Until death do us part... That just may have been the words of Abigail as she watched the last of her drunk and idiot husband breathe his last breath.  Little did she know that soon after that she would become part of a king's dynasty and part of a man that loved God, but with a lot of dysfunction. This podcast centers on the dysfunctional Marriage of Abigail and Nabal and then becoming the wife of King.  One of many wives.  Abigail and Nabal If you had to pick a bad marriage this is the one!   Abigail married the drunk fool Nabal.  Nabal had no respect for the Lord or for David.  Nabal shuns David's help giving cover to his vast herd of animals, leaving David and his band of warriors without so much of a morsel to fill their bellies.  What could turn out to be a war where David leaves no one to live, in swoops Abigail with tons of food.  Enough to feed an army!  As well as the respect for who David was and the God he served.   Submitting herself to David and being a great PR woman, Abigail is able to soothe David's temper and save her household.  God puts an end to Abigail's dysfunctional family by sending Nabal to an early grave. David and Abigail If you are into big marriage proposals, this is probably not the story for you.  There was no dropping down off the camel and bending on one knee, professing his undying love for Abigail.  Abigail just plain and simply becomes the wife of  David and he brings her into a merry band of warriors on the run.  When he becomes king, however, he then requests for his first wife Michal to be brought to him.  Talk about a dysfunctional family.  It's bad enough when your hubby travels so much, but when you get home there is the ex-wife.  Brings you right back into the pit of dysfunction, doesn't it?  Summary Come listen to our podcast about David and Abigail as part of our Dysfunctional Families of the Bible Podcast.  You can catch up on all the other podcasts in this series here; Dysfunctional Families of the Bible  The story of David and Abigail can be found in the following Scriptures:1Samuel 25

Let us introduce you to the 2nd family of Dysfunction in the Bible.  David and Michal. Dysfunctional Families of the Bible - David and Michal In this podcast, Amy and I talk about dysfunctional families in the Bible- David and Michal.    Yes, there is more than one in God's word!   There can come a sigh of relief as we understand that we all are dysfunctional here in the 21 century.   No one is immune to the dysfunctional mess our flesh can get us into at times. Let's also praise a loving and forgiving God who understands our dysfunctional family and loves us through it.  David is called a man after God's own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14,Acts 13:22 )  David loved God even through his mistakes.  Michal was David's first wife and there were serious father-in-law issues. The Wives of David- Dysfunction at its best Only eight wives are listed in the Bible.  However, scripture indicates that there were more than that and concubines as well.  You can read about David and his wives in 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and in 1's Chronicles.   Michal- David's First Wife- Dysfunctional Marriage The spoils of victory are that of fine food, gold, and the king's daughter.  Michal becomes David's first wife.  While this may have been out of convenience for Saul in search of finding a way to keep David ( his number one enemy) closer.  Michal loved David. Michal was one of Saul’s two daughters (1 Samuel 14:49) and the younger of the two daughters. We are told in 1 Samuel 18:20 that Michal loved David. Why wouldn't she love David?  A mighty warrior and bringing foreskins home to her Daddy.  ( yes, double the required amount)  What girl would not die to marry such a man? Conclusion Amy and I are totally enjoying the dysfunctional issues that God shows us in the Bible.  It makes us feel so much better about our own disfunction.!     Need to catch up on the past Podcasts on Dysfunctional Families in the Bible.  You can find them all here: Dysfunctional families of the Bible Here are some other podcasts you might want to catch up on as well.  Girls Got Game Podcast

As Amy and I talk about the latest family drama down, we realize that nothing changes.  What we don't learn from history we end up repeating and so goes our family of dysfunction.  The Story of Leah, Rachel, and Jacob is more of the same, but with a twist.  The sisters who soon become sister wives pit each other's jealousy against each other with Jacob the only winner in this contest.  Our podcast has turned from a Dysfunctional family to a  Dysfunctional Dynasty and we find it all the same issues here with Jacob.  The grandson of Father Abraham  Jacob becomes the middle man (literally )  for Leah and Rebeckah.  Sisters, and now rivals, they pit themselves and their maidservants against each other, in hopes of being the best in the eyes of Jacob. It is an ongoing attempt to become a dynasty, but yet God's hand is in all of it, from the start.  Leah and Rachel's jealousy There is nothing more ugly than the craziness of trying to compete against one another for the favor of your man.  These girls were truly sister wives and yet could not get along for the sake of the family.  Come sit at our table as we discuss the craziness of these guys and how God still works through Jacob to bring about the messiah.  Summary   As you listen to our podcast you will find the following links for additional information referenced in our podcast.  Jacobs travel map.  Thank you  John Paul Stanley / YoPlace.com. for  putting out images for public use Genesis 28 Deuteronomy 31:6 Girls Got Game Podcast- Judah and Tamar      You can also and check out the remaining podcast in our series of Girls Got Game Podcast.   Get caught up on all of our podcasts as well as our Blog on Encouraging Psalms of hope when things seem out of control. Thank you for sitting with us at our table as we discuss the dysfunction between Leah and Rachel and hubs, Jacob.

The Bible Story of Isaac and Rebekah   What a great story we find in the Bible about Isaac and Rebekah.   You can find the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 21- 25.   Our Podcasts  #128 Dysfunctional Families of the Bible continues on with the son of Abraham moving out and moving on to better pastures and a hand-picked wife for Isaac.  Who better to pick your wife, than your father's servant.   The Bible Story of Isaac and Rebekah, take on a new slant as we look at the way God weaves in the romance while watering camels.   Rebekah will do a lot to catch a man.  But does that continue after marriage?  We will never know.   But what we do know is that Rebekah is finally blessed with twins Jacob and Esau. Life should be blissful.  But the reality is it was not really happy ever after.  Jacob and Esau in the Bible The saga continues with this family in Genesis 25-27.  Jacob and Esau are fighting it out before they were even born.  While mommy is overworking the birthright thing with her favorite son, Jacob.   Esau is out hunting wild game.  This family just continues the ongoing saga of Dysfunctional families in the Bible.   Feel free to catch up on our previous podcasts from the series Dysfunctional families of the Bible.  #126 Dysfunctional Families of the Bible - Abraham, and Sarah #127 Dysfunctional Families of the Bible - Sarah and Hagar  You can also find a quick summary of the Book of Genesis here from the Bible Project- Genesis.  Do not forget to get your copy of Father Abrahams's family tree.    The family is growing just as God promised Abraham.  So it can start to get a little confusing.  Summary As we start to break down the family tree of Abraham and Sarah, we can rest on the truth that God does not expect perfection but a heart that is constantly striving to serve God.  God is bigger than any of our dysfunction!   The story of Isaac, Rebekah, and Jacob, and Esau makes us realize that our everyday issues today, were the same issues of the past.  We can rest in the assurance that only God can bring function to a dysfunctional world.

What are some Signs of a Dysfunctional Family? One of the characteristics that may define a dysfunctional family is creating drama within your family.  Making a functional family dysfunctional because of your behavior.  That is what we have in the story of Abraham and Sarah and the "sister" wife, Hagar.  It is hard enough to have a functional marriage, but when you throw another woman into the mix you have just thrown your family into chaos!  Even when it was permissible it was not always functional.   Genesis 16, we see that Sarah, in her over-functioning for God sends Abrahams's family into a new world of turmoil and utter dysfunction. Sarah extends her husband to Hagar for the purpose of producing offspring.  Abraham takes her up on this offer!  Yikes, Abraham, maybe you should have thought this through a little?   This may be in hopes of creating the promise of God through Hagar.  The reality is that God does not need us to set his plan in motion.   Who was Hagar in the Bible? Hagar is the maidservant that becomes Abrahams's wife and bears a son, Ishmael for Abraham. One innocent maidservant, thrown into the middle of a dysfunctional family.  By no fault of her own, she bears the cruel punishment of Sarah over the birth of Ismael.  Hagar's tears are heard by God and promises are made to Hagar through her son Ishmael.  Sarah becomes the over-functioning wife who tries to control her marriage and the promises of God.  How can I learn more about the history of Abraham and Sarah?  We are linking the Bible Project Video here below for more overall information on Genesis.  We also ask that you read Genesis 16 to get a greater grasp of the actual Story.  We will link the Bible Verses referenced in our podcast.  Genesis 16 The Bible Project -Genesis 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Summary We are so grateful for the truthful stories that God shares with us about families.  We are not perfect wives, husbands, maidservants, and stepchildren.   That does not mean that God does not love us or forgive us when we fail.  If you are a step-parent or a blended family, please jump over to our sister website, WWW. Gritty-Grace.com  for specific with blended family issues. 

The Story of Abraham in the Bible  As we study the story of  Father Abraham we realize that the Bible does not hold back the personal issues that plagued Abraham and his wife Sarah.   Amy and I go through the Bible story of Abraham, starting in  Genesis 11:27. We recommend that you take some time to read the story of Abraham in the Bible starting in Genesis 12 so that you can better understand our discussion on the faith that Abraham had and his trust in God's promise.  You might start to find it confusing to follow just by our podcast.  We actually started out with 5 episodes, however,  there was so much meat in these divine words from the Bible that we actually extended this series.   So this week we will just be talking about Abram and where he was supposed to go according to God.   However, we are including in this week's lesson Abrahams Family tree. We also thought you might find it fitting to go back and listen to the podcast below about Abraham's nephew Lot. We talk about him for about a bit in the podcast.   Follow the links below and print it Abraham's family tree or save it for your convenience.   Abrahams Family Tree PDF  Crazy Lot's wife Podcast  The truth is his story goes on long after his death and is referenced many times in the Bible.  We reference a few of these as well in our podcast.  Check out those Bible references below.  Genesis 18:19 Acts 7:2 Check out more of our podcasts on Thebibleandcoffeepodcast.com

We all think that God's people must have perfect lives and perfect marriages.  Far from the truth my friend.  The Bible is filled with dysfunctional families.  So many that it was hard to pick which families full of unfunctional messes to even discuss.

From Church in PJ's to moving forward Amy and I look back for a minute and then look forward to what lies ahead in 2021. Amy may have made a commitment to journal a little bit...!

The topic of healthy eating is not an overly discussed matter in Christian circles. Our lives are often centered around potluck dinners and large tables with slices of pie and cream-filled desserts that we label as heavenly.   But the truth is God discusses through scripture our diet and how food is to be to God's glory and not our demise.   Listen to my conversation with a great friend Brandy Wegley, a health coach and a pastor's wife who has walked with me through my journey to become healthy!   If you want to get more information from my friend Brandy Wegley, please feel free to email us at [email protected]

I sit down with my friend Julie Holland as we talk about how her faith and the service of others are helping her walk through covid issues as an administrator for a school district in Texas.    We also talk about our journey together as we are finishing up a year-long Bible Study together through the Bible Recap. If you are struggling with fear and anxiety, feel free to catch our podcast with Jerryd Wallace, episode #122 How to handle fear in a chaotic world.    As always, keep the coffee hot and the conversation flowing!