by Misty Phillip | Apr 27, 2017 | Fulfillment
Today I had the wonderful opportunity to share some of my testimony in an interview with Vickie Petz Henderson, MD on the My Journey of Faith Podcast. On the show, we talk about my passion for encouraging women through the difficult circumstances of life by trusting in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Life is challenging, and sometimes it is just downright hard! We need to encourage one another in the faith. Vickie and I discuss my passion for encouraging women to seek Jesus, studying the Word, and for growing in grace. We talk about some of the most challenging times in my life experiences struggling with grief, infertility, problem pregnancies, loss of babies and miscarriage.
Vickie Petz Henderson, MD practiced obstetrics and gynecology for nearly twenty years and counseled many women in her practice going through circumstances similar to what I experienced, and we agreed that Jesus is the answer to any of the problems we face today.
We also talked about my devotional writing for Philanthropy at www.PhilanthropyFashion.com
Here is a link to the podcast My Journey of Faith Podcast – Featuring Misty Phillip
I hope this podcast blesses you, and if it does, please share it with someone you think might benefit from listening to it!
by Misty Phillip | Apr 18, 2017 | Featured
How was your weekend? We had a Blessed Easter Weekend, celebrating Easter with a fantastic church service followed by a relaxing day of fellowship with family.
We experienced great praise and worship in the service and our Pastor shared about the resurrection from Matthew 28. Jesus is the resurrected Savior who overcame death, hell, sin, and the grave!
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.” Matthew 28:5-6 ESV
Easter is over, what’s next?
After we celebrate Easter and put away our church clothes and Easter baskets, what’s next? We just experienced an amazing holiday celebration. So now what? Do we just go on with life, business as usual? If we continue reading in Matthew 28, we find the answer. Matthew 28:1-10 we learn about the resurrection and the following verses 11-15 are about the report from the guard. The chapter closes out the first book of the New Testament with the Great Commission. So what do we do next? We tell others about Jesus and make disciples.
We are to tell others about Jesus!
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:11-15 ESV
After conquering death, hell, and the grave, all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus! After the resurrection, the first thing Jesus says is for us to tell others about him and make disciples of all nations. Once we tell people about him, and they accept him as Lord and Savior, then we are to teach them to follow his commands and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus concludes that passage by telling us that he is always with us, even to the end of the age.
We are blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are given the Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us through life. No matter where we go we have access to the throne of God the Father, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will have opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. Find out what happened with my divine interruption Mastermind Group Interrupted by Divine Appointment.
Now that we have experienced the great love and forgiveness of Jesus, we should tell as many as we can about the good news of Jesus Christ. I recently wrote about an experience my friend had in Why didn’t anyone ever tell me about Jesus?
Here are some simple ways to share the love of Christ with others:
- Begin with Prayer. Pray about who you can witness to, and how you can show them, love. Make sure to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you can invite friends or neighbors to church or Bible Study. Offer to pray for those you know at work or school who are hurting.
- Look for opportunities to do random acts of kindness. Live aware of those around you, and look for opportunities to bless. Karen Ehman in Listen, Love, Repeat! calls these “heart drops,” when we have the chance to see into the heart of those around us.
This week I challenge you to share the love of Christ. Leave a comment below and share some other ways that we can share the love of Jesus Christ with those around us.
Have a fantastic week! Blessings, Misty
by Misty Phillip | Mar 28, 2017 | Featured
Last week, I went to Market Street in The Woodlands, Texas with the boys for our dental check-up and cleaning. If you know anything about Market Street, you know it is a high-end luxury shopping center that plays host to some great little shops, restaurants, and is the location of our dentist. Market Street is a popular shopping destination, and sometimes parking can be a challenge. I was running a bit late and was so glad to pull in and find a spot close to the dentist. On my way to the dentist, I passed this charming new boutique, and I knew from the look of it that I would have to check it out after our appointment.
The store is Philanthropy, and I fell in love with it from the moment I walked in the door! Philanthropy is a Christ-centered retailer, and you can feel it from the time you step foot in the store.
Instantly I knew that there was something special about this store. When we walked into the boutique, we were greeted at the door by a sweet guy with a great smile. One of my boys was wearing a football shirt, and they struck up a conversation about football for a little while. Little did I know that he was not only the owner of the store, but he was a former NFL football player, Jackie Battle. He couldn’t wait to tell me about the store and show me around. Jackie enthusiastically shared Philanthropy’s vision. A leader in cause-driven retail, they believe in giving. A minimum of 10% of the proceeds from their sales goes to support charities. Then he took me over to the wall pictured below, and 100% of the proceeds from the t-shirts here are donated to charity organizations.
From there, Jackie introduced me to his beautiful wife Christine as she headed out the door. With a beaming smile on his face, he took me to the prayer chapel. Jackie and Christine believe in the transformative power of prayer and each store houses a prayer chapel. Guests in the store are encouraged to leave a prayer request, and Jackie and his wife and their staff pray for and with their guests daily. In the midst of this retail space, lives are transformed through the power of Jesus Christ.
From the beautiful way the store was laid out, to the variety of merchandise they sell, I loved it all! Everything was fantastic—from the clothes, books, jewelry, and knick-knacks, this place has a little bit for everyone.
I could have spent hours taking in all the attractive displays and browsing through the merchandise, but I had my boys with me, and we needed to go, but not before I found a great top and a beautiful necklace. If you are in the Houston area, then you have to go to Philanthropy! The store is located at 9595 Six Pines Dr. #1360 The Woodlands, TX.
Philanthropy’s collections are affectionately known as Timeless, Fearless and Priceless. Since its inception in 2007, Philanthropy has donated more than $800,000 to local charities. Philanthropy Market Street is the newest location, and they also have boutiques in Franklin, TN, Cape Girardeau, MO, and St. Augustine, FL.
I was so impressed with the store and its owners and their vision that I couldn’t wait to share it with all of my readers. Philanthropy is a store where fashion meets compassion, and it is the kind of store that as a Jesus girl I want to support. Bonus, I found this super cute top I am wearing in this picture and it has quickly become a favorite!
To learn more about Philanthropy be sure to check out www.philanthropyfashion.com
by Misty Phillip | Mar 17, 2017 | Lifestyle, Marriage
The intense stress that comes from having a special needs child can put an incredible strain on even the healthiest of marriages. The difficulty in the day in and day out can be overwhelming. Some special needs people have a difficult time performing even the simplest of tasks such as dressing, toileting, and general self-care. Exhaustion sets in from lack of sleep and that can wreak havoc on any sane person, and a lot of times special kids barely sleep at all. The financial stress that comes from therapy not being covered, the endless doctor appointments, or because anything with a special needs price tag comes at an astronomical cost. The grief that comes from unmet expectations, the heartache that comes from comparing your child and their abilities, or sometimes the guilt alone from blaming yourself or your spouse is enough to tear a marriage apart.
My husband and I have experienced all of this and more, but things really came to a head in our marriage when our son was a baby. I was a weary young mom doing my best to make it from day to day. Our precious little man screamed at the top of his lungs all hours of the day and night and didn’t sleep at all for the first three years of his life. We were constantly in the doctor’s office and in and out of the hospital.
I don’t know about your husband, but my husband is a fixer. He can not stand it if there is something wrong with me or one of our children. Since he is a problem solver, he wants to fix things. However, there are some problems that man can not fix, no matter how hard he tries. This took a toll on my husband and thus took a toll on our marriage.
Things got really ugly between us. This wreaked all kinds of havoc in our personal lives and with each other. I will spare you all of the gory details, just know it was bad enough that I ended up in Lawyer’s office seeking counsel to get divorced. But God—God divinely entered into the midst of our pain and difficulty, and we took the “D” word off the table and choose to commit to each that no matter how bad things got that we would stick it out with God’s help.
We forgave one another and choose to love, not in our strength and might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. In those moments, everything changed. Our circumstances with our son didn’t change, but our perspective on our situation changed. We faced our problems together with the strength of our mighty God to carry us through. Life didn’t become easy—there was no instant healing. In fact, the years that followed were much more stressful than the previous years. The difference was our relationship to each other and our reliance on the Lord.
Our marriage has been tried and tested and forged in the fire for nearly 25 years. My husband is my best friend and He loves me like Christ loves the church. Through the years, we chose to love one another and submit to Christ, and his plan for our marriage. We now have an incredible relationship. My husband is the biblical leader of our home, and I have embraced my calling of biblical womanhood.
These same principles that have guided our marriage are discussed in Jen Weaver’s book, A Wife’s Secret to Happiness. I love this book! From the sparkly cover to Jen’s modern interpretation of the Bible to practical wisdom this book offers to women, Jen has such a great conversational style that you feel like you are sitting across the table from one another sharing your hearts over a cup of coffee.
There are eleven chapters in the book, and each chapter highlights a particular blessing God wants to provide to in your marriage and a conflicting “wifestyle.” A wifestyle is a habit or way in which our routines as wives either attract or reject God’s divine provision. Each chapter contains a wifestyle or a real life story used for practical application.The first blessing is the blessing of three strands, which is taken from Ecclesiastes 4:12:
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken -Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV
This principle takes the heart of two people and binds them together with God to make a marriage that is not easily broken. It is the supernatural strength that comes from the Holy Spirit being alive and active in our marriage that I spoke of earlier.
Jen does a great job of handling some difficult subjects that come up within a context of marriage from leaving and cleaving and becoming one, to submission, to the beautiful gift of sex. In the chapter on the blessing of unity, Jen uses a great analogy of dancing to talk about submission in marriage.
A tango cannot have two leads, and our Marriage instructor, our third strand, calls us to submit to our husbands that we may have unity in our relationships and live in concert with his spirit. -Jen Weaver
There is bonus material to delve deeper into each subject that is available online. This book is a must read for young women preparing for marriage, as well as married women. I wish I would have read something like this before I got married, it would have made the first few years of marriage a lot easier. Jen Weaver nails the secret to happiness in marriage through receiving, honoring and celebrating God’s role for you in your marriage.
A special thank you to The Blog About Network, The Blythe Daniel Agency and publishers for providing a copy of this book for review and one to giveaway.
Leave a comment below with your best piece of marriage advice below, to be entered to win a copy of A Wife’s Secret to Happiness.
Jen is married to her best friend Jared and mom to their adorable toddler, Dillon. Jen is an author, marketing professional, Bible study teacher, conference speaker, and a host for The Declare Conference – a blogging conference in Dallas, Texas. She is passionate about sharing strengths with others through her stories of humor and hope.
A Wife’s Secret to Happiness(Leafwood, March 2017) is already receiving rave reviews from Jim Daily, President of Focus on the Family, Associate Senior Pastor Pastor of Gateway Church, Allan Kelsey, Author of Breaking Busy, Ali Worthington, Author of A Mary Like Me, Andy Lee, and many more! www.TheJenWeaver.com
by Misty Phillip | Mar 13, 2017 | Featured
My husband took me to Magnolia Farms in Waco, TX recently. I am a huge fan of HGTV’s Fixer Upper and I was so excited to finally make it to Waco to see the Silos and visit Magnolia Market!
I love Joanna Gaine’s style and love the way she and Chip banter with one another. You can tell that they love one another, love their family, and that they enjoy what they do. Isn’t that what life is all about? Love God, and love others!
Shopping at the Silos was so inspiring. There were beautiful vignettes all throughout the store and plenty of photo opportunities.
We were at Magnolia Market on a Friday, and it was a gorgeous day, but the crowds were pretty large. Which made it difficult to see everything. If I have a chance to go back, I think I will go on Tuesday morning, and hopefully, it won’t be as crowded. I loved all of the flowers inside the shop and the gardens outside the shop.
Just in time for Spring, one thing caught my eye and I knew that I needed to take it home was the boxwood wreath I saw hanging on the wall. I knew that it would make a great addition to my front door, and would take me from Spring to Fall. Here it is pictured below with some topiaries I had in my entryway and these precious little bunnies I found at Home Goods. What do you think?
This got me thinking that Easter is only one month away, and I have barely gotten everything taken down and put away from Christmas. However, I really want our Easter Celebration to be special as special as our Christmas this year. I want to focus on the Resurrection power we have through Jesus Christ and am praying about ways to make this an important part of our time together as a family.
This year I decided to pull out my parent’s wedding china and use it for our Easter celebration. I miss my parents so much and have fond memories of eating off of these plates throughout the holidays. I look forward to incorporating this into my Easter Table this year.
I threw together this centerpiece with stuff I had from previous years, and just love the way this bunny looks nestled within the eggs and flowers.
So what about you friend? I would love to know what traditions you celebrate at Easter. Do you have anything special planned this year? Leave me a comment, and let me know what you are doing for your Easter Celebration!
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