The Change-Up & Religion v. Divorce

I’ve been reading a lot about blogging and thinking a lot about blogging, and believe it or not, praying about my web-presence and what I intend to do with it.

First things first, I’ve decided to make some changes. These changes, while minor, are for a purpose.

In case you’ve never paid attention to my “Blog Topics by Day” schedule, here’s the rundown. (It’s over here, too.) ————————————>

Muse Monday- posts about the daily walk as a disciple and follower of Christ.
Writer Wednesday- posts about writing and the publishing process.
Forrest Gump Friday- you never know what you’re gonna get.

Well, I’ve made a little adjustment. I will no longer be using Writer Wednesday to blog about the writing/publishing process.

Why? you might ask. Mostly because I realized that by doing so, I’m alienating the audience that I want to cultivate–those who will read my novels when they come out. Sure, some of you who are also interested in the writing process might be kind enough to buy my book someday, but for the most part the readers are just that–readers, and you don’t care a lick about the writing process.

And I don’t blame you. I’ve come to terms with my seat-of-the-pants writer self, and I’ve realized that the process itself, while vital to the construction of a great story, doesn’t interest me enough to blog about it on a regular basis. There are plenty of other fantastic writers who do that much better than I ever could.

So, from now on I’ll be using Wednesdays to blog specifically about the topics that influence my stories, ie, romance, comparative religions, romance, history, current events, romance, social movements, oh, and romance. (And I’m not putting myself in a box here because tons and tons of different things inspire me as a writer.)

I hope that you, as the reader, will jump in and discuss the topics I present, share your opinions (Hey Lurkers! I really DO want your opinions!) and cultivate a friendship with me so that one day when my books are released, you’ll know what I’m passionate about and where my stories come from.

Is Religion Linked to Divorce? South Has Highest Rates Says Census.

As a Southern Belle myself, this headline caught my attention right away. But as I read the article, I’m not certain that the author made the point she intended.

 (By the way, I hate the word “religious”, but I’m sticking with it for this post because of the article above.)

The article does state that the South has the highest rate of divorce, but it also has the highest rate of marriage. The Northern states might have lower rates of divorce, but they also have lower marriage rates.  So, the question, I think, is not Is Religion Linked to Divorce, but Is Lack of Religion Linked to Lack of Marriage?

I can’t think of a single person who hasn’t somehow been touched by divorce. My father’s parents were divorced. My husband’s parents are divorced. Some friends of mine are currently going through a divorce. Several members of my family have been divorced.

Divorce is common in today’s society, and I often think it has nothing to do with religion at all.

Many of us have married with the idea that divorce is not an option. But I believe that in the back of our minds, even “we” (the “religious”) know that there are circumstances that would cause us to break up our marriage–like infidelity or abuse.

And what about the line in the article that states that one of the causes of the high divorce rate in the South is because of “low pre-marriage cohabitation rates”? Wow. What do you think of that?

Share with me: Why do you think divorce is so prevalent in today’s society, even among the “religious”? Southerners–why do you think the South has higher rates of divorce? Northerners–what’s your view on this? Can’t wait to see the responses on this topic!!

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Filed under Marriage

The Ultimate Con-Man

If you haven’t seen the movie Courageous yet, please please please run to your nearest theater and see this movie immediately. If you have a father, are a father, are married to a father or someday hope to be, you MUST see this movie. It made me laugh hysterically, cry hysterically, and feel ever-so grateful for the men in my life who are fathers.

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The devil is a liar.

Sometimes I know that God speaks to me through repetition. I hear the same message over and over in a short period of time from various sources, and I know He’s trying to get my attention. And over the past two weeks, God has been reminding me very clearly that

the devil is a liar.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

The devil wants us to fail. 

He wants us to believe that we are

ugly
unworthy
fat
stupid
unlovable
hated
incapable
undesirable
inept

and that life in general is impossible.

Discouragement is from him.
Hatred is from him.
Jealousy is from him.
Covetousness is from him.
Anything and everything that makes us feel less than a perfect creation of God, created to worship and adore our Savior, is from him.

Everything that separates us from the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is from him. 

He justifies our sin and makes us believe that what we are doing is okay, allowable even.

His lies weaken us. His lies stop us from following God’s path, and remove us from His will. 

When we buy into the devil’s lies, we are giving him the power. We are turning our back on the one who created us, and glorifying man, not God. 

But the name of Jesus spoken in one breath, drives the devil away, cowering in fear.

Share with me: What lies is the devil telling you today? How quickly can you drive them away?

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Filed under The Christian Walk

10 Things I’ll Never Live Down- Number Three

It’s football season. And in my family, that means it’s a matter of time before someone brings up a reference to another thing I’ll never live down.

I married into a family of football fans.

I’d never been much of a football fan myself, mostly because I didn’t understand the rules.

I had no idea what a down was, what “3rd and 10” meant, or why on earth sometimes a team scored 6 points and other times it was 2 or 3.

And I really, really didn’t understand why an idiot player would take the ball and run straight into the onslaught of giants in front of him.

None of it made sense to me.

But then I married into a family of super-fans, and my hubby started with Football 101, allowing me to ask questions until I finally gleaned enough of an understanding of the game that I could really become a fan.

My father-in-law holds season tickets to his favorite college team, so when he invited me to tag along with him and my husband to a game, I was really excited.  I wanted to see this game up close; to really enjoy the atmosphere of it.

I’d been to one or two college games before, but at the time, I was more of  a fan of the band and cheerleaders than I was the actual players.

So this would be the first game when I could really appreciate the game and be part of the atmosphere.

We settled into out seats. I cheered with the rest of the crowd when the boys took the field. I sang the fight song and yelled like crazy at kickoff. I watched with intensity, and asked my husband and father-in-law questions for clarification as the game went on.  They were kind enough to oblige my ignorance so that I could better understand the game.

But then came THE question.

The next play was coming up and I didn’t really know how they judged the distance to the next down. So, I leaned over to my husband and asked–

“Where’s the yellow line?”

“Huh?” Hubby responded.

“The yellow line on the field–where is it?”

Taking in my serious face, my hubby held in his chuckles long enough to elbow his dad and have me repeat the question. Then they both burst into uncontrollable laughter and shared my question with the fans around us.

I had no idea why they were laughing.

“Jenny, the yellow line is computer-generated on the screen for the viewers at home.”

My face flamed and my father-in-law (who has always loved to crack jokes about me being blonde) laughed until I thought he was going to faint.

And I gave him plenty of ammunition. Serious, serious blonde moment.

And to this day, I haven’t lived it down. Every football season a male in my husband’s family makes a crack about the yellow line on the field.

I’ve been to plenty of games since and have been able to impress my hubby, his brothers, and my father-in-law with my growing knowledge of the game.  I’ll never forget the time I called a player offsides from the stands, shocking the males in the family so much that their eyes bugged out.

So, yeah, I’ve learned a lot about the game. I can now be considered a true fan.

But as for the yellow line, I’ll never live it down.

ROLL TIDE!!

Share with me: Are you a football fan or married to one? What team do you support? Have you ever had a “blonde moment”? How did you handle it?

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Filed under Just For Fun