I’ve disappeared again! I know! Here’s why:

This is my company’s busiest time of the year, so I’m working more hours on that. We are having our first ever open house at the end of November, so if you live near the Twin Cities area and want to stop in to say “hi” – I’d love to see you there! It will be held on Small Business Saturday (November 28) from 1-3. There will be door prizes for everyone, and you can smell over 50 varieties of hand crafted artisan soap. We’ve also got natural perfume oils, deodorant, salt bars, Texas limestone soap rocks, organic Moroccan argan oil, jojoba, and so much more. Shoot me an email if you want more information.

I’ve been writing in the afternoons; just not blogging.  To say “yes” to these things means I have to say “no” to blogging for a while. Here’s what I’ve been working on:

1. A document addressing a bunch of questions I got from a recent survey of my Apple Valley Natural Soap customers. (I finished it this week, and HERE it is if you are interested!)
2. A natural skin care document for my customers.
3. Making a PDF download of the only post that has ever gone viral on my blog: Deal Breakers: How to Avoid Marrying an Abuser. You can download it and hand out hard copies to young people you care about HERE.

Some great books I’ve read recently:

Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud – so much to chew on here. I need to read it again. Life changing.

Listening to (and LOVING) The Brothers K on Audible.

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield – a fast, motivational, kick butt read.

Ruhlman’s Twenty by Michael Ruhlman (FABULOUS book that teaches you the 20 important techniques of cooking. I’ve learned so much reaching this book. It’s hard to put it down.)

Here are some great articles I’ve read recently:

Jesus Fell Asleep by Wendy Alsup

For centuries, earnest Christians faithfully following Jesus have experienced a God who seems asleep at times, sometimes for long seasons in their lives. In the disciples’ case in Luke 8, He literally was asleep. In my life, it has seemed He slept as I needed direction. Sometimes, He felt asleep as I needed deliverance from a trial. But as time goes on and I can look back, I recognize that He really seemed asleep because He was at complete peace in how He was moving in my life—what He was teaching me and how the circumstances would resolve for His purposes in my life. He didn’t give me direction for a year because it was the absolute lack of direction that would funnel me into His next steps for my life. He didn’t deliver me from my trial because the trial itself was my path. He is at peace with His plan for my life.

Is Using Porn Grounds for Divorce? by Luke Gilkerson of Covenant Eyes

After writing more than 1,200 articles for Covenant Eyes and having replied to too many comments and e-mails to count, undoubtedly the most heart-wrenching stories I hear are from women who are living with a porn-addicted husband.

When a woman has discovered her husband is entrenched in pornography, reactions can vary greatly, but for many women it is nothing short of traumatic. Whether she’s dealing with the initial blow of uncovering a 20-year-long secret addiction, or she’s facing the daily blow of her husband’s coldness, for these women their life feels like a living hell.

In the past, when asked if divorce could ever be a viable option for these women, my typical response has been a reluctant no. As much as my heart went out to these women trapped in horrific marriages, I simply didn’t see any biblical justification for divorce in situations of porn use.

About a year ago I decided I was going to write my Master’s thesis about this topic and had intended to write a robust biblical defense of my position.

I never imaged I would come to the opposite conclusion.

And HERE is a fabulous video on how reconciliation is supposed to work. Because, you know, this is a key subject for all Wemmicks. (Hint: it’s not an easy breezy, “I’m sorry – hope we can sweep it all under the rug now and forget about it, because I’m not interested in talking anything out, and please don’t make me feel bad about how I hurt you because that wouldn’t be very Christian of you.”)

I’m still contemplating doing my first Periscope soon. My old phone broke, and I just got a new one a couple of weeks ago. One that is compatible with Periscope. I’m nervous to take the plunge, but I really want to do this. I was thinking of doing them while driving home from dropping my kids off to school. It would just be a 10 minute thing maybe talking about the latest thing I’m learning or reading about. But is anyone up for that at 8:00 in the morning?

Until next time…