Gracetruthandlove.org has finally arrived! We give God the glory, because after each step was such a struggle, suddenly it all just came together. Admittedly, there was a hitch with the subscription widget that we're still trying to iron out, and there is no content yet on the video channels, but the framework is now in place to receive the content. Since I (Jenni) was not making any headway with the subscription form that was on the home page, I used a Contact Us button that takes you to an email form with a box you can check to subscribe. This is a temporary measure, but please go ahead and utilize it, because there will be a constant stream of content while I'm in Israel, and this was the reason for the urgency in getting the website up despite the makeshift subscription button. You can leave the subject field blank in the form, and you don't have to send a meaningful message, but we'd be very grateful to know your first and last name, and we would absolutely love to

The website I had so hoped would be up and running by now is still sitting there, dormant. Whether you want to view these as excuses or reasons, I thought I should update you on the status, since I was promoting it so optimistically. Why is gracetruthandlove.org not live yet? Because I have had 1,001 technical difficulties creating the site and trying to upload the first post - a video about prayer, which will also be featured on our Rumble channel, Throne of Grace. The website and channel both exist, but there's no content yet... Because I haven't had time to edit the introductory video... Because of several other urgent deadlines I'm dealing with, including:     Raising funds by April 1st to participate in excavations at biblical Shiloh this summer, and more for airfare and other expenses, as well,     Excavating  my living room after being blessed with a mountain of stuff to sell to raise those funds,      Research for a paper for the fascinating class I'm taking on

 Happy New Year! I am so excited to share with you what we're planning for this year! We've been working on a website, and it's almost ready to launch! We want to encourage you with thoughtful resources that will help you to grow in the grace, truth, and love of God, as well as practical life hacks that will help you to accomplish your goals. We'll be hearing from people from various walks of life, both historical figures whose wisdom has been preserved for us, and living, breathing human beings who are experts in their field or are overcoming challenges and want to bless you with their insight. We will also periodically host live events, so you can get in on the action! When you subscribe, you will receive The Nutshell, our digest of the latest content across all categories, or Channels of Blessing. Once the site is up and running, you can subscribe to the topics that interest you most, so you won't have to scroll through to find what you really care about. Subscri

Esther and Ahasuerus - embroidered picture, British, mid-17th century. Wikimedia Commons. Did you notice that I've been quiet? It's okay if you didn't. The message was building, but the time wasn't right to deliver it. It's taken this long for Brett and me to gain this perspective and then vocalize it to one another. Just a little longer to communicate it to you. What will you do with it? Back in 2020, when Brett and I were having ongoing conflict in our marriage, he encouraged me to blog about our struggles. He had the faith to believe that we would come out on the other side of it stronger because of our deep, mutual relationship with Jesus, and he hoped that our testimony would be able to help others who are struggling. I stopped blogging because after things were resolved between us, I went back to my former busy-ness, and if I had anything to say, it didn't feel urgent enough to make myself sit down and say it. I have no idea if anyone else has been helped

clker.com How do you handle conflict when you know that you're right, and the other person is mistaken, or worse, lying about a situation? How do you respond when you're falsely accused? There is definitely a sense of pride that wants to manifest when I've been challenged and I know that I'm right. That "I'll show you!" or "I told you so!" attitude rears its ugly head. And sometimes, even if I respond diplomatically by carefully choosing my words and my tone, I may just be masking my motive. But the truth may not be received, even if I'm sweet, and even if my motive for imparting it is pure, so I should temper my desire to speak truth by keeping this in mind: The one who is on the receiving end is now accountable to respond favorably. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and inten

 A blessed New Year to you! I (Jenni) sporadically use a devotional called Connect the Testaments , by John D. Barry and Rebekah Van Noord. It takes you through the Bible in a year, but it combines Old and New Testament readings with a unique topical approach, rather than just going through the Bible sequentially, and the authors weigh in with insightful commentary and a few thought-provoking "so what?" questions. I journal my responses when I'm not feeling overwhelmed with other responsibilities, so I just progress through the devotional at my own pace, and I might finish it by the time I'm 80 or so. If you're looking for a good devotional for the New Year, I will just say that, while I haven't agreed with every interpretation and application these authors offer, I have genuinely appreciated the thoughtful questions that God has used to inspire some valuable introspection. This was not meant to be a commercial, but it's on Kindle for $5.99 if you want to

CCA-SA 3.0 Attribution: Ariannesmidt At one of my wits-end moments, I told Brett, "We need to get marriage counseling." His response was a text with a screenshot of search results for the search, "Why marriage counseling is a bad idea." I was stunned. How could marriage counseling be a bad idea? Is it ever a good idea? If so, when might that be? In our previous post, in which we discussed principles of marriage and divorce , we hit on three main responsibilities a husband has toward his wife. We called these the 3 P’s: provision, protection, and (ideally) pleasure (marital duties – you know, sex). A wife’s main responsibilities are to respect/submit to her husband and marital duties. Both should remain faithful. If you don’t understand why the primary responsibilities of each spouse are a little different, please go back and read that post . As we said before, f ailure to provide these needs results in offenses that MIGHT be grounds for divorce: ab