If you or someone you know finds herself in a relationship crisis, how do you navigate the pain—a pain of lost dreams and expectations for yourself but also for your children? You need courage that’s for sure, and hope in a God who will never let your down even when you feel like all hope is lost. Jody Allen writes: “Jesus doesn’t care about our track records or our reputations – he’s all about redemption.”

Today we welcome, Jody Allen, mom to young adult twins, Director of Women's Ministry at her church, and author of Hidden Heartache: Finding Courage When Your Husband Struggles with Pornography

Some gems from our conversation:

• Shame can trick us into believing that silence is the best way forward.
• Being honest with God doesn't make you less of a Christian, it makes you a more genuine Christian.
• To know that Satan was on the attack helped provide more compassion and gave me perspective that he was the real enemy we were dealing with.
• To forgive someone comes with guardrails; we can forgive but it doesn't mean we can entrust ourselves to them like we can fully trust God.
• Proverbs 3:5, "to not lean on my own understanding" helped me move forward when I couldn't understand the pain and betrayal of a world that celebrates and rewards pornography.
• Shame is a liar and tells me that my legacy of living a kingdom life is tarnished.
• When I hear anothers woman's story, I listen with love and empathy because I have felt her hurt and experienced her shame.

You can find Jody and all her free resources at jodyallenwrites.com

And the feelings wheel she mentioned can be found HERE.

Leave a comment to be entered in a giveaway.

One way to please God and show his heart for all people is to invite. To ask a simple question: “Would you like to come for coffee?” can negate a lifetime of rejections.

To think, "they aren't like me" can make us hesitate to invite. The biblical definition of hospitality means to invite the stranger and some may be a little strange! At least different from how we live, that's for sure. Jesus told us what love is when he told the story of the good Samaritan. I love that story and I'm always a little convicted!

How about you? Is it a risk to invite someone you don't know? God will give you the courage if he is leading the way.

Some thoughts from today's podcast

• What kind of courage does it take to invite a stranger? It takes a Paul-courage, a Peter-courage, a Samson-courage, a Joshua-courage.
• You might think hospitality means having your friends over. It does. But it’s so much bigger and grander.
• Another way to explain what God means by hospitality is to give without a thought of receiving anything in return.
• Someone said, “Share the Gospel. Use words if necessary.” I would add, “Share your life. Make soup and maybe brownies.”
• To invite a stranger into your home and out of their life—for just a few hours—creates a sacred space and isn’t far from holy living.

We miss you, Doug!

From Never Alone: Stories of Invitation and Connection

Fellow writer and mother of adult children, Michele Morin, talks about modeling who God is for our children as our greatest legacy. Mother of four grown boys-now-men with families of their own, I love how Michele trusts God for each new season of her life, even a season with a chronic illness included. You will be blessed with tons of practical wisdom today as we talk about how we deal with unanswered prayers and questions and try not to catastrophize every little thought that comes into our brains.

Some gems from our convo:

• We make the mistake of defining God's goodness by how he answers our prayers—or not.
• I used to have to "send myself to my room" for a time-out so I could do some much-needed attitude adjustment.
• I had to learn that making a good life for a family I loved was exactly where and what God wanted me to do and be.
• Never forget that we are modeling for our kids what God is like.
• Only a free person has the privilege of rest.
• Chronic disease helps me stay present to today's work rather than projecting and catastrophizing what may lay ahead.
• We tend to put our hope in our prayers instead of God himself which can make what we pray for an idol.
• To lean into God's goodness on a daily basis helps to keep our walk with God fresh and not rote.

Michele is the author of over 8 YouVersion Bible Reading devotionals which you can find HERE.

She's a regular contributor at DesiringGod.com.

Because “the way we live our days will be, after all, the way we live our lives,” you are invited to peruse Michele’s writing on her website here at your leisure.

michelemorin.net

Michele Morin is a reader, writer, speaker, and gardener who does life with her family on a country hill in Maine. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and five adorable grandchildren.

Active in educational ministries with her local church, Michele delights in sitting at a table surrounded by women with open Bibles. She loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.”