of submitting to?

Grace & Peace

-Chorley

P.S.

I will be updating my store this week with pictures of new shirts. I will also be updating the resources page to add a link to a free newsletter that my friend Lindsay Dryer sends out via email once a month to subscribers. I hope to have this stuff done by the end of the week. As always I love you guys and thank you for taking time out of your week to read this. If you have any questions, please send me a message. I appreciate all the “shares, comments, and likes”.

monochrome photography of people shaking hands

Prosthetics make Partnerships

.Reading time 7 minutes.

I am in my third month at being at a new church. I new body of believers. I new denomination. I new mission. I finally got a chance to sit down with the women of this new body and discuss what exactly I do.

            I am a disciple maker. I invest in reliable women who will invest in more reliable women. I spend a lot of time with women teaching them Jesus words. Then I show them how to walk in his ways. Then they go off and do his works. It is a beautiful cycle.

            I don’t believe that disciple making can only look one way. I know that the women who were discipled along side of me, do things different than I do things. That is fine. I know that some churches have classes on how to be a disciple. I am not saying they are wrong. I am just saying that I do things differently than some. If I see Jesus do it in the word, I do my best to emulate that. If I do not see him do it in the word, I walk with extreme caution.

            I have a prosthetic implant in my neck. When I was in Iraq in 2006, there were a series of mortars dropped on a forward operating base that I was stationed at. Long story short, a percussion from one mortar slammed me and another soldier into a truck. For a long time, this caused pain in my shoulder blade. Little did I know that I was experiencing nerve pain in my shoulder blade because the blast had caused me to break 4 vertebrae and herniate 6 disks. I didn’t know until almost 10 years later when I moved my neck one day and it just got stuck. So, I had surgery to replace 2 of my disks. The ones causing the most pain. The doctor decided that it would be best to not get a donor disk. Instead, I would be receiving a man made prosthetic. The reality is that often a donor disk is rejected by the recipient. The recipients body sees that donor disk as a infiltration that must be killed to protect the body from becoming infected. The human body is amazing like that. It always seeks self-preservation.

            I have known the Pastor at the church I am at since I was about 13. I say 13 because I don’t have a lot of memory from that time in my life due to that fact that I had a substance abuse problem. I believe that this relationship that we have has been building since that time. I have shared with him and his wife, my faults, my past, and where I am now in my walk with Christ. I have shown myself to be a humble person and ready to assist.

             I am a prosthetic. I am here to help strengthen them. I know that it is not all up to me. I know that it is also up to them and the Holy Spirit. After all the Holy Spirit is my senior advisor in all of this. I can not be a donor. I can not be something that has the potential to infect or harm their body. I know that I will not be accepted by all. I walk into this body knowing that I will not be received by all. Paul was not received by all either. Not that I am comparing myself to Paul, but rather to say, if a great man was rejected by some, why wouldn’t I be as well? What I am sure of: is that one is enough. If I can just walk with one person, it is enough. If I can encourage one person, it is enough. If I can plant one seed, it is enough.

            I am writing this to encourage those that are sitting with the Lord and have realized that there is a calling on their life to go. To Yatsa. To Poreuomai. If  Isaiah can stand up and say, “ Here I am, send me”. Can we? When the Lord calls us to leave our homes and go build the tower somewhere else, will we? If Moses can hold up his staff long enough to endure the battle, can we? And If we can’t, can we at least hold up the arms of those willing to do so? For those of you that will Go… be a prosthetic. Be helpful. Strengthen and encourage. Don’t be a donor Don’t be one that is only given away when its host no longer needed or wanted it. Do not attack. To those of you that have someone coming in: prepare your heart to receive new things. Don’t assume that it is something that is meant to hurt you or attack you. Prosthetics make partnerships.

The best way for the Prosthetic to prepare and the Recipient to receive; is in prayer.

Pray without ceasing.  -1 Thessalonians 5:17

Grace & Peace

Chorley

P.S.

Don’t forget to head over to the resources page and check out my friend Sara on the Grace Warriors podcast! It is great!

grayscale photo of remote control near eyeglasses

Change the Channel

.Reading time 9 minutes.

First I want to apologize for this getting to yall late. I usually send this out for Monday morning… but I lost some sleep lately and I needed to put my health first. I encourage you all to do the same. If you try to sacrifice your health for your work… your work will suffer as much as your health. Always take care of yourself!

“This world has gone crazy!” I hear this from other Christians all the time. I also hear, “I can’t believe what they showed!” We have all kinds of things being shown to us. We have the Super Bowl half time show, the Grammys, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Tony’s… I could go on and on with the list of shows that are watched by millions of people. Then there are the things we listen to on the radio and in person. I am not sure if it was this year or last… but I heard one of the number one songs of the year was a woman talking about her vagina in the most vulgar way. It is 2021. Every year it gets worse and worse. But.. does it? What exactly are we saying is getting worse? Are there really more vulgar songs? Are there really more inappropriate performances? I think back to when I was a teenager. I remember songs that talked explicitly about sex. I remember movie stars releasing their sex tapes. I remember these things because I was exposed to these things. I didn’t always have the best people around me. I didn’t always have someone there to tell me, “Hey, that stuff is not good for you.” I believe my life was directly impacted by all of this.

Is it getting worse though? Are there more inappropriate songs? Is it a quantity or boldness increase? There may be some of both. But I was reminded of the Samaritans. I encourage you to stop here and go read 2 Kings 17. In 2 Kings 17 we hear about the Samaritans. Samaria had become over run by the Assyrian Army. Many of the people were what we would call displaced people because the Assyrian King took the Israelites from Samaria and placed them in Halah, and on the Harbor, and in the cities of Medes. Many of them had died during the ensuing wars and those that were left began to intermarry with gentiles and pagans. The Israelites that were from Samaria, but now displaced, were known as the Samaritans. The text tells us that they built high places for themselves. In these high places, they worshipped idols and did wicked things. They despised God. The text also tells us that they abandoned ALL the commandments of the Lord. They made metal images of calves and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal. They burned their sons and daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

This makes me weep. I started to weep as I reread this text. I looked over at my two daughters lying on the couch. I look at their small bodies and I can not imagine practicing witchcraft on them. I can not imagine burning them as a sacrifice. I can not imagine selling them or myself just to do evil things. I can’t imagine doing these things because I do not walk in the dark. I do not walk with evil. I walk in the light of Christ and these things are unfathomable to one that walks in the light. However, we live in a similar world in 2021 as the Samaritans did in 722 BC. There is just as much evil now as there was then. Now we just know the numbers. We still have people worshipping idols instead of God. We have people denying God’s existence. We have people who disrespect and often abuse their mothers and fathers. More than 400,000 people are murdered every year in the world. Adulty has become so common that the current rate is 22% of all people commit adultery. Globally 35% of women have experienced sexual violence and assault. 137 women are killed by a family member every year. Less than 40% of women who experience violence seek help. Over 200 MILLION women and girls have experienced genital mutilation. 15 million girls worldwide have experienced forced rape. It is estimated that there are currently 25 million victims of human trafficking as of 2020. People steal every day. Whether it is a candy bar at the grocery store or a hedge fund manager, people steal. Most people have lied in their life. Some people are really good at it. Jealousy and coveting is one thing that keeps people seeking more “stuff”. More Idols. We have all these things going on every day and Christians will still say, “I can’t believe they had that performance on prime time TV.” “I can’t believe they played that song on the radio.”          

WHY NOT!

Why can you still not believe the evil in this world? One reason is because we don’t call it evil. We don’t call musicians that sexualize, degrade and demoralize other humans, evil. We don’t call super bowl shows and emmy performances, that show half nude women dancing and basically acting out sex with just their genitalia barely covered, evil. Sometimes, we don’t even change the channel!! You have a moral and biblical responsibility to change the channel. Change the channel so that your daughter instead grows up knowing she is chosen by God and her body is perfect the way he made it. Change the channel so your son grows up knowing that he is to love his wife just as Christ loved the church. Change the channel for your children. Change the channel for your marriage. Change the channel for yourself. Change the channel so that you don’t normalize evil things in your life. CHANGE IT!

Then PRAY! Pray for protection from the evil in this world and pray for the salvation of those portraying this evil. Remember the kindness and hard truths Jesus gave the Samaritan at the well. Remember the parable in Luke where Jesus taught us that even a Samaritan is capable of good and mercy. Pray for and with your children. Pray for and with your spouse. Pray for and with our world.

*What evil do you need to call out in your life?

*What are you allowing to influence your home?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:5

Grace & Peace

Chorley

Hike like a Disciple

.Reading time 9 minutes.

I am sore and just need to rest. I know that my life has been called to live a life on a narrow road. Part of that narrow road includes fostering relationships between women. My amazing sister Kelly, often walks this road with me. We have recognized a weakness and after sitting with the Lord, we decided that we need to focus hard on helping women build relationships with each other. What we both know is that making friends and building relationships are harder in 2021 than they were in 33AD because we don’t actually do life on life to the extent that women did in 33AD. What I mean is we don’t all go to the same small market. We don’t all go down to the river together to wash clothes. We don’t deliver each other’s babies. I am not saying that we should be doing these things. I am just saying that life on life and fostering relationships in 2021 looks different than it did in 33AD.

            I took 9 women hiking this past weekend. I wanted to do something fun and outdoors in my anticipation of spring coming. I started planning about a month ago. I figured out where I wanted to go quickly. The decision was made to go to the Wichita Wildlife Reserve. Then I started inviting different women to join me. After everything was all said and done, I had invited 120 women. I know that seems like a lot of women to take on a hiking trip. Once you reach this huge number of people when hiking, it becomes overcrowded fast. I knew that I would not end up with more than 25 women hiking at the most. I knew this because I knew that what I would be asking of these women was costly. I cast a wide net. Nine out of 120 women were up for the challenge. Why so little? I will tell you.

            There were a few reasons for women not to go. We were set to go on a Saturday morning. Many women set aside their weekends for their family. They go hard doing so much through the week, they want to give their family the time due. Some women are either single moms or have a spouse that works weekends. This made an obstacle for them to hurdle. A person’s priorities and prior engagements can determine their willingness to join us. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong. We were set to leave at 5am. Yes you read that correct 5am. We leave our area at 5am so that we can make it to the hiking trail in the mountains by 7am. When we get there early; we are able to avoid a lot of traffic, see the sunrise, catch the animals on their morning walk, avoid most other hiking groups, and most importantly we are able to avoid the majority of the heat. There are a few reasons to leave at 5, the biggest being the safety of all hikers in the group. Dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are killers. The only water that is guaranteed on a hike, is the water you bring with you. It was not the opportune time fore some women to join us. That is okay. They weren’t wrong. We had decided to hike 6.1 miles. This is the full Bison trail. Hiking a 6.1-mile trail can be very physically demanding. Most American women can not go from living our everyday lives with minor physical activity to hiking 6 miles through the mountains. The trail is not flat. The trail is up and down the whole way and has a 417 ft elevation gain. Some believed they were unable to physically complete the hike (some were right), some worried they would hold others back. They did not believe they were prepared to go the distance. That’s okay. They weren’t wrong.

            Then… there were the 9. The 9 that chose to make this a priority. They chose this over other things. They found a way. Many of them had to rearrange many things and rely on other people to make this possible, but they put in the work to do be able to go. 9 women made sure that they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there. They knew that they could not change the time but wanted to go bad enough they were not deterred by the inconvenient time. 9 women knew they could physically and mentally complete the test laid out for them. Whenever a few had doubts about their abilities, they chose to trust the Lord to bring them to the end of the trail. 9 women continuously checked on each other while on the trail. 9 women encouraged each other to keep going. 9 women either spoke scripture or received scripture with a glad heart. I don’t know about the other 9 women, but I know that I am tired and sore. I just need to rest and let myself recuperate.

All of the things that I have talked about here, having to do with the hiking trip, is also true about discipleship. Even when a wide net is cast, few will be caught and committed. [Matthew 7:13-14] Discipleship has to be a priority in your life. You have to be willing to sacrifice other things in life to follow Christ and teach others to do the same. [Luke9:23] [2 Timothy 2:2]You don’t always get to choose when things happen. Everything is based on the Lord’s timing.[Proverbs 16:9] If you are waiting for a more convenient time to walk as a disciple or disciple maker, you may never do it. [Luke 9:57-62]You have to count the cost before you can commit. [Luke14:28-30] You constantly have to remind yourself that the Lord prepares you, [Mark 1:3]encourages you [Romans 15:4], reminds you of scripture [2 Peter 1:12]and fully equips you to walk as his disciple. [Hebrews 13:20-21]

Hiking, just like discipleship, can wear on me and force me to rest and recoup. So today, I’m sore and need to rest physically. I always need to rest and recoup with the Lord. Resting with the Lord renews me physically and spiritually.

Are you prioritizing correctly?

Are you waiting for a more opportune time?

Are you willing and able?

Are you resting with the Lord?

Grace & Peace

Chorley

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The Weight of the Load

.Reading time 10 minutes.

I wish I could say that I have suffered enough pain for my life, so I should be exempt from anymore. That is simply not the truth. The truth is that I have sinned over and over in my life and I, like most, deserve no grace. I have yet to find any place in the word that says that the I have earned the Lords love and kindness so he must make it possible for me to live happily ever after. The word paints quite a different picture for me. While it is not all sunshine and rainbows, it is still a picture that I choose to accept because it all works out for my good.

Back in 2007 I was quite the Soldier. (At least I thought so because you know… I’m prideful) I had made it through 3 years in the Army and 1 deployment without any knee pain. I bragged about it to my husband. He was going to regular doctors’ appointments for his knee problems. You were a unicorn if you didn’t have knee pain. Having been one with no knee pain and being a female, I got roped into a lot of extra training. We were gearing up for our next deployment. Most infantry companies now employ at least one female for combat missions. With tensions being as high as they are now, you don’t want a male soldier searching a female detainee. This is especially true for a female detainee that is Muslim. That is one reason that it is important for every unit to have at least one female. Well, for many missions, I was that one. While training I went on an Air Assault mission. The leadership decided not to waste time repelling from the Blackhawk. Instead, the helicopter swooped down as low as it could and we all jumped. The jump was probably five feet from the ground. I was wearing my vest, assault pack (backpack), rifle, and a 50-caliber barrel on my shoulder. The vest weighs 16 lbs., ammo in the vest adds about 7 lbs., the pack weighs 25, The rifle 11 lbs., the barrel weighs 24lbs. All together that is 83 lbs. on my (at the time) 113 lb. body. I’ll do the math for you, that is 73% of my weight. This small jump should have been fine and not injured anyone. Well…I have a genetic disorder called Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. Basically, my joints bend further than they should because the ligaments in my body are too loose. This results in limbs moving into positions that they shouldn’t, which leads to sprains, breaks and a lot of pain. If I bend my knee a certain way, the ligament that is known as the hamstring (behind my knee) will get hooked on the side of my fibula (leg bone) and prevent me from standing up. If it gets hooked, when I try to stand it will feel like I am ripping my leg off. So, when I hit the ground with 73% of my body weight on my back, my knees buckled backwards which led to me fracturing both patella’s. I am no longer a unicorn. My knees have gotten worse over the years. Sometimes I just scream trying to stand, and sometimes they feel fine.

This morning I was sitting in Luke 9:23. And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” There is more to the conversation… but I narrowed in on this. I woke up this morning and felt okay. Sore from working out, but okay. As I read the scripture, I told myself that surly I pick up my cross daily. Surly I willingly pick it up. I looked into this word “cross” in the Strong’s concordance. Stauros. An instrument of crucifixion. The cross represents unspeakable pain, humiliation, and suffering- and ironically it is also the symbol of infinite love. It is not a symbol for suffering in general. Rather it refers to withstanding persecution (difficult times), by the Lord’s power, as he directs the circumstances of life. As Christ’s Disciples, believers are told to hold true even when attacked by the ungodly. I prayed for the Lord to remind me over and over to pick up my cross. I prayed for him to continue to humble me, and I thanked him for the blessings of his word. I stood up… and went downstairs. On my way down the stairs my ankle gave out and I started to fall. When I caught myself, my kneecap slipped out of place. I was able to slip it right back because I have those amazing Stretch Armstrong ligaments. I immediately thought… NOT THIS CROSS! I don’t want to pick this one up. This one is not convenient for me. This one shows my physical weakness. I tried to walk, and I could barely put weight on it. I was immediately annoyed by my minor inconvenience. While at church I stood and worshipped as I usually do. I was then annoyed again because it was too painful to kneel down to pray. “ Why am I feeling pain that is preventing me from worshipping as I desire to worship!” As soon as the thought hit my head, my other leg became too weak to stand and I was forced to sit down. As soon as I was able to catch my breath and feel a break from the pain and weakness I stood again. It wasn’t long before I had to sit again. I was frustrated and hurting and just wanted to cry. As soon as I said the words, “Why God?” He reminded me of the pain of the cross he bore. He reminded me of his questions to Job. He reminded me of his strength in my weakness. He reminded me that I should not be surprised when a fiery trial comes upon me. He reminded me to rejoice in my sufferings. He reminded me that I said I was willing to pick up my cross and follow him. I would pick up my pain. I would pick up my humiliation. I would pick up my suffering. And follow him. I immediately repented. The congregation was asked to stand. I stood up and tears just flowed from my eyes. They flowed with joy and thanksgiving because I was standing and putting weight on my knee and most of my pain had been removed.

I live most of my life in some type of physical pain. I have asked the Lord to take it many times. Often the answer is no. When the answer is no, I just remind myself that the Lord may have me suffer this pain to keep me humble. I am no Paul, far from it. But I do know that Paul’s thorn kept him humble. I can respect that. After all, no discipline feels good at the time. So, yes Lord, continue to break me to my knees and humble me. I witnessed a physical miracle this morning. How precious a gift is it to witness a miracle, let alone feel one. The weight of our load may seem heavy, but all things are possible through he who strengthens me.

What cross have you been asked to carry? Physical, Mental, Spiritual.

Do you pick it up willingly and daily?

How do you hold true when attacked, when in pain, when humiliated, when suffering?

I pray this finds you well.

Grace & Peace

Chorley

My Battle Buddy

.Reading time 13 minutes.

I can honestly say that my husband is my best friend. The story of how we became a couple is often shared with many laughs. We met in the Army. We married in August of 2005 after dating for 6 months. I proposed on the balcony of my barracks room. He said no. A week later he asked me why I had been moody all week. When I revealed that he hurt my feelings when he told me no… he just said, “ I didn’t know you were serious. Let’s get married tomorrow”. So, we did. Here we are 15 years later, and I am more in love with him now than ever. Growing up I didn’t get to witness many healthy marriages. I was raised to be independent and strong. I was raised to be more like Joan of Arc than Jackie Kennedy. I viewed women like Jackie Kennedy as enslaved women who had no idea how powerful they could be if they weren’t held back by their husbands. I had truly little knowledge of the fact that Jackie Kennedy was behind many top secret moves in Washington and even continued nuclear peace talks with the Soviet Premier just days after her husband’s assassination. What we see about others is just that, our view.

Most of our marriage has been me doing what I want and my husband just accepting it. I wanted to marry, so he did. I got called to leave our support company to join an infantry platoon in Iraq, he kissed me good bye and we spoke when we could. I wanted a child, and Calvin came. I wanted another child, and then came Micah.  I wanted to move to Oklahoma after retirement, he packed our house up. Every house that we have bought, I have picked out. Every child I have named what I wanted. Now that I start listing things… I look super demanding. The reality is that My husband is very agreeable and often agrees with me on most things. I know his agreeableness is usually out of love. When I left our support company, he knew what that meant. It meant I would hardly ever get to see him. It meant I would be in more danger. He knew I would be one female in a company of 150 men. He knew I would have to put up with harassment and death threats. It also meant I would finally have the job that I had fought for. It would open me up for a promotion. More importantly, it would open doors for other women. How all that went, I will save for another day. He knew the desires of my heart and he supported me. We were both Non-Commissioned Officers leading Soldiers. We often shared different weapons techniques and drills. We shared different training and leadership information. After missions I would share stories about different fire fights we were in or different high value targets we caught or what bombs we found. He would share what blown up vehicles he had to tow, or how he got blown up, or a thirty minute mission turned into three days and he survived on Dr. Pepper. We had similar experiences that bonded us. It was a weird bond because while I tell him the fire fight was fun, he knows I mean I was scared I would never see him again. I never had to say it. We were in the same fight. He is my battle buddy.

Church can either give me hope or sorrow. Most Sunday mornings I get up between seven and eight. I get our kids up and tell them to start getting dressed and ready for church. I get myself ready and the four of us head out the door. We are usually home by 1 and I spend the rest of the day with my husband. He usually works on his truck or our property while the kids and I are at church. I process the sermon and double check the pastors words against the Word alone after church. We don’t discuss How I repent and worship on my knees or how I beg the Lord to put a new spirit in him.  I go to different Discipleship conferences and events through the year. I usually go with another group of people that I dearly love. The group usually consists of other couples and a few single women. When I get home and I see my best friend sitting there, we discuss places I visited or food I ate. We almost never discuss the depth of the things I was doing while gone. We never discuss that I cried on my knees again for him to know Jesus. We don’t discuss how lonely I feel in a crowded room without him. We don’t discuss how I go to events alone and drive home alone. We don’t discuss that I long for him to pray over me. We don’t discuss that I desire for him to wash me with the Word. I sit with the Lord daily and totally find amazing things in the Word that are life changing and so amazing that it is unreal and mind blowing that I would love to share with him. I would love that. I would love to hear him talk about the Lord. I would love to know what the Lord is teaching him. I would love to hear how he is laying his life down to share the Gospel with others. But we don’t discuss that.

The words tells us,  14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. 17Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor 6:14-18)

When you yoke animals together, you join two animals that can share a load of work together. They walk side by side and share the total weight of a load. When one animal gets tired it does a little more work for a while. Then, the rested animal can carry some of the over worked animal’s load. It is an amazing partnership. However, when one is unequally yoked… one is always doing more work on their own. They carry a load they are not meant to carry. If one animal is continuously over worked, it often gets injured easier and dies earlier.

I know that I am unequally yoked. I don’t plan on unyoking myself from my husband.  7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”  Mark 10:7-9.  I once had a spiritual brother tell me that he was my partner in ministry. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was not, nor would I ever be his ministry partner. No man can be my ministry partner. I don’t believe a woman can be either. I am married and the Lord has reserved my husband for that. He is my battle buddy. I know that I will always choose my husband over my sisters in Christ. I hold fast to the Hope that My husband will walk with the Lord one day. Because I have that hope, I will not give away his spot. I know that the Word says,  1Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 1 Peter 3:1-2. He may be won over without word by my conduct. by my respect. by my pure conduct. by my love.

I can only speak from my view, but I suspect that there are a whole set of other struggles for the women who are unmarried. The women who have no man leading them in any part of life. The women who also come alone. The women who have no one to lay in bed with and talk about how they saw the Kingdom move today. The women of Tabitha’s upper room. I am not saying that Jesus is not enough for them. I am just saying that their struggles are different and very real. My heart feels an extra beat for them.

Whether you are unequally yoked or not yoked at all… What do you do when you are running low on Hope? How do you remind yourself that the Lord’s yoke is easy when things feel hard?

If you are walking with someone unequally yoked or unyoked… Do you really try to understand their position? How do you show them compassion, empathy, and love?

Grace & Peace

Chorley