Okay, so I have been working unsuccessfully for the past 3 hours on trying to associate my blog with the website I bought six months ago, and now I finally have mooremom.com redirected to my blog. See, the original name of my blog was "mooremom," but I changed it to "smalltalkisoptional." Why, you ask?
Well, I've been having a dilemma the last few weeks that has been driving me crazy.
I found out that yet ANOTHER of my friends is in the process of filing for a divorce. Now, believe me, I can understand why a woman would get fed up with her husband. Every human who must interact with another human will run into some serious disagreements; they will even run into willful sinfulness. So, I get it. We each have our personal struggle. BUT THIS SHOULD NOT BE ENDEMIC IN THE CHURCH!
That being said, the surest way to make people clam up is to point the finger of shame. Let me assure you, I am not in any way judging those who make this decision. Rather, I would like to point out that there is a better solution if you are willing to listen to it. Speaking of willful sin, sometimes I know we don't want to listen to it.
What does this have to do with my name change?
I am sick of surface conversations. In my own class, people show up week after week to Bible study, and years down the road they stop coming, only to announce their impending divorce. I want to do what the Bible says in James 5:10 "Confess your sins one to another and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
Are you going to go into the Bible study class dressed up in your fancy clothes, with your righteousness worn on your sleeve, and start pouring out your sins? No, nor should you. But shouldn't there be some place where it's safe to admit that you're struggling? Some place where, instead of listening to each other criticize and complain about our husbands, we can learn to forgive our husbands for not being God?
I am done with the status quo, so I have two choices. One is the choice my best friend and her husband made: leave the unhealthy place and go find some place new. This is a viable option. However, I am not yet ready to do that. In leaving, I would also be abandoning very real people that I love to very painful problems that have a simple, though not easy, solution. God commands me to feed His sheep, and for the time being, I will feed the flock in the field where I live.
For twenty years, I have lamented the absence of discipleship and personal accountability. I think people will be surprised, considering my rant, to find out that I am notorious for letting people off the hook. If you come to me and confess your sins, I will have compassion because God has had and still has much compassion for me. We will pray together and consider together how to escape from the sins that enslave you. I hope you'll do the same for me.
God loves to forgive people. That's why He died on a cross for that very purpose. We need to give grace, and we need to receive it.
Come one, come all, women of God, and you will find the love of Christ. Ephesians 5
Well, I've been having a dilemma the last few weeks that has been driving me crazy.
I found out that yet ANOTHER of my friends is in the process of filing for a divorce. Now, believe me, I can understand why a woman would get fed up with her husband. Every human who must interact with another human will run into some serious disagreements; they will even run into willful sinfulness. So, I get it. We each have our personal struggle. BUT THIS SHOULD NOT BE ENDEMIC IN THE CHURCH!
That being said, the surest way to make people clam up is to point the finger of shame. Let me assure you, I am not in any way judging those who make this decision. Rather, I would like to point out that there is a better solution if you are willing to listen to it. Speaking of willful sin, sometimes I know we don't want to listen to it.
What does this have to do with my name change?
I am sick of surface conversations. In my own class, people show up week after week to Bible study, and years down the road they stop coming, only to announce their impending divorce. I want to do what the Bible says in James 5:10 "Confess your sins one to another and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
Are you going to go into the Bible study class dressed up in your fancy clothes, with your righteousness worn on your sleeve, and start pouring out your sins? No, nor should you. But shouldn't there be some place where it's safe to admit that you're struggling? Some place where, instead of listening to each other criticize and complain about our husbands, we can learn to forgive our husbands for not being God?
I am done with the status quo, so I have two choices. One is the choice my best friend and her husband made: leave the unhealthy place and go find some place new. This is a viable option. However, I am not yet ready to do that. In leaving, I would also be abandoning very real people that I love to very painful problems that have a simple, though not easy, solution. God commands me to feed His sheep, and for the time being, I will feed the flock in the field where I live.
For twenty years, I have lamented the absence of discipleship and personal accountability. I think people will be surprised, considering my rant, to find out that I am notorious for letting people off the hook. If you come to me and confess your sins, I will have compassion because God has had and still has much compassion for me. We will pray together and consider together how to escape from the sins that enslave you. I hope you'll do the same for me.
God loves to forgive people. That's why He died on a cross for that very purpose. We need to give grace, and we need to receive it.
Come one, come all, women of God, and you will find the love of Christ. Ephesians 5
