After about a year of being a single Mom of 4 beautiful kids, I was mentally exhausted and needed a break.  I called my sister in the Poconos of Pennsylvania where she lived and asked her if I could drop my 4 kids off so I could go see my Dad in NY. Of course, she said, “no problem.”   I drove a couple of hours to her house, dropped my kids off and off to Long Island I went.

    When I got to my Dads house, I wanted to go to a local club that evening and he was not up to going with me so I looked one up in the yellow pages.  I told my Dad, “I’ll go to this place alone. I don’t care. I just need some relief.”  I walked into this place alone and ordered a beer. Then, I walked over to the dance floor.  As i was dancing on the dance floor, I looked over by the front and saw a really handsome man walk in.  He got my attention.  He and his friend went over to the bar.  I followed after him. His friend hit on me but I was not interested. I asked him, ” hey, who is your friend? ” and  he introduced us.  That was the beginning of the best of my life.  By the end of the night we could not stop talking and so we exchanged phone numbers.  Over a week later, he finally called me.

    It turns out, he left my number in his friends car who he didn’t see for a few days. When he finally called, we arranged for him to come see me at my home that weekend in Pa. He was a complete gentleman and slept on the couch downstairs. My kids were upstairs.  Our conversation continued the entire weekend getting to know each other.   Within 3 months, he moved in with me and my kids.  I trusted him completely. No I was not going to church at the time. I do not recommend or will encourage shopping for a man in a bar to anyone. I’m just being honest how things progressed.  

    After a year and a half, we decided to get married and that was 21 years ago.  The absolute best decision I have ever made. He gave his heart to Jesus within a year of us living together and we were married shortly thereafter. He was baptized a few years later. This man I married is totally committed to me and my family and has been a hard working man who loves my kids and now our grandchildren. My entire family loves him because of how good he has been to us. I am so grateful to God for sending him to me so quickly after my divorce.  

    We have been through so much chaos over the years especially in the beginning. That is a huge reason why we decided to begin this journey with Success From The Source.  We have learned so much and came through victoriously in the worst of the worst stressful situations.  

    

I love pulling weeds out of my garden. I can actually pull weeds all day, if needed! When I pull the weeds, I make sure to pull out the roots as best as possible. Why? Because the weeds will grow back again and again. When a doctor diagnoses your illness, most times they will prescribe you a drug that treats the symptoms and not something to get rid of the actual problem. So, we continue to have the illness but the doctor will keep you as comfortable as possible by downsizing the symptoms for your illness.

    If we were to do our own research and due diligence, we may actually find that if we change our diet to a healthier group of foods with specific vitamins and minerals, we may be able to remove the actual illness.  That is why I needed to write this today.  When it comes to spiritual issues in our lives, it’s important to reflect on what actually is the problem and not just the symptoms. For example, you may be depressed and have anxiety.  Most of us may turn to a temporary fix like an alcoholic drink once in a while to relax us and help numb some emotional pain.  Maybe even eat more food.  We may turn to anything else but trying to understand why we feel/act the way we do. 

    What I love about our Heavenly Father is He is always there for us even when we don’t want to see Him or look to Him for wisdom or comfort. He will never force us to do anything. He wants us to want to draw near to Him, honor and trust Him on our own.  He desires that we run to Him when we need help and when we need anything. Think about it….He is our source for all things in our life.  Even the physical things. Everything. If we try to fix our emotional struggles strictly via a drug, an activity, relationships or anything besides Him, we will not be totally better.  To be clear, God can use activities and relationships and people to heal you. Relying on those things only and not God is the issue.  If we allow God to heal our thoughts, our motivations and downfalls, and we understand why we are acting a certain way, we can be fully changed for the good.

    Ask God to help you understand whatever your issue is and Why it is present in your life.   You may not get a direct "why" of what is going on, and that's ok.  Trust God that he will work all things out for your good and you will eventually understand the process.  Ask God to forgive you if you do see that your actions were not good due to anger or pride.  Ask God what is the root of your issue and He will show you if you truly want to know.  He is willing and able to remove the root of the problem so you can move on in victory with your life.  

Be grateful for all the good things your spouse does for you and your kids and your family.  If your wife always does so much without you even having to ask, make sure you tell her how appreciative you are! Same for your husband who works so hard, wants to protect you and be a good Dad, he needs to see that you are appreciative too.  All of us will do things because we love someone, but it makes it so much more rewarding when our spouse is grateful for what we love to do for them anyway.

We all have made mistakes and will also make them in the future.  I believe that if you focus only on the bad or annoying things your spouse does, then you will not last too long.  But, If you can remember that you are not perfect and may do some things that your spouse may not love or like also, then it truly becomes difficult for you to be looking down at your spouse as if you don't do anything wrong.  

When I say to focus on the good, I do not mean that you should never bring up issues that arise with behavior or actions you don't agree with. Of course, that is where good communication comes in and that is a different subject I'll bring up in our next blog post and video.

Understanding that you and your spouse are just 2 adults that met, fell in love and are building a solid, family foundation and legacy together,  makes your marriage so much more valuable.  Appreciate your spouse and be grateful for every thing they do.  Give 100% of your heart to one another without reservation and that will build trust for one another over time.  Jump in with all you've got from day 1.  No reservations.  When you love God and you know that God brought you both together, then you can trust God and your spouse.  Focus on the good. Focus on what made you fall in love in the first place

If you are a Christian parent of an adult Child who has left your life recently, let it be known that this is an ongoing situation happening very often.  There are many reasons for this and it's all demonic in nature.  If  the devil can influence our adult kids to see us as small, unimportant and unloving individuals...in order to break down the family, disrespect and dishonor the parents who raised them and loves them unconditionally.... what do you think their kids will do to them? They obviously do not believe that they do anything wrong and if they did do something wrong, it would not be nearly as bad as our asking them to not ignore us while sitting in our home.  I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but the devil is a liar and I have seen literally thousands of Christian mother's in a social media group I'm in, with broken hearts due to their adult kids arrogant and abusive behavior.  We as Christian Moms and Dads, are in spiritual warfare and need to pray and fight for our Adult kids. 

Am I saying we are all perfect?? NO. For the most part, these parents have made some mistakes but have tried to make things right and nothing is good enough.  Many are not even sure what they did! I'm not here to make excuses for anyone's behavior but I am saying that 99% of the moms who are going through this for no major apparent reason that would be good enough for their adult kids to choose to never speak to them again...love and forgive their kids unconditionally.  It's our adult kids who are loosing out so much by walking away. We will never walk away unforgiving and not giving grace to our kids because that is how God made us. 

Yes, it's painful but our concerns should be more for what is spiritually going on with our kids that made them choose to walk away. We, as parents, will do everything that we can from our end to make things right.   Let's continue praying for our kids that God would infiltrate their heart to do the right thing.  If they are hurting for any reason, we pray that God would heal their hearts and emotions.  

Isaiah 49.25

Ephesians 6:1-4

Below is a link to a video of my testimony how God set me free!  It's on my youtube channel and needed to share this.   

This is my Mom who passed away in April of 2025.  She was my influence and why I was ready to finally surrender to Jesus! Love you Mom!

 Are you having issues in your marriage and not knowing how to fix it?  Are you ready to give up?  Let me give you some tips that will help you...

First,  answer this question. Why did you decide to marry your spouse?  What drew you to them?  Did you see yourself growing more in love for one another for the rest of your life?  If not, then maybe you both need to rethink and start fresh with your motivation for marriage. If your answer is yet, then pay attention...

God said in Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:5 that man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

What is One flesh?  You both are a TEAM, as husband and wife. You and your spouse have different qualities that merge together so you can build a successful family and live in harmony.  Your team environment really means that you work together to build your family and life.  You love one another and encourage one another. You comfort and support each other in all things.  You are NOT 2 separate people who just live different dreams and outcomes.  You are best friends who listen to each other, care about one another's ups and downs and want the very best for them.  You are not living 2 separate lives in one house with occasional love making to fulfill your desires and then move on to your separate lives again.  You are one flesh.  

God designed marriage to be this way because He knew that we would be raising our kids and our family with future grandkids who become our next generational family.  

That's why God said in Ephesians 5:22-25 Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.  The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church and He is the savior of the body.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.

So, we need to honor each other. Respect each other and care about one another's needs.  Be grateful toward your spouse when they do something for you. Be appreciative of their support and care for your needs.  Be a good listener and understand their hurts and concerns, whatever those may be.  Be humble and apologize when you are wrong. Period.  True love will want to do this.  Be present when they are talking to you.   You are ONE flesh. You are a TEAM that needs to stick together during the storms of life and not pull away. Forgive each other and be gracious. 

Pray for one another. Pray together.  Put God first and I promise, you will want to love your spouse more. Loving God enables you to see your own shortcomings and desire to do better in all parts of your life.