Messy Beautiful Love Giveaway with Darlene Schacht…aka Time Warp Wife

NOTE: Winners to announce!!! Rebecca D. won Lynn Cowell’s book MagneticJulia R.  won Shari Braendel’s book Help Me Jesus, I’ve Got Nothing to Wear and Katherine won the color swatches. Congrats to all three of you. You will be getting an email from us at the address you left when you commented asking for your mailing address so we can get your prize to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~messy beautiful loveAre you suited up with the armor of God for whatever life throws your way?

I’m so excited to have one of my favorite people to hangout with doing online ministry, Darlene Schacht. You may know her as the Time Warp Wife. Darlene’s new book, Messy Beautiful Love is about cleaning up messes God’s way, exchanging your ideas for His, and being prepared for both the best and the worst that marriage has to offer. {Who wouldn’t want some cleaning advice}?  Leave a comment for a chance to win one of 3 giveaway books.

Now meet my friend Darlene.

darleneDarlene’s an Evangelical Christian whose number one priority is to serve Jesus Christ in every area of her life. She started Time-Warp Wife in 2010 out of a place of grace, with a passion to encourage women in their marriages.

She and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada. Married 25 years, they have four children (three still at home), a bird and two pugs who are everyone’s babies, especially hers! Their lives are basically surrounded with three things: faith, music and everything books. She’s an award winning and New York Times best-selling author who is nothing without the grace of God.

I’m Riding Beside My Husband In Battle…an excerpt from Messy Beautiful Love

Can we pause for a moment to talk about one of the most beautiful portions of scripture? It brings us back to that day in the garden, when God completed the work in which He had begun.  And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. – Genesis 2:18

Here we see the term, “help meet,” which in the Hebrew text is translated, What’s interesting to note is that the same word is found several times throughout the Old Testament when describing God as our helper.  But the fascinating part about this is that in nearly every reference where this term is used, God is coming to the rescue where He protects His people and How does that relate to my role as a wife?

Reading these passages I couldn’t help but wonder if my purpose in being a help meet runs deeper than merely doing the dishes, looking for keys, or folding his socks. Could it be that my purpose is to fight alongside my husband in battle? Could it be that my role as a help meet is to pray for him, to encourage him in his walk of faith, and to exemplify a strong faith of my own?

Don’t get me wrong, Titus chapter 2 calls women to be good keepers of their home, so don’t put down the duster just yet! But being a good keeper of the home includes watching over the affairs of your family–in other words “guarding the castle from harm.”

messyWhat I’m suggesting here is that we make a conscious effort to nurture our husbands spiritually through prayer and encouragement. So that we are the helper that we were created to be. Let’s suit up for battle by putting on the armor of God in accordance with Ephesians chapter six. Here are two of the verses that particularly stand out to me as I consider the ways in which our families come under attack. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. – Ephesians 6:16 (KJV)  

Our husbands, our children, and we ourselves are constantly faced with negative messages. When we stand strong in faith, we are prepared to quench each and every one with wisdom and strength from the Lord. This is why it’s so important that we stand guard over our heart and those that we love.

What a great teaser to learn more about guarding ourselves with God for the daily battle of life.

Now for the giveaway.

Leave a comment below telling when or how equipping yourself with the armor of God {His word} has helped you stand strong in faith.  Or tell us why you would like Darlene’s book on marriage.

Three fabulous winners will win a copy of Messy Beautiful Love.

66 Comments

  1. Karen, this book would be just what our Divine Physician ordered for both of my daughters. Their relationships can certainly use a spiritual healing new perspective with prayer and faith!

  2. What an awesome opportunity to win a well needed book! I do not often pray for my husband, but have noticed that when I do we seem to communicate better!

  3. Your book sounds wonderful. I am always looking for ways to improve my marriage. Marriage is hard at times and there have been times when I wanted to give up but God has always come through.

  4. As the marriage goes….so goes the family. Your book looks like a fresh and beautiful reminder that we need to “keep watch” over our hearts and over our families. I would love to know how to do it better. My husband and I are teaching a marriage class at our church. This book looks like something we could share with others to encourage them and help strengthen the bonds of marriage. THanks for you investment in God-glorifying marriages. The enemy wants to divide….but with the armor of God, we can and will stand fast.

  5. Thank you so much for the introduction. I do follow Time Warp Wife blog, but didn’t know much about Darlene. Its funny, GOD’S timing. My marriage at this time in our lives mirrors Messy Love, without even reading the book. My husband and I are so in love, but the trials of blended, interracial, family with teen girls of a 25 year single mom that grew up in an abusive home to overcome being an abuser, and a static of generational Welfare system; My husband a divorcee of 10 years of marriage 3 children, a job he’s been at for 18 years and does not enjoy., who went from rags as a child sleeping in garages to riches the back to rags. I can’t tell you the stress on our marriage, and yes I did leave out somethings. So in saying all that. I look forward to purchasing your book. God bless you and I hope one day I can write a book as well and come along side you beautiful ladies to help support wives and future wives of today.

    Marlo

  6. With the busyness of day to day life of a mom, I think most women get so caught up in checking off their “to do” list that biblical responsibilities to husbands inadvertently get forgotten OR get pushed to the bottom of our list without even realizing it. I know that has been the case for me for quite some time. Through a series of difficult circumstances, God has recently revealed to me that my responsibilities to my husband have been greatly lacking and I am currently working daily to prioritize my day in such a way to place my husbands needs and my wifely responsibilities at the top of my list. I would love to read this book as I believe it would provide me with a new perspective (or maybe remind me) and help guide me through this journey!

  7. I would like the book because I need to do the spriritual part for my husband. I don’t really encourage him, but I do want to do it. And I think this book would really help me in that area.

  8. I would love this book for myself for encouragement and help in my marriage, and so that I can share it with others, including my mother-in-law

  9. I love my husband and want to support and encourage him. He is such a Godly supporter of me. His work can be so stress-filled, and he needs Godly strength and wisdom. We need to arm ourselves with God’s word.

  10. Men are usually built for being warriors in the physical world but I think women appear to be built to be spiritual warriors… on their knees women fight hard. I’d love to learn more on being a better warrior for my husband.

  11. Wow! The message of this email really blew my mind! Without realizing it, I’ve been viewing my role of helpmeet as taking care of the home and its affairs. I’ve given little attention to helping my husband spiritually. Of course I pray for him and encourage him when he’s feeling down, but what does it mean to fight beside him in spiritual battles. I get the sense there is more to it than just praying for him and speaking an encouraging word. I am excited to step in to my role fully for I know it will build up my marriage even more .

  12. Having another resource to strengthen my spiritual being would be awesome. Handling my own battles can taxing enough. I’d like to have the perspective that I’m fighting on behalf of my husband, rather than too often feeling like he’s the battle.

  13. I have a hard time picking just one scripture that I draw strength from. There are so many and many for different needs. I’m so blessed to have my marked up loved on bible whenever needed and for daily strength. Darlene is gifted and sharing her spiritual gifts with us, allowing the Lord to speak through her. Looking forward to her book!!!

  14. My husband and I have been married for 15 years. I was the ‘other woman’ when we first got together. Our marriage was electric, and for the past 10 years we have been room mates at best. October 16,2013 I rededicated my life to my Lord.
    On June 1, 2014 my husband was saved and baptized! We are still room mates but my God is big enough to fx anything.
    I put on Gods armor every day. It’s helped me through this room mate faze. I could use this book

  15. I have a really hard time worrying about my own needs rather than those of my SO. I have a tendency to back off and not want to do things for him when I am not receiving them in return the way I think I should be. I do not always see that he is loving me in his way, and I need to appreciate that.

  16. I find myself needing to remember that God’s word is my offensive weapon against the enemy. It’s so easy to get discouraged when life keeps piling up on you!

  17. What an opportunity!! A chance to win this book I’ve been wanting to read!! I think this book will remind me how God can make something good out of my pieces of my broken heart! When I put on my armor of God, I am more prepared for what will happen that day & I think about it all day! Have a blessed weekend!

  18. Going through a horrible separation from my spouse. I’m really struggling to hold on to even a mustard seed amount of hope that we will reconcile. I would love to win a copy of this book. I’m needing all the hope and faith I can find right now.

    1. I will be praying for you, Mel. I am going through something similar and will be praying for strength and guidance in your life.

  19. THank you for this devotion, our youngest daughter had her first car accident a couple of days ago, as you might imagine all kinds of thoughts, frantic feeling (we are in another town 4 hours away), upset, starting to get negative (we lent her a car)..but then I turned to the Lord and prayed for strength, peace, and wisdom on how to handle the situation. My husband called from work and we talked and he told me he had prayed and said “the only important thing is that God protected our little girl and she is safe” —-I felt this peace and joy in my heart, because together, we stood with our armor of God on and we are facing the battle,” satan prowls around like a roaring lion” 1Peter 5:8, but we didn’t give satan a foothold in our situation YAY, we trusted God and stood together. God is greater than any of our giants…Amen

  20. I feel like I could be the subject material in this book…….
    Not that I have all the answers but I made a commitment to God first and then to my husband (senior pastor) that I would stand by him no matter what. When God placed him in my life over 35 years ago, I never dreamed the battles that we would go through, but we have maintained our commitment to one another through “hell” and back because of Christ in us. Yes, I wear this armor well but each day brings with it new attacks and both of us individually and together need to be committed to Christ first and then to each other as we walk this journey of life together.
    Thanks for this opportunity to share with many women the need for spiritual armor 24….7.
    Blessings to all of you!

    Deb C

  21. It so struck me for the statement of riding into battle along side our husbands and to stand guard over our heart and those that we love, being prepared to quench each with wisdom and strength from the Lord. I am excited to read this book and have another tool to help with putting on the armor with all the difficulties and challenges our family is facing. And am going to pass this book to my daughter who just got married this past weekend!

  22. My husband and I recently aided our daughter in a challenging pregnancy while her husband (our son-in-law) was deployed to the Middle East. She was feeling angry at his absence and at her health concerns. We spent a lot of time reading God’s Word and renewing faiths and peace. God saw us all through the tough times and His armor equipped us for the battle. God is good all the time and He was there to see our daughter through a healthy delivery of a beautiful and healthy baby girl. Our sweet Tahlia is a gift from God and reason to trust in keeping with God’s Word.
    Prayers together and for others will always strengthen those who are faithful in asking and bless both parties. Thank God!

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