By Cindy Nabb

Ever have those days when nothing seems to go the way you want them to?  Yeah?  Me too!  What really bothers me is that I had a plan, ya know.  I knew exactly what needed to get done and how I was going to accomplish it.  I knew what order I was going to do these tasks and the precise amount of time it should have taken me to get them done.  Then…reality set in.  The kids came flying through the door with mud on their shoes, on their jeans and in their hair?  Everyone was fighting and somebody smelled.  So I had to address these issues which, of course, set all my plans into a tizzy.  

My plans aren’t always God’s plans for my day.  I didn’t take the time that morning to surrender my day to Him and have His will reign over my time.  He knows what needs to get done better than I, what order they need to be done in and how much time they should take.  So much better is His plan, if only, if only I would get myself out of the way, I could see it.  

Tomorrow will be different.  I will start my day where I should, on my knees, asking My Lord to reign over my schedule. Asking Him to be Lord of my life and my days, and when the day is done, I can see all that I accomplished, even if nothing is checked off of my list.  His list is so much more important.

Ephesians 6:18  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

By Jason Nabb

Recently, I had an experience that shook me up quite a bit.  I am a huge advocate for purity as it has been a struggle of mine.  I have Covenant Eyes installed on my office computers and home computers as well.  Covenant Eyes is software that reports all of your online activity to “Accountability Partners” that you designate.  An email report is generated at regular intervals that allows your APs to check up on your online activity.  Very detailed reports.  Well, one of my APs today sent me an alarming, yet open-minded email making me aware of some indecent searches carried out on one of my computers.

I revealed this discovery to my wife immediately and began to investigate.  Several searches were made on lewd terms on one of my computers.  It was horrifying!  I felt a suspectful eye on me immediately.  It wasn’t from my wife or my APs.  It was from God.  I know I didn’t committ those searches.  It turns out they were made by malicious spyware I am in the process of removing from my computer with a scan as we speak.  However, it really made me think.  What if there was software that reported on my thought life activity?  What if detailed reports were generated on everything I let into my brain?  I hardly think I could blame “malicious spyware” for what those reports may say.

I would like to encourage you to consider the impact your thought life and struggles have on your wife and children.  You might think that your struggles with pornography or online gambling don’t have any bearing on your kids because they “don’t know.”  But the fact is, these things that you let occupy your mind leave little room for God or your family.  Your God, your marriage relationship and your children need to have your thoughts if they are to have your heart as well.

TIPS:

Put a photo of your wife and/or kids on your computer desktop.  Get online accountability.  Never, ever, ever delete your history.  Talk about it with your wife and get some accountability partners that you can relate to in terms of this struggle.  The book “Every Man’s Battle” by Stephen Arteburn has been a great resource for me.  If you need help with sexual addiction or would like more information, a great resource is www.joedallas.com.  I pray that you seek help if you should need it.  And if you don’t think you need it, please re-examine your thought life and make sure, as we deceive ourselves first.  God bless.

Hi, my name is Jason Nabb.  My wife, Cindy and I are knee-deep in raising six kids and loving it.  It’s hard.  Let’s face it, it’s really hard sometimes.  We are constantly on the lookout for information and help regarding the best way to instill our Christian values in our children.  We’ll be posting information here on child training, health, homeschooling and more as well as plenty of personal struggles along the way.  Thank you so much for your time and we hope your time here at PurelightParenting.com is well spent.  God bless your family.