My String of Pearls

By Teri Clendaniel Murphy

I hope that somewhere within these pages you will be inspired, that the words inside will comfort you and give you hope. My prayer is that each and every person who reads this book will be drawn to seek out God for themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490869636

Teri Clendaniel Murphy

She is a missionary who has written religious newsletters on a monthly basis for Sonrise Mission in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and several articles for the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Miami, Florida. She also made many television and radio appearances in Fort Lauderdale spreading God’s message.

Book preview

Choose to Love

I have encountered a lot of talk about marriage over the past month. My own, my friends and my clients - it seems as though many people have questions about the marriage they are in or the one they will be in soon.

Bill and I have been married for 12 and 1/2 years. My parents have been married for 50 years. Bill’s parents were married for 50 years. In today’s world very few newlyweds will stay married for even 5 years and that is very sad.

There have been a few times when I thought getting married was the biggest mistake I made. Usually these are the days when my feelings get really hurt. There are other times when I entertain thoughts in my head that come straight from the pit of hell. Most times though, I can’t thank God enough for giving me Bill Murphy.

Many women ask me about the relationship that I have with Bill because when you stand outside and look in the window it looks so perfect. We try not to put each other down and try always to be each other’s biggest fan, whether anyone is around to see or not. That’s a big plus but marriage is so much more than that.

Bill Murphy will not argue with me. When I get in a mood and I just want to argue he simply says, I am not going to argue with you and he goes in another room, takes a ride or goes out and works in the yard. By the time he comes back around I’ve usually gotten over being angry at whatever it was that was bothering me and we can talk about it in a mature manner.

Most of our problems can be resolved simply because we make a choice to love each other in spite of our differences.

He doesn’t eat fruit, or very much junk food, or nuts, or lots of other stuff that I enjoy. This causes some difficulty when it comes to meal times. He claims he’s not picky but he really is. He tells the story that when he was growing up that when his mom cooked a meal, if any of the kids complained she’d say Oh, well, tomorrow night you will like dinner because you will be making it.

Bill will usually eat anything I put in front of him, and I in turn try to fix what he likes. Although he isn’t a big fan of chicken, he’ll eat it if I make it.

Before I go to the grocery store, I ask, Hey, is there anything you would like for dinner this week. He ALWAYS says, Not that I can think of". He claims he just doesn’t think about food in that way, Which makes it difficult for me to go grocery shopping when I have no idea what to make for him. Now this sounds like a silly little thing, but some couples would actually let something little like this pull them apart.

Then there are the big issues, like when he might really hurt my feelings. There have been times when he has said or done something that I find totally unacceptable. My little heart gets crushed because I love him and I can’t believe he just did/said that!

Now those are the times that it gets real serious in the Murphy household.

Oh and then he does this thing that drives me real crazy––like when I am mad at someone, he always brings Jesus in it and let’s ME know that I am not being very Christian like! UGH!

But seriously, marriage is a HUGE commitment. It’s not something that you just Jump into because you don’t like to be alone. Or because for the moment you like this other person. Or because all of your friends are married. Many times people even get married because they know they shouldn’t be having sex so they get married for the sake of lust!

Marriage is a lot of work but at times it can be so rewarding. The other day I broke down. I have been feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I had recently gone to the doctors because my shoulder has been hurting for months. As it turns out, I have what is called frozen shoulder. So the doctor gives me some prednisone, which as it turns out, I can’t take. So here I am, carrying around this heavy load on my frozen shoulder. I take this medicine that is supposed to help me; when all of a sudden my body starts doing crazy things. I found myself in the bathroom and I just started sobbing. Let me tell you folks, I do not like to cry. It makes me feel like I am weak. So I come out of the bathroom and there is Bill Murphy. Know what he does? He just grabs me and holds me and lets me cry. Later I said, Bill Murphy, I’m sorry I lost it like that. I hate to cry and burden you with my problems. Can you believe this man then said to me, Teri, I love you and when I see you like that the only thing I can do is comfort you, and it’s an honor for me to comfort you. Just think of all the people out there, the homeless people, the widows, and the elderly who don’t have anyone. They feel just like you do but they don’t have anyone.

It’s times like these that I know God has given me a very special gift when He gave me Bill Murphy.

For those of you who are married, it’s so easy to see each other’s faults, but it’s also easy to look past those faults. It’s a choice that you need to make, I tell you, Bill Murphy got some real brownie points that day, which will last for a long time, Any time I even think of getting mad at him, I think of those words he spoke to me.

When you get married, you become a family. We are to love one another and lift each other up. We are to apply the characteristics in 1 Corinthians 13.

My mother always told us kids (I have 5 brothers and 1 sister) when we were arguing and being mean to one another, there are enough people in the world that will try to hurt you, don’t hurt each other, you are family. You are all each other have. That has stuck with me for over 40 years.

Today if you are mad at your spouse or your family, or a brother or sister in Christ, or anyone, let it go. Choose to love. You might be surprised a what you get in return.

Being Free

S everal months ago I was given a book by one of our teachers called A More Excellent Way. I have to be honest in saying that when I glanced through it, it appeared to be a book about diseases and healing and the only thing that I gained from flipping through it, was that we are sick because of sin in our life. For whatever reason (pride, ignorance, whatever) I didn’t read the book. Months later, Jim Bracken (the founder of the Mission) had been talking to Bill about this same book and Bill began to read it. He told me that he thought that I could relate to several areas in the book (self hatred, depression, etc.) and that I should read it.

I began to read and one sentence stuck with me in the beginning of the book and has been with me ever since. It said that with freedom comes responsibility. I began to think about that, and search my Bible to see why I was feeling compelled to know more. I was surprised at how different scriptures stood out to me. Not necessarily for healing in matter of disease, but just healing in general.

For instance, when I first began to really search for God and began this journey, there were many areas in my life that needed healing. I needed healing from addiction, healing from a broken heart, healing from regrets. The one thing I didn’t even know I needed healing for was my health!

I know that God has set me free in a lot of areas that had me bound. But there always seems to be more! As I was searching, I re-read many scriptures. The first was in John 8. It tells of a woman that was brought to Jesus because she had been caught in the act of adultery. According to the Law of Moses, this was a sin that was punishable by stoning. But Jesus asked that whoever was without sin to throw the first stone. When no one could do this, He told the woman that He did not condemn her and to "go and sin no more". He had set her free (literally) and told her not to do it again.

Luke 17 tells us the story of 10 lepers. They called out for Jesus to have mercy on them when he was entering their village. When he saw them, he told them to go show themselves to the priests. As they were on their way, they were cleansed. When one of them saw what happened, he returned to Jesus and