Marriage is a gift from the Lord, and like any other gift, we can easily neglect it. Nurturing our marriages takes time, effort, and intentionality. And it’s never too late to start! While there are endless ways to nurture your marriage, I pray the following five ideas will help increase your desire to protect, strengthen and enjoy this gift the Lord has given you. 1. Be Committed to Godly Growth and Change We are being molded and shaped every day of our lives. We are influenced by the news, social media, our own experiences, and for better or worse, our spouses. Our views, perspectives, and ideologies tend to shift with…

Something I’ve learned over the years is that, despite good intentions, most of our Christian parents didn’t do the best job of talking to us about sex. Most of our parents talked to us about being sexually pure from a standpoint of avoiding consequences, rather than the goal being to bring glory to our holy God. Even if you’re someone who got the basic “birds and bees” talk from your parents, you also likely had gaps filled in by your friends, Hollywood, the media, advertising, etc. And without our parents helping us filter that information, we were left to make assumptions, draw conclusions and form views about sexuality that were…

In Genesis 2:24, we’re told, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Paul quotes this in Ephesians 5:31 and adds in verse 32, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” The marital union of a man and woman is a mystery because it is a shadow of the coming marriage of Christ and his church. God’s will for Christ and the church is to become one body (Gal 3:29; 1 Cor 12:13). Because God’s will is for marriage to reflect Christ and the church, the husband and wife become one flesh.…

Masturbation has gone from a taboo subject to a hot topic among Christians. Is it or is it not sinful? Are people who are married exempt? Because the word masturbation doesn’t appear in scripture, some find it easy to argue this act is in no way sinful and can actually be a beneficial practice. While it’s true the word masturbation doesn’t appear in scripture, there are questions we should ask, biblical truths we should dig into, and logic we should consider.   The Problem with Masturbation, Even in Marriage Masturbation feeds a self-centered desire and is typically something done in private. Because masturbation is essentially having sex with yourself, we must…

As we watch the situation in Ukraine continue to unfold, it’s easy to feel anxious and question where God is in the chaos. It’s easy to ask questions like, “Does God care about what’s going on in Ukraine?” “Has he left his children to fend for themselves against their attackers?” “Why doesn’t God put a stop to war?” “What can I do to help?” If you’ve asked yourself these questions, know you’re not alone. But also know that there are answers to your questions. Does God care about what’s going on in Ukraine?  Yes. Psalm 7:11 tells us that God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation every day. The KJV…

Most of us don’t have physically demanding jobs, especially when considering our ancestors who plowed and planted fields by hand. Generally speaking, we live sedentary lives that require us to carve out time to exercise rather than it being a byproduct of our survival. Because we have to be intentional about exercise, it’s easy to take it to two extremes. Most people I talk to either don’t exercise at all or prioritize it over all else. Some have found a happy balance, but, in my experience, most of us lean to one extreme or another. There are a million good and right reasons to exercise, but there are also a…

Our youngest son, Levi, recently turned 18. On his birthday, my husband prayed a special prayer of thanksgiving for Levi’s life, and I made an extra point to tell him how very precious his life is to me. He is, after all, a rainbow baby. I’ve told him this before, but I think it hit me harder this year as Levi was preparing to go away for college. When I told him this, he smiled. He knows how much he’s loved. But he doesn’t understand the full weight of what it means to be a rainbow baby. And I pray he never does. What Is a Rainbow Baby? Why a Rainbow? A…

How do you define intimacy? Your mind might immediately go to sex, or you might picture going on a long walk while holding hands or cuddling up on the couch to watch a movie. Maybe intimacy to you is good, deep conversation or going on a grand adventure; anything as long as you’re together. Regardless of what intimacy means to you, it can be affected by outside influences. If you or your spouse have been struggling with intimacy lately, read on. Let’s explore 10 factors that might be at play in your struggle. 1. Stress Stress can affect every area of your life and your overall health. If you’re struggling…

I remember a conversation with two friends of mine, both of whom had sons fighting for their lives. One had an incurable disease; the other was addicted to drugs and suicidal. What struck me was the difference in attitude between these two women. The woman whose son had the incurable disease was, understandably, stricken with grief from knowing that her son would not live much longer. Yet she grieved with hope because her son knew the Lord. The woman whose son struggled with addiction and suicidal ideations was stricken with grief over what seemed like an inevitable fate. Her grief was noticeably different because her son did not know the…

When my children were young, they said prayers that melted my heart! They prayed for their dad and me, for each other, for their grandparents, and it was so, so sweet. They also spent a good bit of time asking God for all the things they wanted, like new Lego sets and board games. While I’m sure the Lord delighted in those heartfelt prayers, I realized my boys needed to think beyond themselves and their immediate family and learn to pray for the needs of others. This is when I learned the challenges of teaching someone to pray. I didn’t want to criticize my children’s prayers, yet they did need…