The Jar Podcast | Marriage Counseling, Healthy Communication, Conflict Resolution, Rebuild Trust

Hey, Friend, I’m glad you’re here.

Something in this title made you click and listen, and my hunch is: you’re feeling a bit distant from God. You want more but you aren’t sure why you still feel that longing in your heart, that distance or emptiness.

And it’s even impacting the intimacy with your husband– you feel far from him, too.

You’ve tried “drawing near to God so He will draw near to you.” You’ve spent time reading the Word and going to church…and still you long to feel closer and be able to hear Holy Spirit when He’s speaking to you and draw on His strength when you’re weak.

Well, Linda, listen… there might be something standing in your way: you. But as you know, I’m not gonna sit here and point fingers.

Today I’m sharing 3 things that have held me back and can be keeping you from a more intimate relationship with God.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Do you get irritated and annoyed sometimes… with YOURSELF? 

Do you find yourself unable to stop the verbal vomit from spewing? (ew. Sorry. That was gross. But hey, so are our words sometimes!) 

You want FREEDOM from yourself, your sin, your tendencies to think or act a certain way.

Okay, so now you KNOW you can be FREE from yourself, and you know you need to “control only what you can control,” and you nodded along to last episode’s 4 things to expect when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. You’re a smart person, you understand these things…

But HOW? How do we actually begin to make this change or see a difference? 

How do we intrinsically begin to change because our HEARTS are different, and not just try to take head knowledge and turn it into better behavior?

Today we’re going to walk through 4 Practical Steps to Find Freedom from Your Emotions and Reactions as a Spirit-Led Wife.

Get your notebook and coffee and get ready cuz here we go.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Are you a wife, a Christian wife, or even a separated wife and you want FREEDOM from… yourself? That’s kind of a weird question, but hear me out.

Do you want to be FREE from your controlling nature, your anger, your knee-jerk responses, or your lack of self-control?

Are you sick of dealing with the instant regret after emotionally exploding on your spouse or tired of feeling the slow guilt after verbally vomiting on your husband?

How come you can deal with other people’s crap, read your Bible, and go to church yet you can’t seem to control your tongue or your temper, have patience or be kind?

Today we’re dealing with our ugly but you’ll walk away 4 things you can expect when you walk and talk as a Spirit-led wife.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Imagine walking through a still-smoldering forest after a wildfire. Smell the burnt wood, the sharp sting of the smoke in your nose. Listen to the eerie silence of no birds chirping and the sound of crunching under your feet as you step on twigs and fallen branches. Then see the bottom of your shoes covered in soot and ash, smears of black…

It’s unrecognizable. You know this forest well, and it looks nothing like it used to.

I bet this has been your marriage at one point. After the toughest time you’ve faced, the most painful moment, or the biggest disaster, and it’s unrecognizable.  As you survey the damage you may find it both extremely sad and hopeless.

Today I’m talking about 3 ways that you can partner with God in your recovery from pain and aid in the regrowth process after destruction in your marriage.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Have you walked through the fire in your marriage? Have you looked back at the remains of your marriage, the smoldering charred remnants that leave the marriage you once knew unrecognizable? The damage done seems irreparable, permanent, a total loss.

But… what if you knew there was life underneath? What if you knew that BECAUSE of the fire, the growth after the burn was in fact MORE green, lusher, more beautiful? I know it’s hard to believe or even care about in the midst of destruction, and this isn’t to discount that loss or pain.

Today I want to offer just a glimpse of the possibility of thriving after the fire and how it can help you recover or even walk through future fires with a different, a more eternal, perspective.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Have you ever picked weeds in your front yard? It’s slightly annoying and sweaty, back-breaking work, but it’s satisfying work that makes you feel good about your landscaping and helps the bushes to grow and HOA to not send notifications. Around here in Texas, it also helps keep snakes and spiders out!

Now imagine trying to take care of a lawn that you’ve neglected for a couple of months– the time you’d have to spend pulling weeds, the tools you’d need now to help you yank the deeply-rooted ones, the gloves you’d have to wear to yank, the length of time it’d take to get it all cleared.

Now imagine having to cut down a dead tree that vines took over, uproot a dead bush that weeds took over, replace the mulch where those were, plant grass seed and now have to redo a bunch of your yard because you had ignored it for so long.

I want you to come into today’s conversation with that picture in your mind… because it helps us keep the dirty work of removing “soul weeds” in perspective and motivates us to do the necessary daily and repetitive work.

Today we’re gonna get into the nitty-gritty application of what we’ve been learning over the past two weeks. (and hey, you can pop your earbuds in and go actually pick those weeds growing out front while you listen!) Go grab your coffee and get ready cuz here we go!

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

We close our eyes or raise our hands during worship and sing words like “Christ is enough for me” or “I am a child of God,”  and we nod our heads when the pastor says “you were made in the image of God,” only to walk out the church doors to return to sin.

Or maybe you squirm in your seat as you hear things like that because you struggle with the shame of what you’ve done or what’s been done to you and you don’t believe you’re worthy of that kind of image to bear. Do you struggle to connect the truth when it’s spoken to truly believing it?  

Today I want to take step three from last week's episode about restoring your identity in Christ, “Remove,” and unpack it a little bit more and offer some practical tips and questions to uncover strongholds, false beliefs, and lies that keep you stuck in negative patterns of behavior and add to issues in your relationships and that need to be removed so that you can restore your identity in Christ. Otherwise, what’s the point in giving you steps if they aren’t broken down and implemented?   

Get your coffee and notebook ready and let's go.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

What do you say when people ask you about yourself? “I’m a wife, a mom, a teacher, a….” But suddenly you’re faced with a lackluster marriage, kids that argue back, and a job that’s no longer fulfilling?

And maybe that’s you right now. If we got to meet face to face, you would not really know what to say about yourself or you’d struggle to name your titles because you’re going through such a hard time that nothing is going the way you thought it would.

What if. What if you believed that you were all that God says you are in Christ? How would that change the way you lived, the way you interact with others, or even your relationship with the Lord?

Listen, Linda, I might step on your toes today, but it’s because I love you and so does God. These 4 steps will help you get rid of mistaken identity and renew and restore your identity in Christ.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Communication in marriage is one of the most foundational elements and yet one of the most frustrating parts of marriage. I know this from personal experience and also from listening to you… those of you that have joined my Facebook community and that I have the privilege of getting to know better have also said communication is your #1 struggle in marriage.

So today I brought you a guest. Her name is Dr. Carol Tanksley. She’s an author, speaker, personal coach, licensed OBGYN physician, and ordained Dr. of Ministry, and she loves to help people find the transformation that Jesus offers in areas of broken relationships and mental/ emotional problems. Today she’s going to give you three rhythms of communication that can bring unity and connection in your marriage.

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community

Hey, friend. 

I just wanted to let you know that I see you. You might be putting on a brave face right now. You might be holding your emotions down, and you might even be pretending pretty well– maybe no one around you sees how overwhelmed and weighed down you feel about the state of your marriage. 

You carry a burden of wanting more for your husband and you yet feel discouraged and even depressed about the lack of movement and growth. Or you’ve got your earbuds in right now on a walk because you had to get outside in the fresh air to just get some space. Or, you think things are too far gone, there’s no turning back or changing anything now– it’s over.

Deep breath, sis. Deep breath. Today we’re going to build some biblical resiliency. You will walk away filled with more hope and strength and courage to walk tall and with your head up than when you first pushed play. 

So if you’re ready to be encouraged and uplifted today, go get your coffee and get ready cuz here we go…

Most Beautiful/ So In Love by Maverick City Music

Loads of Love,

Lydia

--> FOLLOW so you don't miss a show!

--> Leave a 5-star rating & written review

--> Join the Christian Wife and Marriage Facebook community