{"id":1755,"date":"2015-05-06T20:36:24","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T20:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1755"},"modified":"2015-05-06T20:36:27","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T20:36:27","slug":"sweetnlow-or-equal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1755","title":{"rendered":"Sweet’NLow or Equal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As my husband and I were preparing to leave on a trip to Israel, I awoke one morning, recalling a dream. I remembered hearing a booming voice ask a question: \u201cDo you want to be Sweet\u2019N\u2019Low or Equal?\u201d Little did I know, God was announcing his agenda for me for our upcoming trip. I squirmed as I began to sense what this might mean, because I dreaded conflict. From early childhood, I had been taught to be submissive and obedient to those in authority. My anxiety stemmed from the fact my parents divorced when I was 17, having never uttered an unkind word in our presence. Was a similar land mine buried in my marriage?<\/p>\n

Alan, on the other hand, ruled the house like a Gestapo, with a high degree of control and dominance in the early days of our marriage. I knew he would be upset if I became more assertive.<\/p>\n

The dream mentioned both Sweet\u2019N Low and Equal, popular sugar substitutes at the time. God seemed to be suggesting my husband needed an equal partner, not an artificial sweetener. He was both awakening and stirring up a resolve in me that each of us had a calling, our futures were intertwined and my strength was required for the joint ministry he had planned for us.<\/p>\n

We arrived exhausted in Jerusalem after a laborious journey. Alan napped the next day, while I went to the Holocaust Museum. On the way, an impression grabbed my attention, \u201cGideon\u2019s Ambush.\u201d This seemed to refer to the biblical account of Gideon cowering from the call of God. Oh no! I realized God was launching a frontal attack on Alan\u2019s iron fisted rule. I was required to speak up.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the museum, I stared at the depictions of brutality and horrors perpetrated against the Jews and realized; this is the end result of ungodly rule and passivity. <\/p>\n

As I returned to the hotel, Galatians 4:8-9 came to mind. \u201cFormerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9\u00a0But now that you know God\u2014or rather are known by God\u2014how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?\u201d (NIV) <\/p>\n

\tNo, I did not.<\/p>\n

I returned and shared with Alan the sense of suffocation, repressed anger and belittlement I had endured as a result of his control. Initially, he was upset, but God continued to reinforce directly to him that he must surrender control and allow me to flourish. I could no longer be subject to Alan\u2019s fears.<\/p>\n

We had an enjoyable dinner that evening, despite the tension of the earlier conversation. That night I had two dreams. In the first I got a new Thunderbird! I also dreamed I sold some puppet dolls in a garage sale. I wouldn\u2019t need those anymore. I was free to soar, having left childish things behind!<\/p>\n

Are you making a valuable contribution in your relationships or just passively keeping the peace? God needs our honest input. I learned the difference between serving God and serving fear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As my husband and I were preparing to leave on a trip to Israel, I awoke one morning, recalling a dream. I remembered hearing a booming voice ask a question: \u201cDo you want to be Sweet\u2019N\u2019Low or Equal?\u201d Little did I know, God was announcing his agenda for me for our upcoming trip. I squirmed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1586,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1586","url_meta":{"origin":1755,"position":0},"title":"Unsearchable Riches","author":"hollysmith","date":"August 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"My husband and I were preparing to leave on a trip to Israel. I awoke that day, recalling a dream from the previous night. 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I conveyed my fear to her that my husband\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"205971_2273273355093_2318003_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/205971_2273273355093_2318003_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1125,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=1125","url_meta":{"origin":1755,"position":3},"title":"The Courage to Be Me","author":"hollysmith","date":"August 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In biblical times, when a country defeated another, they deported all the leading men of the land including royalty. Only the poorest of the poor remained behind to work the land. The practice of exiling was a period of forced or voluntary removal from your home or country. 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He went on to say God\u2019s peace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"images-3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hollywsmith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/images-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3881,"url":"https:\/\/hollywsmith.com\/?p=3881","url_meta":{"origin":1755,"position":5},"title":"The Road Less Travelled","author":"hollysmith","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alan Smith We recently travelled to Texas to visit friends and family and receive hormone therapy. We were aware of looming weather conditions that might hamper our return trip to Kansas City, but threw caution to the wind, as I-35, our primary route, is rarely closed. 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