Category: Alienation

• Being a Bossy-Pants Wife And WW Linkup

  I find it amazing how every good gift that God gives can be taken and ruined—when given time and wrong motives—by us as humans.  After all, a careful and wise use of control is what every good leader needs to wield! [Tweet “The trouble comes when you have two leaders fighting for control! #toomanychiefs”] Now…

  BethSteffaniak

  May 10, 2016

  About Me, Alienation, Attitude, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Communication, Conflict, Control, Discouragement, Entitlement, Expectations, Failure, False Beliefs, Messy Mom’s and Dad’s, My Failures Series, Negotiation, Pride, Realistic Expectations, Spiritual Leadership, Submission, Surrender, Wedded Wednesday

  Collaborate, Communication, Conflict, Control, Failure, Surrender, Teamwork, Trust

• What Men Fear about Opening Up And Linkup

  

  Today I want to continue to unpack the results of the “Men and Openness” survey by looking at question #5 … What do you feel you need to overcome in order to be better able to identify and share your feelings? (I allowed the men to choose all that applied) 70.49% – My fear of…

  BethSteffaniak

  February 2, 2016

  Alienation, Anger, Authenticity, Avoidance, Balance, Blaming, Bonding, Boundaries, Choices, Christ-Centered, Communication, Confession, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Confrontation, Control, Criticism, Discouragement, Emotions, Empathy, Encouragement, Fear, Gender Differences, Humility, Listening Skills, Marriage, Openness, Pain, Perseverance, Positive Focus, Prayer, Pride, Respect, Security, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday, Withdrawal

  Affirmation, Communication, Conflict, Empathy, Fear, Listening Skills. Active Listening, Openness, Prayer, Vulnerability

• Resisting God because You Feel Pressured?

  

  This week I’m tackling another way we let our spouses control us … “Resisting spiritual pursuits because your spouse is cramming them down your throat.” The spouse who has been pressured by his/her spouse in this way often “reacts” rather than “responds” to this situation. The distinction is an important one. A “reaction” is letting…

  BethSteffaniak

  January 24, 2016

  Acceptance, Alienation, Attitude, Avoidance, Balance, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Conflict, Control, Discouragement, False Beliefs, Insecurity, Prayer, Responsibility, Security, Self-deception, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Leadership, Spiritually Unequal, Toxic Baggage, Trust, Withdrawal, Wounds

  Codependent, Control, Insecurity, Reactive, Responsible, Security, Spiritual Leader

• ‘Fix’-ated on Changing Your Mate?

  

  Today we continue to unpack the many subtle ways our spouses can control us by talking today about the temptation to try to “fix” or change our spouse because he/she doesn’t do his/her part or do it correctly. This is very similar to the victim-mentality post I wrote about recently, but the emphasis is on…

  BethSteffaniak

  January 16, 2016

  About Me, Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Conflict, Confrontation, Control, Criticism, Denial, Discouragement, False Beliefs, Magical Thinking, Nagging, Resentments, Responsibility, Self-awareness, Self-deception, Unity, Victim Mentality

  Anger, Blaming, Conflict, Denial, Fixer, Judgmental, Perspective, Responsibility, Self-examination

• Feel like a Victim in Marriage?

  

  I’m back from a much-needed vacation to continue the series on how our spouses can control us. Today’s focus is about feeling like a victim in a hopeless marriage. Sometimes people who are in a hurtful marriage for a very long time and have tried to combat the issues for as long as they’ve been…

  BethSteffaniak

  January 2, 2016

  About Me, Alienation, Attitude, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Control, Discouragement, Expectations, Faith in God, False Beliefs, Forgiveness, Love of God, Marriage, Negative Self-Talk, Perseverance, Positive Focus, Prayer, Pride, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Safety, Victim Mentality

  Change, God’s Love, Learned Helplessness, Proactive, Responsibility, Safe People, Victim Mentality

• 3 Steps to Avoid a Parenting Power Struggle

  

  It’s easy to think that when your spouse does something that bugs you and you react, that you are making a conscious choice born out of your freewill to resist. But more times than not, you are allowing yourself to be controlled by your spouse’s actions or words. Today I want to continue the series…

  BethSteffaniak

  December 12, 2015

  Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Apologies, Attitude, Authenticity, Balance, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Control, Discouragement, Enabling, False Beliefs, Forgiveness, Messy Mom’s and Dad’s, Motherhood, Negotiation, Parenthood, Proactive, Responsibility, Self-awareness, Toxic Baggage, Victim Mentality, Vulnerability, Wounds

  Apologizing, Baggage, Codependency, Confession, Negotiating, Parenting, Power Struggles, Responsibility, Wounds

• Steps that Encourage Your Man to Open Up with You

  

  I’m excited about today’s post because I get to focus on the positive communication techniques that wives (or husbands) can do to improve times of sharing and disclosure with their spouses. I’d like to reference the top three responses to the second question on the Men and Openness Survey that I conducted recently. I asked:…

  BethSteffaniak

  December 8, 2015

  Acceptance, Affirmation, Alienation, Attitude, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Communication, Conflict, Control, Emotions, Empathy, Encouragement, Grace, Listening Skills, Men and Openness Series, Perseverance, Perspective, Realistic Expectations, Safety, Trust, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Active Listening, Communication, Empathy, Listening Skills, Openness, Safety, Vulnerability

• What Men Say About Opening Up And WW Linkup!

  

  Today we are diving into the first of the responses from the “Men and Openness” survey. The first question I posed to men was: What makes opening up and disclosing your feelings to your wife difficult? Here are the results … 65.52% – I am afraid my wife will become upset by my disclosures. 53.45%…

  BethSteffaniak

  November 10, 2015

  Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Attitude, Authenticity, Avoidance, Blaming, Choices, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Criticism, Discouragement, Encouragement, Fear, Listening Skills, Marriage, Men and Openness Series, Positive Focus, Prayer, Respect, Safety, Support, Trust, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Communication, Confession, Conflict, Emotional Safety, Emotions, Openness, Safety, Vulnerability

• The Day I Walked Out on My Husband And WW Linkup

  

  Today we have Aimee Imbeau who blogs at A Work of Grace with us sharing a guest post and hosting Wedded Wednesday while I am on vacation. I hope you’ll welcome her with oodles of comments and encouragement! 😉 I was devastated by his careless words spoken the night before as I walked out my…

  BethSteffaniak

  October 27, 2015

  Abandonment, Acceptance, Affairs, Alienation, Anger, Betrayal, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Commitment, Conflict, Faith in God, Forgiveness, God’s Redemption, Grace, Negative Self-Talk, Pain, Perseverance, Positive Focus, Reconciliation, Redemption, Resentments, Self-Reflection, Trials, Truth, Wedded Wednesday

  Acceptance, Forgiveness, God’s Redemption, Mercy, Perseverance, Proactive, Rejection, Trust in God

• Trusting God with My Marriage And WW Linkup

  

  Guest post by blogger – Robi Smith of Hopefulwifetoday.com It was three and a half years ago that I discovered my husband was addicted to pornography. I had been looking through his phone when I stumbled upon deleted still screens of images from porn websites. It came to me as a total shock. My husband…

  BethSteffaniak

  August 18, 2015

  Accountability, Addictions, Affairs, Alienation, Anger, Betrayal, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Communication, Confession, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Confrontation, Emotions, Faith in God, God’s Redemption, Lust, Prayer, Redemption, Sex & Sexuality, Sex/Porn Addiction, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Practices, Spiritual Warfare, Trust, Truth, Wedded Wednesday

  Accountability, Boundaries, Communication, Confession, Faith in God, Porn Addiction, Pornography, Prayer