Of New Beginnings

Read Lamenations 3:19-27




God loves new beginnings. Forming the world out of nothing? That was the best new beginning of them all. And all through the Scriptures story after story is woven of people he used by giving them a fresh start.



Rahab, the prostitute, Paul the tax collector, and those fishermen who he gave new vocations and said, "Come follow me." Their lives did an about-face transformations from following their own desires and wants to following God.



A life without the ability for a new beginning would be life without hope. I know God loves new beginnings because he didn't give our lives to us in one big lump. I'm so thankful for that! I'm sure mine would look like a mound of goup, sans glitter. Instead God designed human life with opportunity for new beginnings often! He gave us free will to choose Him.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, 

for his compassions never fail. 

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Our lifetime is divided up into year. Those years carry us from first faltering steps as babies through childhood, on to adulthood, until old age. The years are divided up into seasons. Four beauties unique in their own new beginnings from winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Within the seasons there are months that go by in the turn of a calendar page and each day is marked with all importance. And each day has hours, minutes, and seconds.




This moment as you are reading this is an opportunity for a new beginning. Is there something convicting your spirit? Do you wish you acted differently in a recent situation? We can't change the past, although it is easy to use it as a crutch to feel bad about the present. But we can change our next moment from following our own desires and wants to following God.



It might not be as dramatic as the leading men and women in the Bible, but God still desires new beginnings for each of us. Quiet moments when we choose Him. Actions that speak of newness and of hope.

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. 

Beginning makes the conditions perfect.

~  Alan Cohen

Thanksgiving

Read Philippians 4 


In 1944 two sisters in their fifties were interred in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruk, Germany. They were accused of the heinous crime of using their home to hide Jews from the prowling Gestapo.


They existed in a universe more horrible than any of us can imagine. They were deprived of food and sleep. Their lives were constantly in danger. They, along with a number of other captives, lived in a dormitory infested with fleas.



In this universe, the two sisters, Betsie and Corrie, read their smuggled Bible in secret. They prayed that the guards that haunted their prison would not find it. The words God spoke to them through the contraband pages were their only source of nourishment in that dark and awful camp. Corrie and Betsie could not imagine surviving without the light the little book radiated in their dark circumstances.

When We Don't Want To Give Thanks

Borrowed from InCourage.Me



Giving thanks. Sometimes it’s hard to do when the holiday set aside for thanks-giving involves in-laws, slushy weather, disastrous kitchens, and crazy kids, not to mention those deeper extended family issues that materialize only on these blessed events.



 But nonetheless, we are to do so.



To give thanks, that is. And if you’re like me, continual thanksgiving conjures an image of this mama who smiles with a knowing head shake at the eternal stickiness on the doorknobs. A risen-early woman walking amongst the fallen leaves in grateful worship to her Creator. Perfectly fine with the dirty dishes. 



These can be true. But they’re not usually true for me, if I’m honest. When I’m in the liturgical rhythm of laundry, laundry, laundry, my natural instinct is not to lift my arms in praise. I wish it was.



 You know the only way I’m able to change my attitude from grumbling to grateful when I just don’t feel like it?



I just choose to say thanks.



I don’t wait for my emotions to change. I change Finn’s dirty diaper, I scrunch my nose, and I murmur without a smile on my face, “Thank you God for this little body You’ve entrusted me with.”



I open my inbox to untold unread emails and say, “Lord, thanks for this technology and these people in my life and this laptop.” I’m still bummed about all the email I need to process.



I open the minivan door and witness the horror that is the cacophony of clutter, and I say, “God, thanks for these little people that are home with me.”



And slowly, slowly, something miraculous happens. My heart changes. It really, really does. It’s usually not unicorns and sparkles outwardly, but it is prettier on the inside.



 I’m still not in love with the poop or the what-is-that-on-the-floorboard?, but I’m a little more in love with the Giver of Life. I’m more aware of the unbelievable gifts soaked in my life. I’m humbled. And so it is the same on Thanksgiving Day. There’s people and noises and casseroles and chaos, and often a sweet potatoed floor. And those perpetrators are reasons for thanks—they’re gifts from God.



 This season, don’t wait for your feelings to flourish. Say thanks anyway, and see what happens.




Written by Tsh Oxenreider

Red Badge of Stress

Read Psalm 62:5-12


I read this today, and it knocked my socks off.


“I call it stress and act like it’s normal, some kind of trophy to be proud of.”


The author was talking about feeling tired, worn out, over committed and under creative. There is likely a reason such a topic should speak to me at this juncture in my life, as I feel tired, worn out, over committed and under creative these days.


I tend to wear my busyness as a badge. As if the number of meetings, errands, subjects to teach, crafts to create and foods to prepare somehow validates me as a person. I am special because of the length of my to-do list and the number of people who need me.


It’s not that I can’t say “no,” it’s that I don’t want to say “no.” I like the people I work with. I value the time I spend with them. I enjoy the teaching, the crafting and the cooking. I love being involved in the things I am involved with. But when I literally have to be three people at once on a Sunday morning (not including the always present roll of wife and mom), something’s not quite right.


Just because we can juggle doesn’t mean we need to all the time. I thought by now I’d read enough on this topic to be an expert. Apparently it’s not the reading that gains the expertise.


As we venture forth into the craze of “the Holliday season,” which I’m pretty starts in September now, we need to remember that saying no to a few things we really, really want to do might just be necessary.


And we need to remember that most of our stress is voluntary. When things happen outside of our control we have the option of freaking out, or hanging out in the shadow of the Almighty.


We can reconcile rest and busyness, it’s just a lot more complicated. It involves getting up earlier, making more lists and-contrary to popular belief-spending more time with God. Early morning quiet time is one of those things that gets shoved to the back burner on crazy days, but those are the days it absolutely must come first.


I’m not sure how I can emphasize this point enough.


It’s the first thing I neglect too. “I’ll squeeze it in later,” I tell myself a dozen times a day. And as I fall, used up and wrung out into bed, I tell myself, “Tomorrow is another day.” And it is. Another busy day full of doing this and doing that and before I know it, my Bible is buried under a pile of bills or I’m sushing my hungry kids so I can hurry through day 16 of my Bible study just so I can cross it off my list.


Not cool.


And then I wonder why it’s all catching up to me. Why, when I have my life filled with so many good things, am I so tense all the time?


Rest doesn’t always come through resting. Not the way we define it anyway. Just as we can be just stressed out doing nothing, we can be at peace in the middle of a storm. The act of resting is not as important as in whom we rest.


Being stressed is nothing to be proud of. Being at peace when we should be stressed sure is though. As long as the pride goes to the right source:

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.

Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

Choose This Day

Read Joshua 24:2-22



At the end of Joshua's life, he had an important message to impart to the Israelite people: choose whom you will serve. God led his people from slavery in Egypt to safety through walls of water and drowned those who pursued. After living in the wilderness for many years, they battled nation and after nation, defeating them by God's power each time. Finally they were in the promised land and Joshua tells them to remember everything they have been through and choose...

“Now fear the LORD and 

serve him with all faithfulness.

Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped 

beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, 

and serve the LORD.

But if serving the LORD 

seems undesirable to you, then choose for 

yourselves this day whom you will serve, 

whether the gods your ancestors served beyond 

the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, 

in whose land you are living. 

But as for me and my household, 

we will serve the LORD.”

 Joshua 24:14-15

Life is full of choices. Whom will you serve? We can also say, choose this day whom you will love. Choose this day how you will spend you time. Choose this day what you say. Choose this day where you will go, what you will see, what you will do. These are the weighty decisions that make up our lives here on earth.

For the Israelites in ancient times it was either God or a false god. The big "G" verses the little "g." I always wondered about those silly folks building up false gods out of gold or wood when their Deliverer was jealously waiting for their attention.



We don't have gods of wood or gold, but we do make gods. Anything we serve can be a god. Think about this today, where does your attention stray to? What do you crave? What is your obsession? Where is the majority of your time going? This is your god with a little "g."

With little contemplation, the Israelites went on to say unanimously, "We will serve the LORD!" This was the right answer and I'm sure the crowd was cheering -- the noise of the jubilant crowd was deafening. 

Joshua's face must have remained stoic, realizing they still (after all the wandering and God providing) didn't get the seriousness of this choice. It wasn't a Sunday School answer that could be spoken and then lived differently. 

I can see him shaking his head in doubt. He said,"You can't do it; you're not able to worship God. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won't put up with your fooling around and sinning. When you leave God and take up the worship of foreign gods, he'll turn right around and come down on you hard. He'll put an end to you—and after all the good he has done for you!" (The Message 24:19-20).



Again and again the people cried, "We will serve the Lord!" Joshua basically said "prove it" when he told them to throw away all their false gods and idols. They did it and something serious was needed to commemorate their choice.



Joshua read them the laws and the decrees, he wrote in the Book of the Law about their decision, and then he took a large stone placed it to symbolize this moment when they chose to serve the Lord. It was situated under an oak near the holy place of the Lord. I imagine the people passed that way daily and it was a tangible reminder.



To choose to serve the Lord with our life isn't something we should take lightly either. Our God is jealous and "He won't put up with our fooling around" (verse 19). I love the way the Message puts it bluntly. With Jesus, we live with his forgiveness, but purposeful wrong choices and worship of false gods is sin.



We are like the Israelites in many ways. God has provided, he's let us wander at times, He has defeated enemies, and He is always there waiting for our attention. Will we make the monumental decision to choose this day whom we will serve? Write it down and commemorate your choice. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

But the Lord's Unfailing Love...

Read Job 36:5-16




Written by Ashley (wife to one great guy, mom to 3 rambunctious boys -- Ashley had a healthy baby boy last night! Congratulations from your Drops team!)





There are two types of pain that we all experience. Purposeful pain and pointless pain. Sometimes God allows obstacles that are meant to strengthen us. He sees our entire course and is so confident in us that he permits Satan to attack us. Other times we inflict pain upon ourselves that eats us up inside. We allow sinful and avoidable pain to take over.



Job experienced purposeful pain. He lost his seven sons and three daughters. He lost his servants and his livestock that undoubtedly provided him with great wealth. If that weren't enough, he was then covered in painful sores from head to toe. Yet he remained faithful. His pain was designed to heighten his faith.



Our purposeful pain may not be quite as intense as Job's, but it's valid pain nonetheless. God may be allowing the death of someone close to you, lack of finances, not getting a call back after a job interview, a miscarriage, or a severed friendship to reveal his glory. "...but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him." (Psalm 28:7). There may be a glorious purpose for your pain. Trust Him.



And then there is pointless pain. I tend to cling to the feelings I experience when I feel I am wronged. It's my human nature and God and I are working closely together to overcome this unspiritual flaw. Satan loves to remind me of past hurt and replay it over and over again in my mind.



Honestly, I didn't even realize it was a problem until God began to subtly speak to me in different situations. Does this sound familiar? Is God trying to draw your attention to an area in your life that needs work? Eventually the message became loud and clear. I was authorizing pointless pain in my life. I was not forgiving the people in the past that have hurt me and I was made aware that I was being sinful.



"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5). God has forgiven us for our sins and brought us back to life. How selfish of me to accept such forgiveness but deny it to people that I love!




Slowly but surely, God is changing my heart. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, this transformation wouldn't be possible. But without the pointless pain brought on by my human nature, the transformation wouldn't be necessary. I finally had to come to a point where I took responsibility for the pain.



What pointless pain are you struggling with today? It could be as serious as an addiction, or just simply a bad attitude. Whatever it may be, identify it, pray about it, and work tirelessly with God to change. Change and submission don’t mean that no struggles will find you. It means that when they do, you will be prepared and the Lord will fight your battles with you. The creator of heaven and earth is on your side.

Preparing the Way (part 2)

Read Luke 1:57-80

Read Part One


“Then details you shall have.” He turns toward her, and drops his voice, “It was a dark and stormy night—“

“Zacharias!”

“Alright! I give up!

“You know how nervous I was that day. When the lot fell to me, it was as if the hand of Yaweh himself chose me to enter His presence. I stood there in front of the alter. I nearly forgot the words I was supposed to speak, I was so overcome by being in the Holy of Holies. Then, out of nowhere, a man appeared. I was horrified at first. How had he gotten in? Then I was terrified. Had I done something wrong? Was I about to be punished? But he told me not to be afraid. That my prayers had been answered. I was relieved, thinking I had indeed performed the ritual correctly. But then he said, “you will have a son.”

“He did not!”

“He did.”

“What did you say?”

With a derisive half chuckles, he continues, “I said, ‘How can this be? My wife and I are too old!’ The look on his face, Elizabeth! The look on his face made me think for a moment that he had changed his mind. Not that I understood in the first place. But he spoke again.

“You will,” he said. “But you will be in silence until the appointed time.” At that moment, I heard what sounded like a roaring waterfall, then nothing. The man was gone. The holy place empty with just the smoke of the offering rising toward heaven. I stepped out to give the proclamation to the people, and when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. I saw the people’s mouths moving, but could hear nothing. Nothing at all.”

In the tone only a very loved wife can get away with, Elizabeth interrupts, “You questioned an angel? You, a high priest doubted his words?”

“I did, Elizabeth. I did.”

They both sit in the quiet for a moment. At last she admits the truth. “Had you told me a moment sooner in my pregnancy, I would not have believed you. By the time you told me, the truth was undeniable.” She wanted to know and tell so much. She wanted to fill him in on every detail of her miraculous pregnancy and how it felt to finally be free from the judgement of all those people subtly accusing her, them, of some secret sin that kept them barren for so long. But now was not the time for that.

“What did you mean tonight,” she asks, “when you spoke over our son? You talked about the Messiah, and you said our son would be a prophet?”

Zacharias nods. “The angel told me our son would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. That he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord. He said he would have spirit and power like the great prophet Elijah.

She knows she should be thrilled with this news, but she can’t help but remember the stories. Surely he was a great man of God but… “Like Elijah? You say that like it’s a good thing. He was nearly killed by a wicked king. Is that what you see in our son’s future?”

He reaches for her hand. “You are missing the point Elizabeth. He said our son would prepare the way for the Messiah. That is what I have been doing at the temple. I have been reading the prophesies. I believe the Messiah is coming soon and our son is the one Isaiah spoke of crying out in the desert.”

“You cannot be serious.” She drops his hand so she can gesture with both of hers.

“And why not?”

“Because he’s a baby, Zacharias! A tiny, red fisted, bald little baby! Not a desert dwelling prophet. He will be raised as a priest, by a priest in the temple.”

“You are right, Elizabeth, He is a baby. A child who removed our disgrace and who will bring us immeasurable joy. We had both closed our hearts to this possibility, but here it is. Here he is. A sign. A wonder. A miracle. He is a gift from Yahweh. It is up to Him what becomes of the son He has given us.”

She bites her lip, another argument on the tip of her tongue. But his words hit their mark. “You are right, Zacharias. He holds my heart so tightly already. I can’t bear to think of what kind of life he has ahead of him.”

Side by side, they watch the fire and they wonder what Yahweh has planned for their son.

Zacharias and Elizabeth’s red faced baby boy grew up to eat locusts and honey, and was so close to God, that he could literally pick his son out of a line up. He grew to maturity in the desert, not in the temple gates, so it is likely that his parents passed away when he was still young. He, like Elijah, was hunted by a wicked king. He preached a revolutionary message and baptized people for the first time on record. And he became the voice of one calling in the desert “prepare the way for the Lord.”

Preparing the Way (part 1)

Read Luke 1:5-25

Zacharias and Elizabeth, the aged prophet and his wife were the recipients of one of God’s greatest gifts: A baby boy. Well past child baring age, well past the point of continuing to hope, a child was given. Unlike Abraham, Zacharias did not receive a promise under starry skies years before the promise became reality. He received notification in the Holiest of Holy places in the Tabernacle, went home, and TA-DA! Not surprisingly, Zacharias was skeptical of the news. And because of it, his ability to speak was taken away. Most scholars agree that he lost his hearing for a time as well.

I wonder what he thought about those ten or so months in silence. How did he communicate with his wife? Did she know what was happening to her? I wonder how their first conversation went once his ears and mouth opened up again.

One can only imagine it might have gone something like this:

“Is he asleep?” Zacharias asks as Elizabeth settles herself beside him in front of the fire,

“For now.” She holds a piece of paper in her hand.

“What is that?”

Leaning into his side, she opens it up and reads, “’His name is John.’ This will have to go in the baby book.”

“Today is a day we will want to remember.”

Silently the couple watch the flames dance. At last Elizabeth can bare the silence no longer. “Zacharias, why John? You told me long ago what we would name him, and, frankly with you being deaf and mute for the last nine months, it was too much work to ask you about it. But our friends are right. It’s not a family name. It’s a kind of unusual name at that. Where did you come up with it?”

“The angel told me his name was John.”

He states it so plainly, so matter of factly, that Elizabeth almost misses it’s significance. Almost, but not quite. “The what?!”

“The angel. Gabriel. “Who stands in the presence of the Lord.” At least that’s how he introduced himself.”

“An angel named Gabriel introduced himself to you.” She pushes back to see his face better. The low light makes it difficult to make out his distinct features, but she knows them by heart. “When you came out of the Holy Place, your eyes were so bright, and you couldn’t speak or hear. It was so clear you had received some kind of message, but an angel! You saw him? What did he look like? What else did he say? Why did he take away your speech? What did you think when you saw him?”

He can’t help but play with her a little bit. For so long communication had been hobbled by hand gestures and bad penmanship, he had nearly forgotten how much fun it was to tease her. “You know the most important parts. The child you just tucked into bed is proof of that.”

She crosses her arms and with a sigh reminds him, “You didn’t even tell me that part until even I had begun to think I was with child. You scratched on paper, “you are with child. His name is John.” Then nothing more.”

“Did you save that one for the baby book?”

“Don’t change the subject, dear.” She knows exactly what he is up to. “I need details.”

“Then details you shall have.” He turns toward her, and drops his voice, “It was a dark and stormy night—“

“Zacharias!”


**Come back tomorrow for more!

Love, Diligence, Joy

Read Psalm 145:1-13





The morning started with an angry scream from my little girl. I took in the whole scene from my cozy bed. Of course I couldn't actually see what was happening because I stubbornly squeezed my eyes shut feigning hoping for 5 extra minutes of sleep.



Toys banged against eachother, voices yelled "Mine" back and forth. Then there was the scream that morphed immediately into a waling cry. Somehow the crying girl managed to communicate her angst, "HE BIT ME!!!!" She must have whacked her brother at this point because his wild screams joined hers.



I know my kids and I know these aren't unfamiliar issues (unfortunately). Kids being normal kids. Needing instruction, intervention, attention, and discipline. Left to their own devices, they choose the easiest way out every time -- not the way God has for us. "For all have sinned," never seemed so applicable (Romans 3:23).




I also know that I wanted to stay in bed for a few more minutes. I tell ya, this pregnancy is stealing every last ounce of energy I have. But who am I kidding? I liked to "sleep in" whether I'm pregnant or not. I'm not a morning person, so it remains an excuse I rationalize when a morning starts with mayhem that I don't want to deal with.



I know what keeps me hiding under the covers. That is not rocket science. It is avoidance in its most unlovely form.



But the opposite. That's the harder question. How do we confront life's challenges when we really, really, really don't want to?



A friend recently wrote on her blog about what makes her day as a mother go round in a pleasant fashion. Follow these and life with little ones works, don't and the end result is chaos (see the above description of my children's morning behavior).



It made me think about actively parenting instead of actively avoiding parenting. For Grace, she does her best to practice these three for herself and her 5 girls:

• Love.   Not just affection. Choosing to do what is best for one another. Choosing to see the good. Laying aside our own desires for someone else. Obedience is also included in this one. Just as God tell us that love for Him means obeying His commands, as a parent, my girls show me their love by choosing to willingly obey. 

• Diligence.  Any job can be handled. Any job can seem like a bear. The difference is diligence. Even the most daunting of tasks can be steadily chipped away at with some intentional diligence. My girls are always so excited when they see their diligence pay off. 

• Joyfulness.  Joy takes any situation in life and makes it just a bit better. A day sprinkled with joy is bearable. A day where everyone is determined to have joy is delightful! Encourage your family to apply joy to every circumstance.*

These three behaviors/attitudes challenged me to tackle my first of many issues during my day. Love, diligence, and joy (for this season in my life) made a tired mommy, depleted and grumpy as she was, get out of bed and deal with my two little one's fight.




The very real confrontation I heard my kids dealing with NEEDED my help. What good would avoiding the scene do for them or for me? There was a toddler who needed to be trained not to bite. A preschooler who started and ended a conflict badly who needed to be listened to and instructed (and both of them also needed some positive interaction with their mommy who was ignoring them).



Making the choice to live lovingly, with diligence, and joyfulness isn't the natural choice. Actually its the hardest choice. From a pile of dishes, loads and loads of laundry, fighting kids, kids who want attention... the "easy" answer is to avoid.



Like me, I know that many of you find it easier to avoid life's challenges. Maybe it is by sleeping in, or watching tv, reading a book, talking on the phone or texting, or losing yourself on the computer. But it only works for a time until we are angry at ourselves and everything in our lives. Including those kids who are just being... kids.



In an angry state, we find it impossible to live with love, diligence, and joyfulness. Instead, we are consumed with selfishness, laziness, and discontent. Oh, how I want to avoid a life lived with those last three descriptions.



Today is a new day and my goals are to confront instead of avoid. Situations (even the ones I would rather run from screaming) will be tackled with love first because my first goal is to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). Then I will diligently work through my day as working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23). And I will cling to joyfulness in this stage of my beautiful life (Psalm 90:14).

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, 

 that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14

* Quoted text used with permission from Grace at Grace Is Blessed By God. Check out her encouraging posts every Thursday called, "Heart for the Home."

Powerfully Influencing Your Man

Read Proverbs 31:10-31


Written by Ashley K. (Keep her in your prayers as she eagerly anticipates the birth of her 3rd son soon -- she's 40 weeks and still writing and encouraging. What an inspiration!)

 “She (the wife) brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” 

 (Proverbs 31:12) 

 What happens when your husband comes home in a terrible mood? Think about it. How do you respond to him? Do you ignore him and carry on with what you were doing? Do you lend a listening ear and try to help him work through his problem?



 Now, what happens when you come home in a terrible mood? In my household, if I walk through that door with a frown on my face, each family member runs and hides. My husband’s compassion has its limits. Sometimes, I just want to be mad and it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid me.



 More often than not, when my husband comes home and something is bothering him, I pester him until we work out a solution. I hurt when he hurts. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:31)



 His problems are my problems. Cheering my husband up after coming home from a bad day at work is part of my job. Ignoring the problem or pretending not to notice that something is upsetting him is not going to make anything better. Women are nurturing and compassionate by nature, but we often direct that solely at our children. We can’t neglect our husbands. They require the same compassion.



 The mood in the household depends mainly on us. If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Like I said before, my family runs and hides if I’m in a bad mood. Because women typically have a stronger emotional awareness, it is our job to do the best we can to have a positive attitude. I’m not saying that because we are wives that we are required to put up and shut up. What I am saying is, why would we make an effort to have a bad attitude when we know that it will negatively affect our family?




 We are in charge of achieving a good mood or bad mood in our household. That is a HUGE responsibility that we shouldn’t take lightly. I will never forget a line from the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The Mom and the daughter are discussing the Father and his attitude. The daughter, Toula, says, “Dad is stubborn...the man is the head of the house!” Her Mother smiles and responds, “Toula, the man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.”




 Isn’t it the truth? If we sleep on our neck wrong and get a cramp it limits the motion of our head in the morning. If we get a black eye or bloody nose, our neck still functions fine. We are the neck! When I am sick, the laundry piles up, the kids end up in outfits not meant to be seen by the light of day, and my husband looks like he got hit by a truck.



 When my husband is sick, I kick it into high gear. I bring him meals in bed, I am quick to apply the peppermint oil and he never misses a dose of medicine. I’m not disrespecting my husband at all, because believe me, that man takes really good care of me. I’m simply illustrating how important it is for us to take care of everyone in our family because we are equipped for the task.



 Ultimately, our husbands are the head of the household, but we have such a profound influence over them and we need to make an effort to ensure that it’s a positive one. “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man...” (1 Corinthians 11:3)



 Go ahead, baby your husband when he sick, give him a back rub without him asking for it when he gets home from work, bake his favorite cookies, stop pretending to have a “headache”! There is power in being a supportive wife. Go love on your husband today and let him know that you are on his side.