Our society talks a lot about
Health Awarness causes,
Mental Health Awareness,
but God has put another form of awareness on my heart to share about this year:
Marital Health Awarness, ❤️
Relationship Health Awareness.
Relationships and marriages often get neglected,
but I would dare to say that if we took better care of maintaining our connection, our mental health would certainly benefit, and we may even see improvement in our physical health. Strained relationships cause anxiety, and anxiety causes weakened immune systems and bodily stress.
A few years ago, my marriage had a “cancer”,
and it was malignant.
It was called selfishness.
I had my dreams and plans and desires.
He had His.
Our differences initially attracted one another.
And our similarities overlapped just enough to knit us together.
Until the things that we liked that were different started getting more of us, and the seam began to be ripped apart by our self-focus.
At times we were happy,
and at times we were at war.
There were alot of screaming battles,
and there was some stomping off and giving the silent treatment, some secluding ourselves from one another,
and that tended to happen when one of us pulled too far from the center of what we had in common.
I’m thankful for the kids God gave us,
just for who they are of course,
but also they’re what He used to keep us together,
before we both had the love of Him in common,
which is the best seam to have in between,
keeping a couple from being ripped apart.
We don’t tend to think to think of relationships coming down with physical diseases or mental health issues, like we understand that individuals do.
I never thought of it that way, until God showed me that analogy just now.
My heart literally has been breaking over all of the homes I’ve seen split apart. 💔 We could have easily been one of them.
People look at us and think that our relationship is perfect.
I try to keep it real, so that others can relate.
There is NO such thing as a perfect marriage.
How do I know?
I’ve talked to a lot of people who I thought had one.
And also- because a marriage is just an imperfect man, and an imperfect woman… living in an imperfect (and at the present time- very stressful) world, and most of the time sharing a home with imperfect kids, being a part of imperfect extended families and friend groups and even church families, and working with other imperfect people, dealing with imperfect people in the world.
Only ONE person was ever perfect. (Jesus.)
I’ve been silent on this subject for quite awhile.
But I’ve kinda had it.
I’m kind of fed up, with the enemy and his tearing homes apart.
I’m kinda fed up with him feeding lies to men and women…
making them believe that it’s their spouse’s job to “complete them”,
making them wonder if “the grass is greener” in other pastures,
keeping them so distracted in their own pursuits that they stop pursuing their spouse’s heart, and never learn to pursue God and discover His love for them and the fact that He has been pursuing THEM all along.
I’m so mad at the enemy for the number of times he tried to use my husband and I’s male-female differences to make us think that something was wrong with the other, because we just didn’t KNOW that those were men/women things. We though they were just OUR issues.
And I’m so thankful for God leading us into a marriage class at church, and teachings by Jimmy Evans and others on the topic.
I’m so thankful to have learned, after 15 years of marriage, about the love/respect difference, and about love languages.
And mostly I’m thankful that even though we still can ruffle each other’s feathers… even though we sometimes forget to speak each other’s love languages…even though sometimes I mess up and act disrespectful to my husband, and even though sometimes he messes up and acts unloving towards me…God is helping us take offense less easily, because we understand it’s not intentional. And because even if it were intentional, when we take it to Jesus and let Him fill us with His own love and respect through the Holy Spirit, He fills us so full that we CAN forgive because we aren’t so freshly hurting anymore. His love heals. And He enables us to forgive, as He reminds us of the lengths He went to, to purchase our forgiveness with the Father. ✝️
For years I’ve shared my life like an open book,
and at first that was very uncomfortable but it has become more natural.
But this year God is asking me to go out of my comfort zone again – and get into others’ lives.
And I don’t mean that as in meddling.
I don’t mean that as in preaching.
I mean that as in sharing- what (WHO) saved our marriage-
and urging them to seek out that that same “treatment”! That same Healer!
God can heal anything.
He can restore.
I’ve seen drug addicts freed.
I’ve seen cancer eradicated.
I’ve seen and experienced infertility made fertile.
I’ve seen relationships that were toxic made better than ever before.
But He doesn’t usually just do it.
Just like at a doctor’s, we must walk in the door, we must give consent, we must cooperate with the “treatment plan”, whatever He tells us to do, like leaning in, in love, when we want to pull away on offense.
I’m excited for 2022,
not because it’s a new year,
but because I believe God is going to be opening people’s eyes to Him like never before.
I believe we are going to see roots and hearts healed, relationships restored, and people learning to walk in a peace and love and joy better than they’ve ever known was possible before!
I’m speaking life over all the death I see around me.
I declare the war-faring for families is NOT done.
I declare that as people take GOD back into their hearts as the true Lord & leader of their lives,
He will do what He said He will do!
In John 10:10, Jesus says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!”
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
Luke 4:18-19 NLT
It’s already COME.
I can’t wait to see who will apply it and be healed!
Sometimes life is hard, sometimes life is good.
But God is good all the time.
ALL the time, GOD is so good!
From Full 