Wives Meetup - Where are you from?

Marriage - Short Read

Have you ever thought about your marriage and thought, wow I have a successful marriage!! or wow my marriage may need a little work. Well, today I was asked would I recommend marriage to someone and do I think I am the reason for my marriage being successful. I said Yes I would recommend marriage to people and No I don't think I am the reason for my marriage being successful I think God is. I LOVE Love, the thought of love, the feeling of love, the way that love just makes everything alright!! Marriage is a lifelong commitment, it is a lifetime bond to your mate and I will always, always recommend marriage. Marriage is work. You have to put that time and that work into your marriage to keep it good. I have had my share of issues in my marriage, but who hasn't. You have to stay dedicated to your marriage. I told the person that asked me this. Do you like your job? or love what you do?  they said yes, I said well when you are doing something that you love, you don't call it work and you can't live without it. I love doing marriage lol!!! So I will do it until God tells me to rest. I love what I am and what he is to me, I love what I do and what love makes me do, I love marriage as a whole, the ups, the downs and the all-around lol!!! It's wonderful, it's perfect, its all God!! and that's all good!! lol!! I thank God for keeping my marriage for 4 years and keeping me with the same King for 12 and a half years. God always has a plan. How could I ask for anything more? Marriage y'all, work with what you have, God will bless you all the way.

Till later loves 

New Content coming in December for Luvely Wives Club

Wives, please know this scripture below. GOD is AMAZING!!! and his word is forever!!

A Better ME Course!!!

Hi Wives,

Thinking of what makes you YOU, Ask yourself, do you make time for you? Do you know who you really are and what you want to accomplish in your Life and in your Marriage? Do you feel lost, like you are just a wife and nothing else is going the way that you want it to go? Well, I developed a course to help you dive into being the best you and what that may look like. Check out the link and see if this is what you are missing and if so.. NOW is the time to think of ways to make changes.

https://luvelywivesclubstudy.teachable.com/p/a-better-me-lu…

Luvely Wives Club is listed in Successher Womens Business Directory

Go to https://successher.com/listing/luvely-wives-club/ and read our listing in the directory.

Thank you all for your support and for joining in on "The Luvely Wives Club Movement"

Hi Wives!!! I am super happy to be back!!!

New content to come!!!

Being a Good Time Steward - Patricia Hooper

For a mom with school aged kids a new school year oftentimes brings on stress, anxieties and a to-do list crammed with appointments, meetings, and lots of shopping trips. As that mom with school aged kids, I often found myself overwhelmed and exhausted from many of the responsibilities.

My typical school year checklist:

·         Drop off/pick up for baseball, basketball, cheer-leading, soccer, and band practice

·         Shop for school supplies/clothes, uniforms

·         Appointments- sport physicals, dentist and eye appointments

·         Attend kids sporting events, band concerts

·         Fundraise for various school activities

·         PTA meetings, parent teacher conferences 

Being an empty nester does mean more ‘time’, but if that time isn’t directed positively it can have negative consequences on me and possibly my marriage. An idle mind is the playground for the devil. Instead of me wallowing in tears since all of my kids have flown the coup, the Lord impressed on me to use my time wisely, be a good steward with the ‘new’ time given me.

Here’s an example of my new school year checklist:

·         Daily devotions

·         Meaningful prayer time

·         Time for hobbies, exercising and me-time—I started taking a Barre class, love it!

·         More date nights and quality time with my honey

·         More social outing with friends and family

·         Regular home cooked meals

I was blessed to spend about 8 years as a stay at home mom, I thought that I had all day to do what I wanted and needed. The days quickly got away from me and most times my husband would come home to chaos, disarray and no dinner. I had to regroup and reset and get myself and the kids on a schedule. Once I did that the Hooper house looked and operated differently, more productive. I wasn’t going to misuse the blessing of being able to stay home by not being a good steward of time.

 I won’t misuse the blessing of the extra ‘time’ that this new season in my life brings. God is holding me accountable and f I am a good steward with few, he will bless me with more.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Patricia                 

Alone time with our spouses

Written by: Angela Garcia 

As parents we sometimes get caught up in caring for our children, we should remember to take time out for our spouses. My husband sometimes has to remind me that once our daughter is grown and off to college all we will have is each other. No one wants to be the couple that grows old together and has nothing to talk about or has a hard transition to be just "husband and wife" again. When we feel guilty about having alone time or leaving the kids for a weekend remember they will grow up one day and it will be you and your spouse like it was in the beginning. Embrace the time alone and enjoy every quite moment of it you deserve it. God has given us each other to create a life, our children are a bonus to that blessing. 

1 Corinthians 11:11 

Never the less in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor is man independent of woman. 

What I’ve learned in My First Few Years of Marriage

Written by: Saviela Edwards Thorne

A new marriage is like a blank page staring at you. It’s ready for you to write your story on it. It’s new, fresh and the beginning of something so beautiful only if we allow God to be the author. Many times, we rush to the altar because we believe in our minds and our heart that this is “The One” without consulting God first. Marriage is ordained and created by the one true God and a covenant that the devil with all his might is trying to destroy. A Godly Marriage is not just for two people who desire to be married, but it’s an example of the fellowship between God and His people.

The Design of Marriage

The unity of marriage is a visual representation of the kingdom of God. As God being the head, the husband being the covering (head over the home) and the wife, the teacher and nurturer of her children (Ephesians 5:23). God’s design in marriage was never for the woman to be the head of over the man. The Garden of Eden is where the deconstruction of the unity of marriage began when Adam allowed his wife, Eve to cause him to doubt what God told him. Eve over stepped her boundary by manipulating the word of God to get what she wanted from Adam.

Isn’t this just like some wives today to try to change the situation and to manipulate their husbands to do what they want him to do instead of following the original plan? Since the original plan was destroyed through curiosity, lust and greed, the word of God clearly tells the woman, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” Genesis 3:16.  Only when we, as wives decide to completely submit to our husbands as our husbands completely submit to God, will we then find a sense of peace in our homes and in our spirits. 

Respect

“Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband”- Ephesians 5:33

This is one word that I completely failed at in the beginning of my marriage. I thought I knew what it was to RESPECT my husband, but unfortunately, I didn’t. I fought against him and what he would ask me to do if I didn’t see it his way. In a sense, I became Eve. It wasn’t until I was convicted in my spirit that I realized I was so wrong, and I sinned against God and my husband by not RESPECTING him. Once I submitted my will to my husband as he submitted his will to God, then there was harmony and unity in or marriage and we begin to see God work in miraculous ways. God opened doors for us that no man can shut. He proved to us that in order for Him to work through us, we must first SUBMIT to Him. This is by no means a bad word. To me, it’s a beautiful word because it shows me how much strength I have to submit my will and way to another. This is just like God because all He wants us to do is submit to Him so He can work through us.

Marriage is not designed just to make you happy.

I’ve heard so many couples separate or divorce their spouse because they just weren’t “Happy” with them anymore. Happiness is based on what is currently happening. If happiness is the goal in marriage, then what happens when there is a disagreement? Is that grounds for divorce? There are going to be times in marriage when you are frustrated with each other for whatever reason.

It’s important to FORGIVE and to move forward quickly in order for you to remain in good standing with the Lord, and each other as stated in St. Matthew 6:14-15, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

The longer a resolution to a situation is delayed the longer the devil has to come in and work on your mind. We are instructed to leave NO space for the devil (Ephesians 4:26-27). What are some of the reasons why couples become unhappy and grow apart? In some cases, they allow the spark of romance to decease and find other things to occupy their time and energy rather than spending quality time with their spouse. Sometimes it can be career, children or even the ministry. God’s desire is for there to be unity within the marriage because with unity there is strength. He wants us to grow together in Him which will in turn cause us to grow together with each other. He also wants us to fulfill each other’s needs in all areas “The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs” 1 Corinthians 7:3, NLT.

[Side note: Here are a few ways to bring back the romance in a marriage: reminisce on the time when you were courting, look at old pictures together, give each other a massage, take a trip together, just the two of you, go on a date, surprise each other with your favorite things, just simply tell each other what you love about one another and remember it’s the little things that counts.]

Never Give Up

Please take a moment to read the New Living Translation version of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 with your spouse. The verse that brought me to repentance was verse 7, "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." God is so faithful even when we aren't.

His love is continual even in our consistent sin. I'm so glad I never gave up on my husband when we went through our tough times, and he didn't give up on me. And I am even more grateful that Christ didn't give up on both of us and kept us together.

These are just a few things out of the many things I’ve learned in my short time being married to my wonderful husband. We are not perfect, but we are definitely perfect for each other. Handcrafted and designed by God just for one another. Our prayer is for God to continue to do His will in our lives, and allow our marriage to be an example of His perfect love for His Church.

Busting the Myth of Separateness

Written by: -Michelle E. Diago

Before we jump into marriages and relationships I must share something with you in the spirit of full disclosure.  I’ve been on a pretty intense spiritual journey.  The kind that changes the trajectory of your entire life and lies at the heart of my desire to serve others.  This experience has had such a profound impact on my life and my marriage that I knew it needed to be one of the first things I shared with all of you.  Some of it is pretty “heavy,” but I believe it’s the, “meat and potatoes,” that draws people together and I want you to see me on day one for who I truly am.  So here it goes!

    I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and I share this with you because it has been an integral part of where I’ve been in my life and more importantly where I am going.  In fact, this is the first time I have publicly shared that I am a survivor (I’m letting it marinate for a minute, but so far it doesn’t feel so bad!) so I thank you for bearing witness to this step in my own personal evolution.  So, why do I feel the need to tell you this?  Because my abuse tormented my life, my happiness and my relationships for decades.  I’ve spent much of my life with low self-esteem, an inability to trust and in a continual state of depression.  Simply put, I was so busy fearing life that I wasted years not actually living it.  As an adolescent, I had been blessed with great athletic ability, wonderful learning opportunities and numerous blessings.  When I became an adult, I found an amazing husband, I inherited 3 beautiful children and by all accounts led a, “well-adjusted,” life.  But secretly I was dying inside.  Some days were a struggle just to make it through the motions of marriage, motherhood and my career.  What was worse was that I knew full well that I was a prisoner to my own past.  Yet nothing I tried brought me salvation.  And then it all changed…

    I reached a point in my life that I could no longer carry the weight of this burden.  It was as if I had picked up a rock, every day for the last 25+ years until one day I turned around and realized that this mountain was no longer mine to climb.  There had to be a better way.  I didn’t know what that way was or how it would come about but a voice inside of me urged me to begin again.  Through a remarkable series of people and events my life drastically changed within a matter of months.  I couldn’t be more sincere when I tell you that once I finally made the decision to surrender my abuse, my pain and all my years of suffering over to God and simply ask for a miracle everything around me began to conspire in my favor.  It was as if all this love and energy had been waiting for me for years but I held on so tightly to my victimization that I had nowhere to receive the blessings that were right in front of me.  In the days, weeks and months since I made this shift in my life I have devoted myself to my faith, to meditation and to every possibility that awaits me.  It’s something I practice every day.  Some days I stumble, some days I am a rock star and exude love and peace.  Bust most days are spent in what I consider to be the, “thick of things.”  The process by which extraordinary change is possible.  The process that guides you into a higher vibrational existence and opens you up to creative possibilities, to love and to light.  I share this with you because one of my first, “a-ha,” moments in this spiritual journey spoke directly to my marriage and the way I approached my husband.

    As little girls, we are conditioned to believe that some ONE will come along one day and complete us.  They will be the yin to our yang.  They will bring all the qualities that we lack into our lives and give us complete happiness, love and acceptance.  In my case, I wanted someone whose presence in my life would somehow heal me and my past.  Let me be the first to tell you ladies that that is one big, heaping, steaming pile of you…know…what.  Not because life is cruel and prince-charming and fairytales don’t exist.  It’s false because it undermines one of the most basic truths about every single human being.  And that is that we are wholly and wonderfully made in His image which has no lack, no sin and no separateness.  All our senses lead us to believe that we are separate individuals leading separate lives searching desperately for interconnection.  And yet our truth, our spirit has no boundaries.  How can there be separateness when we are all an idea in the mind of God?  How can another mortal form complete us when the fabric of who we are is already pure, eternal and whole?

    As we begin to dive into issues surrounding marriage and relationships it is an absolute necessity that each of you embrace your wholeness from this moment forward. There is nothing within you that needs completion or “fixing,” nor is that the purpose of having intimate relationships or otherwise.  Every relationship that you have during your life is an assignment.  It’s part of a greater curriculum that is highly specialized for you and your life not to fill a void but to bridge your human experience with your Truth.  There is nothing your partner can give you that you don’t already have deep within you my friend.  Every ounce of strength, every moment of profound wisdom, every answer that you seek lies within you.  Just like an acorn is hardwired to grow into a tree, a rose bud into a blossom and a single cell into a human being you have within you the blueprint to become a joyous and peaceful person and partner.

    Over the next couple of weeks, I challenge each of you to acknowledge and celebrate your wholeness whether it be through words of affirmation, daily prayer or even just considering the possibility that a different way exists.  Know with every fiber of your being that your spirit, your truth is perfect.  My spiritual journey has empowered me to approach my marriage from a completely different point of view.  It’s given me a strength and wisdom that wasn’t there before and it has manifested so many miracles in my relationship as it will surely do for you and yours.  Whatever your path has been up until this point in your life and in your marriage, know that you are held by God.  Next time we’ll discuss how you can begin manifesting your Truth and how that one small shift can make a huge impact on your relationship.  Until then…the love in me salutes the love in you.