A few months ago I saw an image online that had a saying on it. It was something like this: "If you are upset or overwhelmed, it's a sign that you're spending less time with God and more time with the world." And I thought something like, "Wait a minute! I'm overwhelmed because life has been kicking me in the teeth!" And one thought led to another. I thought of the story of Job. He was a righteous man who went through an awful time in his life. He lost his children, his animals, and his wealth. Then he got boils all over his body. He was a miserable mess. He had 3 friends who came for a visit. First, they just stared at him. Then they started blaming him for his predicament, saying that he deserved it. They said there must be some great sin in his life, and God was judging him. The thing his friends didn't know, and Job didn't even know, is that at the beginning of the story there was a scene that had played out in Heaven. The devil had ...

Have you ever thought, "If only I could lose weight?" or "If only I could afford a new car?" Quite a few of us have! Hopefully, those are only passing thoughts and we don't get stuck there. I've had some "if onlys" come to the surface during my healing process. I think that's pretty normal. If only I had been wiser. If only we had taken the dating process more slowly and given any red flags time to show themselves clearly. If only he had been what he seemed. If only I had asked harder questions. If only I had tried marriage counseling earlier. If only I had been more honest with our mutual friends about what he was like. If only we had gotten better advice. If only he had gotten the kick in the rear that he needed instead of me being told things that I needed to do. The big one I have struggled with is when I felt like I was close to the end of my rope and sought out help, but I didn't feel like our situation was taken as serious...

Leaving my husband is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. There is a lot I'm not ready to talk about publicly, but I knew for a while that separation was coming. I hoped my husband would be the one to decide he had had enough and break things off;  I didn't want to be the one to make that hard decision. But an evening came when I realized I couldn't take it anymore. One last thing happened that reinforced what I already knew had to happen eventually. I was really upset that night. I made my decision, but I was afraid that as time went by I would change my mind. I texted one of my best friends and told her I was leaving. Then the next day I told my parents, my brother, and another best friend. These people were my safety net. If I decided to back out in the coming days or weeks, they were to hold me accountable and make sure I followed through with my decision because at that time I still didn't want to leave. I just knew I HAD to. The e...