Sin of Dissatisfaction

Have you ever been guilty of the sin of dissatisfaction?

credited to www.fourgrainer.com

Is your house not big enough or nice enough?
Is your car not the one you wish you were driving?
Do you wish your children behaved all of the time?
Do you wish your husband romanced you like the husbands of the Hallmark movies?
Do you wish your wife had it all together?
Do you wish your boss recognized your talent?
Do you wish friends recognized your work in the friendship?
Do you wish you were prettier, thinner, better, etc?
Do you wish someone would notice you for who you are and everything you do?

I am guilty! G-U-I-L-T-Y!! Not that I admit that with excitement. It's more like, I admit it shamefully.. with my head down, eyes averted, and sheepishly raising my hand explaining that yes... sometimes, I do indeed wish for more than I actually have.

How satan just loves to turn our satisfaction into dissatisfaction!! Stop looking at what seems to be  lacking and let's look at what has been given...

My house is warm on this day that feels like it's below 0 outside.

My vehicles gets us from point A to point B safely.

My children are children... and although they don't always behave how I wish they would, then I can praise God they are all healthy and strong! Those strong minds will mean they have strength to stand up for what's right!

My husband may not woo me in the ways I may selfishly desire, but he works hard to provide for us. He helps me with our children. He doesn't complain that the house is a mess and dinner isn't ready on time. He is gracious to me.

I'm the wife who doesn't have it all together and the house is rarely clean, but our kids are healthy, doing homeschool, & well-fed. Hey! That must count for something!!



The Lord has given me many blessings! It is downright sinful to be so ungrateful as to complain that what I've been given is not enough. It is only pride and idolatry that breeds that sin. Adam and Eve had everything in the Garden of Eden. They lacked nothing. Everything wrong in this world: in our marriages, in our families, in our churches, etc. was lacking. So it's safe to say... sin isn't because of what we have. Sin isn't because of what we don't have. Sin is simply an issue of our heart. Oh how desperately deceitful our hearts are!! (Jeremiah 17:9) Do not buy satan's lies that we need more stuff, bigger salaries, & better things. Less of our man, less of our children, less of our church, etc.


Sweet Friend, let's take our thoughts captive to the Lord. Remembering that above all, He is the King, and we are only on this earth to worship & honor him. We are only on this earth to tell others about Him! Who am I to say that what I don't have is good enough? Truly, how good the Lord is to me. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." Praise Him!

When I wrestle with such sinfulness in my heart, then it's my prayer that as sisters in the Lord we can lift each other up in prayer and ask the Lord to make our hearts grateful and our minds satisfied. He alone... Jesus alone... is enough!

Do You Trust Him?

Have you ever thought of this verse before? Have you ever studied it? It is an amazing verse!

Here Paul is so excited to share just how willing God is to do things for us, that he cannot even add enough words to tell us. So, he just starts piling words on top of words to help us get the point. He isn't just exceeding our expectations. He isn't just pouring out abundance on us. He isn't just wanting to go above & beyond for us. He's wanting to do all of that.... on steroids! 

Think of the word hyper. Hyper|active means to be hyper to the highest degree. Hyper|extend is to flex something past the point of normal flexion. Hyper|thermia is the body reaching temperatures much higher than just normal thermia levels. So... it means above & beyond.

These words used by Paul are attached with hyper in the original text. So it's "God is able to do way more exceedingly, way more abundantly, way past above all that you can ask or think!" Do you believe it? Do you believe that God can do this for you? We only need to trust in His provisions, His will, and His desire for our lives. Sometimes, we must go through hardships and cannot be rescued because He longs to refine us. We still choose to trust Him and that He knows best for us. We either trust Him or we don't.

I have to share a testimony of this verse with you!

I had a yard sale this weekend. I worked SO hard on this yard sale. I priced every item (close to 200 items of clothing alone!) Every spare moment I had last week was spent on this sale. I had high hopes for my sale. I didn't want to make less than $100. My husband thought I was quite hilarious expecting to make no less than that. However, I was determined... because it's fall/winter clothing time and our kids all need new shoes & new-to-them clothes for the new season! I held the sale from 8-2. By 12, I had only made $25. TWENTY-FIVE!!! I wasn't happy, at all.

I went inside for a few minutes to take care of some things. So I began talking to the Lord. "Lord, you know how much money we need. You know how hard I worked. You know my expectations for what I hoped to get. Please send people our way." The Lord reminded me of this verse, Ephesians 3:20, that I've been studying for the last few weeks with my bible study. So I prayed, "Okay Lord. You can do exceedingly, abundantly, and above all that I ask or think. I know you can send people. So I trust in You." Clear as as if the Lord was standing right beside me, He spoke to my soul and said, "If you trust me then why are you so worried?" Ouch! Okay, okay Lord. Point taken. I thought to myself, even if I don't get $100, then maybe the Lord will stretch the money that I do make to be able to get new shoes for all our kiddos. (Winter shoes are much more expensive than summer shoes!)

By the end of the day (I still ended at 2.) I went to my kitchen table and began counting out my money. Guess how much I made? $130!! How good the Lord is. God is able!! He exceeded what I hoped to make, abundantly more than I asked for, and above what I even thought I'd make. Praise the Lord! He is SO faithful to us!

He can do exceedingly, abundantly, and above all that you ask or think too!! Do you trust Him? And if you trust Him, then why are you so worried? God is able!

Growth in Marriage

I was 17 when I met my husband, Andy. It was at a time in my life that I wrestled with who I was. I didn't feel beautiful. I didn't feel worthy of love. I didn't feel like anyone even liked me. Then, this man came into my life and treasured me.. truly treasured me. He showed me the absolute love of Jesus and there were many times I was very undeserving it too. As soon as we met, then we truly knew that the Lord had brought us together for marriage.

The Lord spoke to me as a young girl and told me that I would be married young. He shared with me that my husband would have brown hair and blue eyes and that he would be in ministry. I knew early in my life that I would be a "Pastor's Wife" and I looked forward to those duties. So I never dated any boys who didn't have brown hair and blue eyes and they had to truly love Jesus. I only dated one boy who didn't have the call of ministry (in some capacity) on his heart. It's funny as I think about that now. I reflect on those things now and am glad I had those priorities in my life. I wasn't the type of girl who desired to date around anyways, but I think being picky in this way definitely kept me from straying to the wrong type of boy throughout my school years.

So I met Andy who had brown hair, blue eyes, and was finishing his degree in biblical studies in order to fulfill a call of ministry in his life. I knew the Lord brought us together to be eachother's help mates. So, we married 10 short months after we met.

I have told people often that Andy rescued me. No doubt it was God's way of lifting me up out of the miry clay I was drowning in. My family life felt devastating. Life with my mother felt unwelcome. We fought often when I was home from college. She told me how I should & should not feel about everything. If I disagreed with her then I was told how wrong, ridiculous, or silly I was being. Or the biggest crusher? How un-christian I was. I was told often how I should be on anti-depressants so I would be more pleasant to be around. The truth is, I was fighting for me. For who I was and wanted to be. My Father had disowned me at this time. Threatening to take me out of his will as one of his children. I felt very abandoned by him. However, the Lord had brought Andy to me during these tumultuous days.... It was obvious, in my mind, God sent Him to rescue me.

Our first months together (I must add we didn't really know eachother, ha!) were wonderful. Filled with figuring eachother out & learning who each of us was together. However, the next few months were harder. I wanted Andy to identify who I was and love me too. I wanted Andy to fulfill the brokenness I felt within my soul. I expected him to never make me angry or hurt me as I had felt so damaged by anger & hurtfulness in the years prior to meeting him. Andy was patient with me and full of grace for my shortcomings, but after a point he began to resent my difficult personality.

God was so gracious to orchestrate many things in my life that ultimately led to redemption for me and our marriage. He put a friend in my path who bravely and lovingly pointed out to me what a terrible wife I was being. Yes, that sounds harsh, and yes it wasn't easy to hear! Was it the truth? Sadly, it absolutely was! God began convicting me of my ungrateful & unthankful heart. I was a complainer. I had difficulty finding good in anything. I sought out the negative and never looked for blessings. So, I began practicing only thankfulness. If I felt negative towards something, then I began to hold it in and just tell God about it and never voiced it to Andy (or others).

Several years passed. Through many convictions & prayers our marriage was better. I was still having many dark days though and I sought out Christian counsel for myself. My counselor helped me to further investigate who I am in Christ! My husband couldn't identify me or fulfill me. Only the cross of Jesus Christ was equipped to handle those uncertainties in my life. So I began running to Jesus and asking Him to reveal to me who I was. So He did! As I ran to Jesus to discover who I was in Him, then Andy and I began growing closer. Our marriage began to strengthen and we began to do marriage, parenthood, and life together instead of Andy having to usher me & hold me up through our married life.

Our marriage of 12 years is truly one of redemption and I am so thankful that Andy didn't give up on me. I am grateful that I didn't give up on me. I am overwhelmed that God didn't give up on me. Ladies, let me encourage you that no man can heal your brokenness or repair the damage you have felt in your life. Only Christ can do this for you! I have been one blessed lady to have a man like Andy who didn't leave me destitute in my brokenness. He saw me through it all and waited on the Lord to work in my life. However, I am sure that he would tell you it wasn't easy and I have no doubt that he felt like giving up on me often. Praise God he didn't!! I can assure you the redemption of our marriage has been sweet. We are truly so blessed to have eachother. Although, we walked through many difficult years we still have some hard days every now & then. However, we stay committed & loyal to eachother. We love doing life together and are truly more in love today than we were in the beginning when we were so young & in love.

12 years of marriage together

Seek the Lord, sweet Sisters, to repair the heartaches in your life. He loves you and desires for you to have full & complete freedom! While I'm not opposed to medications when they are needed.. I also know the power of counseling and how working through the sins in your life (both sins you've committed and sins done to you) can redeem you from depression. Isaiah 49:16 "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;    your walls are ever before me." The Lord holds you in His hands and He longs to redeem you, heal you... FREE you! 

Micah 7:18 "Who is a God like you,    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression    of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever  but delight to show mercy."

Run to the Father, sweet sister! Find your joy & completeness in Him and Him alone!! "He would have to be less God to love us less... It's impossible. He is the initiator of our love! The source is Him. If we love Him it's because He loved us first" (Beth Moore) 1 John 5:14-15 " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."