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The Amish Voice
MAP
P.O. Box 128
575 U.S. Highway 250
Savannah, OH 44874
(419) 962-1515
July 2015
Well, it's been awhile since I wrote, but
that does NOT mean that God hasn't been
teaching and revealing things to me! I'm
gonna tell you about the biggest thing
that has happened to me this year. It
might not sound big to you, but to me it
was HUGE. Thank You, Jesus! :)
This year started off VERY rocky for us
in more than one way, but in the middle
of all the chaos God gave me a golden
nugget. You know, I've always desired
to be a good wife, but felt like I failed
miserably in many different ways;
however, Psalm 37:4 says, "
Delight
thyself in the Lord; and He shall give you
the desires of thine heart."
I believe God always knows the desires
of my heart and He gives me wisdom in
little doses as I can handle it. I also
believe that sometimes God has to shake
my world (sometimes in a not-so-pleasant
way!), so I'm willing to listen to what He
wants to tell me, which is exactly what
happened at the beginning of this year.
My husband and I had hit some rocks in
our marriage and weren't sure how to fix
things and move forward. I was bent out
of shape and not at all in a praying mood.
I did a lot of "groaning in my spirit,"
though. One day, God so tenderly and
mercifully planted a beautiful thing into
my mind, and our marriage has soared to
heights we had never known! Ladies, let
me tell you, God has given us a huge,
important job when He created us to be a
man's helpmeet!
Anyway, the words that God put in my
mind were, "Joy, have you ever
TRUELY been your husband's safe
place?" At first it was a little like gears
grinding inside of me, because don't we
all want to think, "It's his fault; he should
come apologize to me first"?
However, the words, "safe place" kept
playing over and over in my mind like a
broken record, so I finally grabbed my
Bible (in a rather heated manner), and
started looking for the verse that had
those words in it. Now, I had read that
verse many times, but it had never soaked
in like it did that day.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust
in her, so that he shall have no need of
spoil. —Proverbs 31:11
Think about the safest place you can
imagine. I don't know where that is for
you all because we're all different, but for
myself, I think about a beautiful room
where I can cry if I'm sad and laugh when
I'm happy and I don't have to worry that
someone will say I'm crazy or weird. I
can say anything that's on my mind.
Anytime the world is going crazy around
me and things feel out of control in my
life, I can go into that room and be safe in
whatever mood I'm in. I can always
totally relax and let the cares roll off me
in that room.
What if, one day, I'd be sad and upset and
I would want to go into my beautiful, safe
room to get sweet relief, only to discover
that the door is locked? I would probably
go around looking for other doors or a
window because I know what's inside of
that room and I need that feeling so I can
cope with life and whatever situation I'm
in. I would probably bang on the door
and walls and shout things that I
really didn't mean, out of
desperation.
How long would I try
to get in before I'd
A Safe Place to Cry and Laugh
—Joy Knepp