The Marine's Wife: The Picture Frames We Hang on the Wall

By L. Richardson

First of all, this is not a self-help book. This a journey to discovering the true beauty that each of us has resonating on the inside. Getting married, having children, pursuing a career, and not knowing our true identity is a train wreck waiting to happen. I have lived on a continuous merry-go-round. The merry-go-round starts out slow paced; then, it increases speed, and finally, one day you realize that you cannot control the speed (not that you were ever in control anyway). As a woman, we go through life carrying pain from place to place, never really getting the healing that we need. Yes, there is some surface healing, but it crumbles when we find ourselves back in a position of vulnerability. We go through life taking pictures based on our pain, our experiences. These pictures that we take, we place them in frames and hang on our walls. Some of these pictures we allow others to see and some of them we keep hidden in the background. We look up one day and realize that all the pictures that we have taken have created the person that we are currently. Not all our pictures are painful; there are some great pictures that each of us has taken. My prayer is that the good pictures, the pictures that make us smile and give us warm, cozy feelings, outnumber the pictures that cause us to hold our heads down in shame, guilt, and regret. Let us lift our heads. We are more than our past and our experiences! God has great plans for us, and He will finish what He has started!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886444711

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Scriptures to Ponder

Introduction

The Beginning

Picture Frames

Taking Down—End of Me

New is Now

Repositioning

The Surrendered Life

The Secret

Overflowing and Giving It Away

The Rest of the Story

Personal Note: Rising from the Ashes

About the Author

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The Marine's Wife

The Picture Frames We Hang on the Wall

L. Richardson

ISBN 979-8-88644-470-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88644-471-1 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 L. Richardson

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Dedication

In loving memory of my mom who, without fail, displayed a character of forgiveness and unconditional love. My mom recently passed away. She did not get a chance to read the book that she (and others) encouraged me to write. God answered my prayer and gave me the opportunity to spend twelve hours with my mom, and then she went to be with Him in glory! We got the opportunity to say things from our hearts that needed to be said but most of all we both got the opportunity to express how much we loved each other and how much we would miss each other.

Mother, you will always be forever in my thoughts and my heart. When I think of genuine love, I will no doubt think of you!

I love you, Mom.

Scriptures to Ponder

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. (Psalm 86:5 NKJV)

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (Mark 11:25 NIV)

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Psalms 32:1 NIV)

But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by being good enough and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us not guilty—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal; yet now God declares us not guilty of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins. (Romans 3:21–24 TLB)

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)

Read the book of Ephesians. It is filled with so much wisdom. Ephesians: our identity in Christ.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13 NLT)

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31–32)

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13 NIV)

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9–11 NIV)

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16 NIV)

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10 NIV)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother who he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

Introduction

First, this is not a self-help book. The purpose of this short book is to inspire and encourage, as well as to help us confront the inner person, so that the person that God predestined us to be can emerge. This is a book about discovering and facing truth and traversing our way through our past, our pain, our stagnation, and to gently compel us to do something—take a step, move forward, and trust God to reflect light for the next step and the next step. It is true that some of us have lived through some horrible and disappointing things. We simply feel stuck and is fearful and unaware about what it is we need to do.

Encouragement: Our Abba Father (Daddy) knows exactly what we need, what needs to be done, and, best of all, He knows the right time to do it.

Before we begin this journey, it is so important that we understand that God loves us; and it is truly okay to be sincere, truthful, and straightforward with God. He can handle it. Let's lay the book down, remove our makeup, close our eyes, and then open our eyes and look at ourselves in the mirror (naked, unmasked); and the first thing I want us to recognize about ourselves is that we are so much more than the pain, the scars, the wounds, the things that are locked deep down inside, and the negative things we may be feeling about ourselves. We have all sinned and fallen short and thank God we do not have to stay there. We are forgiven, we are so loved, so accepted, so complete by our Father God, and we are beautiful! Regardless of what our lives look like right now or how we feel right now, we must push beyond all of this and embrace the fact that we are God's masterpieces. He created (designed) us and had a plan for our lives before we were a seed in our mother's womb. God has invested in each of us. He knows our potential and has called and equipped us to accomplish His objective(s). He has a purpose for our lives. He has begun the excellent work, and He will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. There is no such thing as a nobody, a useless person. God has a place for each of us. Yes, ladies, we are crowned with beauty and so much potential! So going forward, every time we look in the mirror, I want us to know and believe that we are looking at someone who God has knit together and praise Him for we have been fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Look at ourselves and see the miracle that we are. We are his handiwork; we are incredibly!

The Beginning

We all live in glass houses to a certain degree, so he or she who is without sin, without fault, cast the first stone. I was on this track of going nowhere and going there fast. I did not want to slow down, pause, and take a breather because I knew, just like most of you reading this book, that when you slow down, you notice that things are not as they seem on the surface. I did not want to look deeper. I did not want to peer over the edge of truth. I had sensed in my spirit that I needed to get away. Get away to where? I kept telling myself. How many of us know that we don't have to physically go away to actually get away? There was this uneasy feeling inside, these voices that would not be quiet in my mind, and no matter what I did to try and silence the voices on the inside, they kept getting stronger.

In 2006, the message I was hearing was clear: there is something wrong with this picture. I did not completely understand this message because I was living in la-la land. I could not see what was happening around me; at least I did not want to see what was happening around me. As I looked back, the signs were there, but for some reason, I ignored them and expelled them away. Little did I know that everything that I had believed in was about to crumble. Life as I knew it was spiraling out of control. I couldn't sleep, so I began taking sleeping pills to just sleep and not feel—temporary fix. I can still remember the moment when it all fell apart.

When two people have been together for so long, helped each other advance through life by the support they give each other, and one day they