Author: BarbiePoling

[from the archives] In my last post, Peeling Bananas in Secret, I was talking about the way we could be letting others control us. I used to let my husband control me. I remember when the Lord first spoke through my conscience to me about the way I habitually related with my husband. I was… Continue reading Wrong Thinking?

[from the archives] Is there someone in your life that you allow to control you? I remember when my Josiah was two and a half. He controlled me. He didn’t like me to peel his bananas. He was incapable of peeling his own bananas, but he didn’t want me to peel them for him. If… Continue reading Peeling Bananas in Secret

[from the archives] I’ve been blessed to bring back to recollection so many wonderful memories of the Lord’s work in our lives as I wrote the last several blog posts (starting here). I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude at remembering the goodness of our God! Thank you Lord! I’ve been giving a picture of my process… Continue reading Having Their Hearts

[from the archives] The events of my last few blog posts (starting here) brought a complete change in Phillip. Before I began to meet with him each morning and love on him Phillip was closed, emotionally cold with an undercurrent of anger, resistant, willing and able to comfortably lie to me, isolated both physically and… Continue reading Love Empowers Heart-level Connection

[from the archives] Continuing on from my last blog post— In the morning, Phillip was out early searching our property and the next over vacant property for Rusty in the daylight. I again puzzled to myself at his uncommon concern for my dog, but I was grateful for his help. We had some errands to… Continue reading Love Empowers Repentance

[from the archives] Right around the time of the events I’ve been writing about over my last few blog posts (starting here), our family got a dog named Rusty. I grew up having dogs, and I’ve always loved dogs. My husband didn’t grow up with dogs, and didn’t really care for them, and my kids… Continue reading Love Draws Hearts Together

[from the archives] Continuing on from my last blog post—As I met with Phillip each morning loving on him and encouraging him in his small tasks, over the first couple of weeks, he began to melt into my arms a bit, and be a bit less stiff.  Sometimes my husband Tim would be home during… Continue reading Love Empowers Some Closeness

[from the archives] With my new understanding—love empowers obedience, which I wrote about in my last blog post—I began to think about my new idea’s application toward a particular issue that I was repeatedly having with my son Phillip who was 13 yrs old at the time. Phillip was regularly resisting my attempts to bring… Continue reading Love Empowers Some Simple Tasks