Sunday, September 29, 2013

Switchfoot Sunday #2


In October 2004, when Kris first found out about the affair a few months in, I was a mess.  It was the beginning of my life spiraling out of control.  I was such a wreck.  As always, I turned to music.  Honestly I probably would have died if I hadn't had music to fall on.  I wasn't in a place where I knew how to fall back on God after the mistakes I had made, and music was the only thing that gave me a sense of hope and comfort.


Monday, September 23, 2013

Switchfoot Sunday #1

For over a decade, I have been obsessed with Switchfoot.  They are a band of surfers from California; unable to make it as professional surfers, as lead singer Jon Foreman says in their film "Fading West," they decided to start a band. It was the best decision they could have made.  Their music has changed my life.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

It's Okay To Let Go

Your deepest heartache is never so great that God cannot handle it. He can be that soft place to land.
Today, I'm writing at Intentionally Yours again.  It's hard to let go.  Most of the time, we don't know what that even looks like.  I have a suspicion I am on the right track.

Monday, September 16, 2013

What Are You Looking At?

I was listening to a book a couple of weeks ago called Sisterland.  While I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, there is something I wanted to talk about that was in it.  It has to do with the choices that we make, and further illustrates how the steps we take into sin can shock us.  We sometimes find ourselves in the middle of a mess, before we even understand that we have made a mistake.  It isn't always this way.  Sometimes we sin because we have developed habits that gratify our sinful nature.  But there are times when it seems like we unwittingly jumped off a cliff and can't sense the danger until our feet have left the ledge.  Sometimes we make choices that leave us shaking our heads thinking, "This should have been harder.  I should have seen warning signs."

Thursday, September 12, 2013

You Are Not Alone

This is a topic that I will eventually expound on, as a lie that women believe.  For now, I wrote about being alone over at Intentionally Yours.  You can find that article here:


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Use My Pain

Loving When It Hurts has reached its first milestone - this blog was created one year ago today, in fearful obedience to God's calling on my life to share my pain.

To set aside my pride.

To risk being gossiped about.

To be vulnerable.

And to tell the truth.

There had been too much darkness.

Too many lies.

For far too long.

It was time to share the ugly truth about my life.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mom Guilt: I'm A Failure

Most of you know what in talking about when I use these two words: mom guilt.  Moms have a tenancy to feel guilty about everything.  This is something that, despite all that I have learned, I still struggle with.  When faced with this guilt, a common lie that we believe is this:

I'm a failure.

When the kids were younger and I was a stay at home mom, life was extremely difficult.  I had three children under the age of three, for what seemed like ten years!  I was tired all the time, battling depression, and I yelled.  A lot.  Truthfully, I still yell.  It is a daily battle for me.  At that point in my life, especially after adding a fourth toddler in the mix, there was always a lot of guilt cluttering my mind.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Make Up Sex = Emotional Sex

Most adults know what I'm talking about when I say "make up sex."  If you have ever fought with your significant other and then later made peace, you understand the feelings of desire that rise up after a big fight.  Once the conflict has been resolved, it is not uncommon for a couple to experience intense longing for each other that ultimately leads to the ever-popular make up sex, which (for us) has always been the most enjoyable sex of our marriage.

I'm not going to be bashful about this: I enjoy sex.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Scandal of Grace

Grace, what have You done?
Murdered for me on that Cross

Grace. 

What have you done?

Murdered.

For Me.

On that Cross.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

When You Want To Give Up

I still can't get over the way that God works in allowing me to partner with Intentionally Yours.  Today I'm writing over there and I hope you'll check it out, as I share about what you should do when you want to give up. 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Lies Women Believe

I tried to contain this topic to just one post, and I find that it continues to spill over into my life each day.  Maybe it's a comment someone makes, or in an email I received, or a comment on a post.  Women everywhere believe so many lies.  And what they don't realize is just how toxic these lies are.  Many times, they don't even realize that they are lies.

As my husband and I talked about these lies, we came up with an idea for a series about the lies that women believe.  Posts focused on individual lies that I myself have wrestled with over the years and have learned how to refute.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Love is Hard

Can anyone else relate to that?  I know that I can.

Jason Gray has a song called "Fear Is Easy, Love Is Hard."  To say that I love this song would be an understatement.  I can really relate to this song.  Especially when he speaks to this feeling of fear.

Fear?

I used to live with so much fear.