Stuck by Jennie Allen

*sigh*

The river. It's nice to get away. I've been at the river all weekend with The Husband. Don't tell him, but I actually love going up there. It gives me a chance to get away from everything, unwind, and let all the stress I've gathered slip away.

Lately I've had a lot of stress. I have a job I don't like, and is going nowhere. I worry about our finances, and I feel just plain old stuck.

Have you ever felt stuck before? You're in a place you don't really like; you don't know what you are suppose to be doing or what you are suppose to be working towards. You feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated in so many areas of your life.

You're stuck. Your stuck in a life that seems to be going nowhere.

You cry out to God for help, for guideance, for something.. but He just sits there. He's just there waiting. "What are you waiting on, God?" you ask.

He's waiting on you... on me.... to surrender.

He's waiting on us to surrender to Him, His ways, His will.

He is waiting on us to surrender and die. Die to our wants, our desires, our dreams, our ideas of what our life should be like.

And when we do that - when we die- we are free. Free to give our entire lives to God. Free to live for Him and not for ourselves.

I was stuck, but now I am free. And I am alive! More than I have been in a while. And it's exciting. I still don't have all the answers, but I am okay with that. I know I am in God's will and I trust him.

I still have the same job, our finances are the same, but I know that's not the end of my story. God has great things in store for me.

All this I learned from the Bible study Stuck by Jennie Allen. This study helped me recognize what I was stuck in: brokenness, anger, discontentment, fear, sadness, overwhelmed. Then it helped me let go of all of this and let God have control. This study was exactly what I needed right now, and I'm sure I'll be going back to it from time to time.

The study consists of a study guide, a dvd, and conversation cards to be used in a group study. This study is an 8-week study with different activities for each day of the week. It was the perfect length. Jennie Allen gets straight to the point in this study which is what many of us needs. We need to be told "This is your problem, and this is how you can solve it." There's no dancing around the issue.

It's simple. We all get stuck from time to time, and this study helps you understand why you are stuck and how to get unstuck. I would definitely recommend this study.

I was provided a leader's study guide by Booksneeze to review this study, but the opinions are completely my own.

31 Days of Virtue: Day 20

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Titus 2:3

According to Dictionary.com, reverent means deeply respectful. Respect is esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person. Sometimes it is hard to be respectful. We've already talked a little bit about respecting our husbands here. But maybe we need a refresher. Respect is a very important part of a marriage. If you haven't read the book Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, I highly recommend it. 

As I was doing a little research for this post, I started reading a few posts on the Love and Respect Blog. In one of the posts, is a story of a woman and her husband who attended a Love & Respect video seminar. The woman and her husband neither thought they needed help in their marriage, but wanted to do a little maintenance. The first night they came away with a feeling like "That's great; but we already knew that." However the second night, they learned something new. 

"Dr. Eggerichs began to describe our spiritual relationship to the letter. Essentially, the wife looks to the husband for leadership, but she is fearful andapprehensive and so she asks questions and looks for reassurance. The husband interprets this as trying to take control and wear the pants of the relationship and so backs off or responds negatively to the wife and a cycle begins."

This woman realized that this is what she was doing, unintentionally of course. After she told this to her husband, he also confessed that he was doing exactly as Dr. Eggerichs said the husbands tend to do - back off. 

I began to wonder, "Am I doing the same thing?" Are you? Are we fearful of something that is causing us to ask questions and look for reassurance?

We need to confess these things to our husbands, and let them know what we are feeling. Don't hold it in. Our husbands might be backing off or responding negatively just as Dr. Eggerichs explained. 

Instead of asking questions, let's try to encourage our husbands. Here are a few ideas from Time-Warp Wife:

1. Listen to what he has to say so that you will recognize what's on his heart.
2. Make an effort to be as cheerful as you were when you were engaged to be married.
3. Ignore his faults and focus on his strong points by taking note of them.
4. Compliment him for the way that he looks and the good things that he does like working hard for the family.
5. See him for who he is, not who you want him to be.
6. Be slow to anger. Relay your frustration with love, respect, and a cool head.

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

31 Days of Virtue: Day 13

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

‘A woman who fears the LORD...’ What does that really mean? To fear the LORD means to have reverence for Him, to be in awe of Him, and to obey Him. We must fear the LORD before we can ever become a virtuous woman. We must realize that God alone is God. We are not. Our husbands are not. Our pastors are not. They will let us down; we will let ourselves down, but not God. He is faithful and true and righteous and pure. He will be there until the end; others may not. To fear the LORD we must love, honor, respect, and be submissive to Him. We must lay down our life to the LORD and let Him have control.

Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, and 15:33 all say that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

“The fear of the LORD is what wisdom teaches, and humility come before honor.” Proverbs 15:33

Do you desire to be a capable wife (Proverbs 31:10)? Do you desire to have strength and honor as your clothing (Proverbs 31:25)? Do you desire to have wisdom and loving instruction (Proverbs 31:26)? Do you desire for your children to call you blessed and for your husband to praise you (Proverbs 31:28)?

Fear the LORD. It’s where we should all begin.

This post was taken from my Project 31: Beauty posts.

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11
Day 12

Project 31: Fear the LORD

Today will be my last post for Project 31. Have any ideas about what you would like to read about for future posts? Tell me on my Facebook page!

...a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

‘A woman who fears the LORD...’ What does that really mean? To fear the LORD means to have reverence for Him, to be in awe of Him, and to obey Him. We must fear the LORD before we can ever become the woman of Proverbs 31. We must realize that God alone is God. We are not. Our husbands are not. Our pastors are not. They will let us down; we will let ourselves down, but not God. He is faithful and true and righteous and pure. He will be there until the end; others may not. To fear the LORD we must love, honor, respect, and be submissive to Him. We must lay down our life to the LORD and let Him have control.

Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, and 15:33 all say that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

“The fear of the LORD is what wisdom teaches, and humility come before honor.” Proverbs 15:33

Do you desire to be a capable wife (Proverbs 31:10)? Do you desire to have strength and honor as your clothing (Proverbs 31:25)? Do you desire to have wisdom and loving instruction (Proverbs 31:26)? Do you desire for your children to call you blessed and for your husband to praise you (Proverbs 31:28)?

Fear the LORD. It’s where we should all begin.

Fear of the LORD is the beginning of

becoming the woman of Proverbs 31.