spouse, Frances Hoelsema

Sacred Marriage happens to be one of the titles of a book by Gary Thomas. For those who do not know who Gary Thomas is, he is a bestselling author and international speaker whose ministry focuses on bringing people closer to Christ and closer to one another. In this book, Sacred Marriage, the general idea is to get closer to your spouse by becoming more like Christ.

I have to admit that I would not have read something like this on my own. I am not a huge fan of self-help or non-fiction in general. Yes, this coming from someone who is working on her first non-fiction piece, lol. It’s not like I don’t get much out of them or don’t like them, it’s just that I’d rather be reading a fictional piece that transports me to someone else’s world.

Anyway, back to why I said all of that. Though I wouldn’t have chosen to read something like this on my own, I did end up reading it because of a men’s group my husband is a part of. One of the homework assignments was for him to read Sacred Marriage, as well as for me, too. Then a little while ago we had a meeting where all of us, husbands and wives, discussed it.

The first thing I want to say is Continue reading “Sacred Marriage” →

I can’t tell you how many times I misspell the word “exercise” – even when typing in this title, I tend to put a “C” after the “X”. It’s horrible!

Anyway, this is not what the article is about so let’s just move on.

My husband, Jeremy, is part of this men’s group at our church where they get together at least once a month, discuss a book they were required to read, share their memory work, and encourage one another to grow spiritually. This past month Jeremy had to read “See Yourself As God Sees You” by Josh McDowell. He really enjoyed it, and highly recommends it by the way. I know I’ll be reading that in the near future.

Part of the “homework” that went along with this book was he had to make a list of 10 ways he sees himself and 10 ways he feels God sees him. Then came my part. I had to review the lists and see where I agree or disagree, as well as help him figure out ways in which he can always see himself as God sees him. I thought that was a pretty cool exercise! I even went on to make my own list of 10 ways I see Jeremy.

This got me curious. What would my list look like? How did I think Jeremy viewed me? So I asked him if he would be willing to do the same for me as I just did for him. He was totally for it! So without further ado…here is my list of 10 ways I see myself and 10 ways I feel God sees me: Continue reading “A Marriage Exercise” →