Loneliness in Marriage

by Misty Phillip | Jan 31, 2019 | Featured

Hey friends, today I have a special treat for you! I want to introduce you to my friend, author Sarah Geringer. Sarah is this week’s guest on the By His Grace Podcast. We initially met online through our blogs and social media. Then we finally got a chance to meet up in person last year in July when we both attended the She Speaks Conference!! Sarah is absolutely precious, and I have really enjoyed getting to know her better. We are both passionate about encouraging women to know and love Jesus more.

What you may not know is that Sarah and I are both on the contributor team at A Wife Like Me! How cool is that?!?

Just in time for Valentine’s day, we are doing something really special for wives at A Wife Like Me. Join us for the 14-day challenge and you’ll receive a daily challenge in your inbox that will spark love in your heart and in your marriage. A Wife Like Me is searching for wives JUST LIKE YOU to join us in the mission to spread LOVE to create thriving marriages. Join us the 14 days of love challenge.

14 Days of LOVE Challenge

Starting on 2/1/19, you’ll receive 14 days of practical and simple love challenges that fit into your busy lifestyle yet spice up your routine. I along with several other AWLM Contributors will join our fearless leader Amanda Davison to go Live in the A Wife Like Me Gathering Facebook page to encourage you along the way!

I hope you are enjoying the By His Grace Podcast! People are listening in from all across the United States. This week on the podcast my guest Sarah openly shares about her lifelong struggle with loneliness, and how she found hope through faith and fellowship. Loneliness can strike at any time and for a variety of different reasons, from physical isolation, moving to a new location, divorce, loss of a loved one. However, some people can be surrounded by people, yet feel so very alone. Please welcome Sarah Geringer.

How to Deal With Loneliness in Marriage by Sarah Geringer

Do you deal with loneliness in marriage? I’ve dealt with it frequently in the past 18 years. But I’ve learned how to handle it with God’s help.I’m blessed to write monthly for A Wife Like Me, a beautiful and encouraging site for wives of all backgrounds. Visit the site and join the Facebook group for loads of inspiration and blessings.

Do you deal with loneliness in marriage? I’ve dealt with it frequently in the past 18 years. But I’ve learned how to handle it with God’s help. Share on X

Here’s a snippet from Sarah’s recent post at A Wife Like Me:

Loneliness has long been my unwanted companion. My parents divorced when I was 4, and that’s when loneliness started knocking on my door. It sat at my bedside during childhood, walked beside me in high school, and didn’t leave my side in college.

Loneliness carved a hole in my heart that only God could fill. Yet when I met my husband-to-be, I thought his love would be enough to fill up that hole.

Only two weeks after our wedding, loneliness took up residence in our little-rented room. Its presence shocked me! I thought getting married would banish loneliness forever, but in some ways, I felt its presence more keenly after marriage.

Loneliness can threaten to undermine your marriage. Through our many trials in the past 18 years, I’ve learned ways to set loneliness outside on the porch instead of letting it in.

Please head over to A Wife Like Me to read my three suggestions for overcoming feelings of loneliness in marriage.

If you are on social media I encourage you to follow me there. You can find me on all of the social media channels as Misty Phillip. There are links at the bottom of the page, and to get the latest from Misty Phillip. Also, I have started a By His Grace Podcast Facebook community, and would love to have you join me there!

No matter what you are going through, or what you struggle with today, I want you to know that YOU ARE LOVED and HIGHLY VALUED by your dear friend Jesus! He wants you to cast your cares on HIM because HE cares for you! Please let me know how I can pray for you!

Much Love,

Misty Phillip

Sarah Geringer: The Isolation of Loneliness

by Misty Phillip | Jan 29, 2019 | Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:12 — 9.5MB)

Sarah Geringer has had a life long struggle with loneliness that began childhood when her parents divorced. Loneliness happens for a variety of reasons from physical isolation, moving to a new location, divorce and the loss of a loved, just to name a few. Sarah shares how she has found fellowship in the body of Christ and how loneliness has actually become a gift of grace that caused her to have a deepened relationship, God.

Sarah Geringer writes about Finding Peace in God’s Word at sarahgeringer.com and is the author of three self-published books. She is represented by Michelle Lazurek of WordWise Media Services. Her book on Christian meditation will be published by Leafwood Publishers in October 2019. She lives in her beloved home state of Missouri with her husband and three children.

Follow Sarah on social media:

Misty Goes To Washington

by Misty Phillip | Jan 25, 2019 | Featured

What happened in New York is a tragedy. Elections have ramifications. Who you vote for matters! This week New York passed a law allowing late-term abortions up to nine months. There was thunderous applause when the law passed, and then the One World Trade center light up pink to celebrate. Unbeleivable.

At the end of last year, I was asked to speak at an abortion recovery retreat. I was excited to get to share the grace, forgiveness, and freedom available to all in Jesus Christ.

I posted something on my Facebook page about voting for pro-life candidates in the upcoming election. This is when I found out the person in charge of the retreat and I have differing political ideologies and experiences. She contacted me explaining her stance and offered to allow me to back out. After much prayer and consideration, I decided to let the election pass and tried to reach out to her in love and compassion to explain why I believe it’s important to vote for pro-life candidates.

Our God created life. Life is important to God, and it should be important to us as Christians. Share on X

Then a few weeks ago she uninvited me to speak because of my unwavering pro-life political stance.

I hadn’t planned on saying anything about it to anyone, even though I had already posted on social media that I would be a speaker at this event. But in light of the legislation that passed in New York this week. I can’t be quiet. Not because I was invited to speak and then uninvited to speak, but because what we stand for matters. As Christians, we have a duty and a responsibility to stand for what is noble, good, and true.

I am not ashamed of the gospel.

I will fight for Christian values and morals to be upheld whether it is popular or not.

Who we put into office matters. We can’t call ourselves Christian, and pro-life and then vote for pro-choice candidates.

Last week I attended the March for Life in Washington, DC with the http://Savethe1.com team. It was so encouraging to see hundreds of thousands of people peacefully marching for the unborn. Save the 1 is a non-profit organization that advocates for 100% percent pro-life laws, with no exceptions for rape or fetal abnormality. At Save the 1, we believe everyone deserves a chance at life.

My son Ian and I arrived in Washington, Dc on Thursday and went straight to the Law and Life Summit, and the March for Life Expo. Thursday evening we attended the Save the Storks Ball. http://savethestorks.com Save the Storks is revolutionizing the pro-life movement with its fleet of over 40 buses equipped with mobile medical units and ultrasound machines to help mothers make the choice to chose life. They partner with local pregnancy resources, and up to date have helped saved the lives of over 4,000 babies. 4 out of 5 women who board a Stork bus chose life for their baby.

We had an amazing evening complete with a fantastic line up of pro-life advocating guest speakers, including Vice-President and Second Lady Pence. A highlight of the evening was hearing the Vice-President quote scripture and proclaim the importance of life. Other special guests and entertainers included;

Kirk and Chelsea Cameron
Eric Metaxas
Allie Stuckey
Matt Hammitt
Steven Curtis Chapman
Bob Lenz

Friday morning we assembled on the National Mall to hear conservative radio host Ben Shapiro live podcast to advocate on behalf of the unborn at the March for Life rally. The March feature an incredible lineup of pro-life speakers.

Sidewalk Prophets
Senator Steve Daines (R-MT)
Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL)
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ)
State Representative Katrina Jackson (D-LA)
Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire
Abby Johnson, founder of And Then There Were None
Dr. Alveda King, Director of Civil Rights for the Unborn with Priests for Life
Dr. Kathi Aultman, fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Ally Cavazos, President of Princeton Pro-Life
Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-life Activities Committee.

While in Washington, DC Save the1 filmed a documentary. After a series of pictures, and interviews with the Save the 1 team we gathered to take a photo in front of this jumbotron that tells the story of several Save the 1 team members. I am humbled to serve alongside such brave men and women who have chosen life in the most difficult of circumstances.

We made our way to the end of the line near the supreme court and stood on the corner holding our signs and thanking people for marching for almost 4 hours. I was overwhelmed and in awe by the incredible sea of people that flowed through the street for hours on end. There was easily at least a million people in attendance. Men, women, teenagers, children all peacefully assembled to stand for the unborn.

The March for Life ignited a spark within me. This weeks news is both horrific and unsettling, but it makes me want to shine my light brighter for Jesus. Many Americans are deceived and need to know the truth and hope of Jesus Christ. Please be in prayer for our country, and pray about how you can make a stand. Matthew 5:14 ESV declares, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” As our world continues to grow darker, I encourage you to you shine brighter.

Much Love,

Misty Phillip

Struggle for Family: Peace and Provision through Chronic Illness

by Misty Phillip | Jan 24, 2019 | Featured

Chronic illness affects millions of Americans and being a full-time caregiver for a loved one with chronic illness can be taxing to family members. I know this struggle first hand. My son has a brain injury and requires constant supervision. When chronic illness is a part of your life, there is no escape. You may have a temporary respite or retreat, but the burden is always there. When you or someone suffers from a chronic condition, and healing doesn’t come, you have a choice to make. How will you let this impact your life? If you can’t change the physical illness, disease or chronic pain, then all you can do is manage your response to the situation.

My guest today Susan Wilder handles her struggle for her family with such grace. Please welcome Susan as she shares a blog post previously published on her blog, entitled This Is Us. Susan’s blog: https://www.byfaithandcoffee.com

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This is us…

by Susan Wilder

This is us…

THIS is hard…

Are you a fan of the show, “This Is Us”? I should have known, but I didn’t, so just checked, and Season 2 begins on Tuesday. We were fans of Season 1, not saying we agreed with all the characters’ decisions during all the episodes or even the writers’ choices in all storylines. Regardless, we were hooked. The title of the show says much and then really nothing at all. If I remember correctly, the pilot episode included the celebration of birthdays… four different people – adults, at first, seemingly unrelated. Not far into the show, we were brought along for the creative story of how each of these lives were so intricately intertwined. Each week brought new eye-opening, tear-shedding moments of the deepened understanding of each character and … usually with a twist… the intricacies of their relationships.

Many moments were sprinkled with scenes from the past mingled with present-day events in their lives, then just with a blink, back in time again.

What might your pilot episode include? Would you share about your “now”, or would a past event be key to understanding the progression of life?

Seems I’ve been busy lately with a time of figuring out… researching unexplored territory… asking questions… discerning much of what I don’t feel qualified to discern.

How did we get here?

Anyone else ever asked that question?

Our family’s journey, really it is Frank’s journey, of chronic, unrelenting pain (we will never forget the gift of that pain-free six months!), has offered little relief and even less explanation. Frank has battled hard often through gritted teeth with a determined resolve to fight with every ounce of energy he could muster. Realizing early on in this 14-year struggle his strength and will simply couldn’t carry him through, his dependence on God’s promise for help and sustaining presence became his lifeline.

Recently our “this is us” scene catapulted with such force, we’ve had a little trouble bouncing back. Let’s be honest… we’ve had a little trouble crawling back. Without bunches of details of what we and some “much smarter than us” experts are trying to define, Frank has experienced a significant, for lack of a better word, my very medical term: brain fog… from days of memory loss, sleep deprivation, confusion, sadness, and honestly, deep despair. This is hard.

This is us... and this is hard. We will continue to trust our God is the midst of very hard. Share on X

For years we’ve laughed out loud at the term pain management. Our discussion seemed to return to we have no interest or desire to manage pain… we’d simply prefer to remove pain. That hasn’t been the case, so management became the goal. With much help, we learned to live in a new normal of the managing reality.

Managing this new normal… that prayerfully, will be short-lived, is hard. Nobody has offered us the rule book, the ABC’s to follow, even a list of “here’s the likely way this will run”.

This is us… and this is hard. We will continue to trust our God is the midst of very hard.

We have prayed much… and will continue to.

We have asked others to pray… and know they have and will continue to.

We have grieved the unknown… and agreed that God knows.

We have feared uncertainty… and know Who conquers fear.

We have pleaded for understanding… and realized His grace is indeed sufficient.

We have asked for clarity… and hear the word of God give grace and peace.

We have looked for help… and know the HOPE of Jesus is our answer.

His word is active and alive… and brings comfort to these weary soul:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.  Psalm 121
 
Praying His comfort in your ‘hard’, friend… and thankful for your prayers in ours.

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Jesus warned us that we would have tribulation in this world, but to take heart and have peace, because He has overcome the world. Our prayers for healing may not come. Chronic illness or disability may cause a lifetime of struggle, but Jesus promises never to leave us or forsake us. When we are in the midst of the battle we can be comforted knowing He is near.

I hope you are enjoying the Podcast and the accompanying guest series as much as I am! Please, sure your favorite podcasts and posts. Sharing is caring! Also, make sure you subscribe on iTunes and don’t forget to leave a review or rating.

Much Love,

Susan Wilder: Struggle for Family

by Misty Phillip | Jan 22, 2019 | Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:42 — 17.4MB)

Episode 6: Susan Wilder – Struggle for Family: Provision and Peace through husband’s Chronic Illness

Saying yes to Jesus in walking by faith has charted an unexpectedly challenging, joy-filled journey for Susan Wilder.

Susan tenderly loves her husband, Frank, and their children and grandchildren. On this episode, Susan shares about God’s peace and provision in unexpected ways, and blessings that have resulted in while caring for her family.

Susan currently serves as the Women’s Ministry Leader at Southeast Christian Church: Crestwood Campus in Louisville, Kentucky. Susan also blogs at http://byfaithandcoffee.com.

« Older Entries

Loneliness in Marriage

14 Days of LOVE Challenge

How to Deal With Loneliness in Marriage by Sarah Geringer

Here’s a snippet from Sarah’s recent post at A Wife Like Me:

Misty Phillip

Sarah Geringer: The Isolation of Loneliness

Misty Goes To Washington

Misty Phillip

Struggle for Family: Peace and Provision through Chronic Illness

This is us…

This is us…

Susan Wilder: Struggle for Family

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