Singleness & Marriage

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Personal Testimony Regarding Adultery …

    We have been blessed to hear a personal testimony from someone regarding our previous posts/discussions on adultery. Since I know that not everyone reads all of the comments on every post, I thought I’d move her testimony up to a new blog (and to our discussion board) to make it more accessible for everyone. Let me give you a recap of the discussion so far and then I’ll include her testimony … 1. Original Question: “If two Christians are friends and commit adultery with each other and then repent of their sin of adultery can they still remain friends? Can they be restored to a chaste, pure relationship and reconciled…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Adultery? And then …

    I received this question via email and I am wondering how YOU would respond: “If two Christians are friends and commit adultery with each other and then repent of their  sin of adultery can they still remain friends?  Can they be restored to a chaste, pure relationship and reconciled with each other as brother and sister in Christ?” What do you think?  

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Submission and Headship at 100 Feet Below the Ocean

    On two of our ten SCUBA dives last week, Fred’s depth gauge broke. (Bummer!) It wasn’t dangerous or anything, but it meant that our normal dive buddy pattern had to adjust even after we had descended. (Usually, Fred checks his depth gauge and air level CONSTANTLY during our dives and I’m more of a “check it occasionally” person. It’s funny because I often think, “MAN, Fred checks his gauges a lot” and Fred says that he often thinks, “MAN, Tara should check her gauges more often.” Isn’t marriage a hoot?) ANYWAY … normally when we dive, I like to let Fred take the “lead” so that I’m responsible for adjusting…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Grace in Marriage–Thank You, God!

    The other day I was out in the living room reading and I asked Fred if he would please bring me some water when he came. He said sure. And that was pretty much that. But then I got to thinking about the many “miserably married Christians” that my pastor and I have mediated over the years … and I was struck yet again by how hard a simple exchange like that could have been. – I could have been a nagging, critical wife for twenty years so that when I asked Fred for some water, it was just another DRIP on the metal roof of his misery in marriage…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    What would I do if my husband were unrepentant?

    I was looking for an old email this morning and I came across this letter that I had written in response to a dear, precious, godly, wise woman who was struggling in an unhappy Christian marriage. Since I’ve already posted some blogs on ‘Miserable Christian Marriages’, I thought it might be helpful to share this letter with you. Hope so! (Please note that OF COURSE, all identifying information has been changed to protect her confidentiality. I’ve also deleted some of the letter because it was not directly relevant to this topic and I’ve also taken the editorial liberty of adding some clarifying details.) — Dear Patricia, Thank you for sharing…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    What if we had met in high school …

    Fred and I had a blast yesterday chatting throughout the day about what it might have been like if we had met in high school … (My pastor and his wife were high school sweethearts! It’s hysterical–and wonderful–to see their photos from proms and homecoming dances, West Point, seminary, etc. Oh, to have grown up with the love of your life!) These are the things Fred and I wondered about … – Would we have competed too much with each other for first chair trumpet? – What would it have been like for me to accompany him in all of the musicals? – At least he would have been in…

  • Singleness & Marriage

    Miserable Christian Marriages

    Lately, my pastor and I have been mediating a number of conflicted marriages. It is heartbreaking too work with these couples. They love the Lord, love their children … and cannot stand one another. Instead of demonstrating to the world the relationship of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5), their marital relationship is filled with bitterness, rage, and mutual disgust. There is so much to say on this topic (I’ve even been thinking about writing a book on Miserable Christian Marriages) — but I only have a few minutes before I have to start getting our family ready for church, so I’ll bottomline the thoughts that were bouncing around in…