Debbie W. Wilson

Refreshing Faith

Why Should I Yield in This?

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What makes it hard to yield to others? While I’m working on another project I’m bringing back what I wrote on my struggle to submit to Larry when he asked me to stay home from something I’d helped to plan.

A photo by Joshua Hibbert. unsplash.com/photos/Pn6iimgM-woPhoto by: Joshua Hibbert

Larry’s request wasn’t arbitrary. He was trying to protect me. I’d been sick the week before and by evening I felt like a vampire had sucked the life out of me. Despite his good intentions, I wrestled before yielding.

I had recently listened to John Milton describe Eve’s naïveté in Paradise Lost. Milton presents Eve as a captivating beauty who needed safeguarding. He depicts Adam warning Eve as she sets out to explore. Eve thinks Adam is unnecessarily cautious and dismisses his warnings. Milton’s Eve seemed more like a young child than an adult woman—a bit insulting to modern day women—but then she fell for the serpent’s lies.

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3 Easy Ways to Build Others Up

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When we build others up we are doing more than lifting their spirits for the moment. Encouragement helps people persevere through life’s many challenges. Ironically, encouraging other people satisfies the encourager too.

Life has beaten and bogged down many of the people we rub shoulders with every day. Most don’t need to be told what they should do. They need to be built up so they can do what they already want to do.

Do you know someone who could use some building up? Click To TweetThis “talk-tool” can give you some tracks to run on. Spirit-led words bring life and rejuvenation.Continue Reading

Want a Better You? Don’t Miss these 2 Essentials

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While the passing of time makes some homes look dated and faddish, age only enhances others. I thought about the difference good design and quality materials make on a recent stroll through a section of town known for its beautiful older homes and established yards. I realized what’s true for houses applies to marriages and individuals too.

Would you like to grow better with time? Would you like your relationships to not only last but improve with age?

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Choose a Solid Foundation

Some major hurricanes and tornadoes have blown through Raleigh since we moved here. Yet the stately homes on our walk still stand in regal beauty. No life or marriage is immune to storms either. We prepare for them by building on a solid foundation.Continue Reading

7 Tips for Greater Intimacy in Marriage

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Thank you for your responses to last week’s survey! Your words brought a smile to my face and a lump to my throat. I appreciate your honesty and encouragement and will seek to address your questions and suggested topics in future posts. Today, I relate the differences in how my poodles interact with me to developing a sweeter intimacy in marriage.

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Before breakfast, before a rawhide chew, and before play—Max, my male poodle, leans his big body into mine and groans with ecstasy. My grandfather used to say, “Grunt big,” when he embraced us. Max grunts big.

On the other hand, work comes before affection for our female fluff-ball. Cosette has earned the title “Secretary of Squirrel.” With military posture, she watches over the bird-feeder from her post at our kitchen window. She ignores any attempt to engage her. Her body tenses when a squirrel appears; she looks to me and zips to the front door where she can sneak around back for a surprise attack. After she’s chased them off, she trots in smiling, tail wagging. Now she’ll connect with me.

Does one dog love me better than the other? Continue Reading

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