The Mrs. & the Minister

Having worked in a variety of non-profit residential settings, I know quite a bit about "toxic relationships".  And since my husband is a minister, I've seen first-hand how work environments -- particularly our churches -- can turn into toxic workplaces.  The fac t is, there are so many places that have a toxic environment that can discourage and turn off ordinary workers from discharging their best -- not just churches and other non-profits.  According to a Gallup poll, seven in ten people work in toxic workplaces.  A bad workplace also leads to stress and reduced productivity.  Class tensions create divisions within organizations.   This book offers wisdom and help for negotiating those "toxic workplace" environments.  Each chapter contains some survival strategies for workers as well as leadership tips for bosses.  Both are needed in order to cultivate a positive corporate culture.  The most common factor for these toxic workplaces are wor...

Love Without Limits  is the true-life (and true-love) story of Nick and Kanae.  They met  after his many dating disappointments and a failed relationship -- he was in his mid-twenties.  After their first date, the chemistry between them grew and was undeniable, while they went through many twists and turns before becoming one in Christ marriage in 2012.  The book recounts their story:  The improbable grace that brought them together, and their shared fight against the lack of faith that would keep them apart.  It's a book filled with practical insights that will benefit any couple, and it describes a godly courtship and the early years of the Vujicics' marriage and parenting journey.  The 15 chapters have so much spiritual wisdom for couples, that I hardly know where to begin.  It's a great book that every couple -- whether preparing for marriage or married for years -- need to read.  I received this book free, from the  Bloggi...

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life  is a book to which I wish I'd been introduced years ago.  In it, Joanna Weaver offers challenging and helpful advice for drawing me -- and women like me -- back to the core of those things that really matter in life.  My husband has been a pastor for 17 years.  I work with developmentally challenged adults in a residential setting.  And when we married (just a year ago), I never realized all the ways in which our busy lives would impact our relationship and, more importantly, our spiritual lives.   We all have different lives with different choices, pressures, situations, challenges and opportunities.  But most of us -- or, maybe just me! -- feel overwhelmed by those choices and pressures, the situations and challenges.   This is the book I needed to expose how so much of all that is my own doing.  Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World is based on an exc...

I was excited to receive a free copy of The Study Bible for Women  from the publisher, in exchange for my review.  I want to thank Jamie George of B&H Books for getting this to me.  I chose the Teal/Sage LeatherTouch cover.  It's a beautiful Bible.  The Study Bible for Women has several wonderful features that lead me to recommend it to every woman looking for a study Bible.  The presentation pages come with space for a family tree and life's events.  There's also room to record Spiritual Mothers (complete with a list to write mentor info and verses referencing spiritual gifts), and the Jewish Ketubah ("Marriage Contract"). The translation for the biblical text is the HCSB, one of the newest translations, but taken from the Greek and Hebrew texts used by scholars.  And the "How to Use Guide" has lots of wisdom about reading the Bible with understanding.  Throughout the Bible, there are sections for Word Study, Character Profiles, Bib...

Right now, talking to You seems like a chore. It's more of an oughta than a wanna. "Pray for me!," she asks. And I do. I pray to a God she doesn't believe in...on her behalf. It feels heavy, as if I have to have enough belief for the both of us. I suspect she thinks of prayer in the same way that people bury saints upside in their yards to sell houses, or kiss a blarney stone for luck, and blow out birthday candles to make a wish. A superstition. A good luck charm. A magic word. And what does she really want me to pray? That the elderly man will be healed of the cancer that riddles his body? Probably. However, he's lived a full life and he's likely tired of pitting the good cells against the bad ones. Maybe he wants to be done. Should I pray that she gets to say good-bye? Or perhaps that she can grieve openly and well,,, surrounded by loved ones. Or maybe, just maybe, this will be the first time she encounters You.  In her grief. In the prayer that didn't ...

We're the proud parents of three "kids" -- our three cats, Ricky, Henley and Pippa.  They prance, mosey, and prowl all through the house.  They create messes and play with one another.  They're in our hearts too.   These cats have graced our lives, and in so many ways have changed those lives for the better.  We're ruled by purrs and paws -- and the occasional hiss and claw.   In short, we're cat people.  And A Letter to Our Cat:  Notes to Our Best Friend  is a beautiful book for folks like us.  It's a collection of letters written by other cat "parents" (also known as "ape servants" to cats), many of whom are famous (like Dr. Oz or Joe Perry). I loved reading this book!  I laughed, I cried, I loved -- but more than anything, I found my life with our own three revitalized in these words.  And that's not even to mention the beautiful pictures.  This is an ideal book for any cat-lover.   I already plan to get a copy for...

It's often a conversation killer.  I'm at some social gathering of acquaintances or thrust into a social situation of some sort in which I know few people, if any.  A new workplace, especially.  We are making small talk.  It's the usual:  Do you have children?  Where are you from?  Are you married?  What does you spouse do? When I utter the words, "My husband is a pastor," there is a moment of silence, then a quick "oh really?" as a comment.  Often I see the person scanning back through everything he or she said.  I know what they are doing.  They are trying to decide if they said something offensive, told an off-color joke, or uttered some sort of profanity.  It happens about eight times out of ten, that someone begins to apologize to me for something that he/she said before it was known that my husband is a pastor.  As if it should really make a difference.  When the apologies start, my standard line is usually, "Yo...