And so...it continues

 Due to some IT issues at work, the google bookmarks that 'synced' to my account are from about a decade ago and included one to my original blog, which I started while we still lived in St. Louis. 

Well, when opportunity presents itself, who am I to say no? 

I haven't dug into the archives, but just looking at a few of the posts has inspired me to blog here. Not sure if it will become a regular thing, but...it feels nostalgic, like going back to a simpler time. 

One thing that is still true and always will be: 

God is still on the throne (and he's not making the OH NO! face like Kevin from Home Alone). 

Still living by grace!

Della 

Moving Forward

To those of you who are following this blog (all eight of you), you already know this particular site has gone from sadly neglected to inactive at least a year ago.

I've recently gotten serious about my freelance writing. While reading and researching how to be successful, it was pretty much assumed that freelancers have a webpage, even if it's just a landing page for google searches. So I got off my duff and created a webpage which also includes a blogging function. I'll be blogging there from now on. No promises on frequency, but I'm shooting for at least a couple of times a month.

I'm still working out what the tone and content of the new blog should be. So far I've kept it really light and fun. I intend to include some serious heart-to-heart stuff as well.

I hope to see you at my new location. Keep stirring up the gift that God has put in you. With genuine love and affection!

~Della Peasel~

Life Lesson

Delaying a difficult conversation doesn’t make it easier.

It usually has the opposite effect…

“Why didn’t you come to me with this sooner? Why didn’t you let me know a week ago so I could have worked out a different solution or planned for a different outcome?”

Delaying the inevitable just gives you more time to imagine the worst.

Imagine the best possible outcome of the conversation (set your expectation for good.)

Rehearse a few times if you need to (but not all day.)

Jump in! Confrontation is usually less painful than we anticipate. Do your best to do it well and trust God with the rest.

What is the point of marriage?

Marriage has been on my mind a lot lately. (It's been on a lot of people's mind because of the Supreme Court stuff going on in America, but I had been pondering marriage for a while before that.)

A young Christian woman shared with me what one of her friends had said. This friend was not only a Christian, but a Bible school graduate. The friend said something to this effect, "What is the point of marriage anyway?" Of course, this Bible school graduate was not living according to the Biblical standards she had been taught, but was living like the world and sleeping with whomever she chose. The implication was that sex is available whenever I want, so why get married? I wanted to take her shoulders and shake her. (I don't know the person, but still...)

That interaction is what got me really thinking about marriage. Getting married so you can have sex is like buying a brand new fully loaded Rolls Royce on credit, with no idea of how to maintain the car and no means to do so simply because you like heated leather seats. You are going to ruin that car. You are going to feel the weight of that responsibility and probably resent it. But at least your buns will be warm...until the engine seizes because you never changed the oil.

Below is a quote from The One by Ben Young and Dr. Samuel Adams that beautifully summarizes what has been stirring in me. 

The problem is we have bought into the silly, yet dangerous, notion that marriage will make us happy. What if, as author Gary Thomas puts it in his book Sacred Marriage, "God intended marriage not to make you happy, but to make you holy"? Fortunately happiness and holiness are not mutually exclusive... Marriage is not primarily about feeling happy every day. Marriage is not primarily about "getting your needs met." Marriage is not primarily about "getting the love you deserve." Marriage is not primarily about "getting the sex you want." Marriage is a 24/7/365 marathon designed by God Himself to knock off your rough edges and reform your selfish nature in order to make you holy.

 Nailed it.