Our Husbands Want to be Brides TOO!

Many of us women love to organize every detail of the house and make sure all are cared for, but often times this means we are also saying too much and going overboard so that our husband is not left alone to take care of his duties without our barging in, you know who you are:) ~Well, I'm one of those women too and I'm not proud of it.  It's something I am constantly working on, but I have relaxed too much on "working on it" for the last year or so.  I have discovered that it is a perfect definition of not submitting and as a result turns my husband into a helpless soul who doesn't seem to get anything right...according to MY standards.  That's when I had to say WHOA there cowgirl, you need to get back in the saddle of God right now!  Ephesians 4:16

41 Years and Counting

WOW! Today my parents celebrate 41 years! I am so happy to hear them so joyful about it. My mom says they took their vows seriously, till death do us part.

Well, we are only at the beginning of our journey, but I am so thankful to have a marriage to learn from in my direct reflections in life.  We recently got our photos taken together for the first time and I'm glad we waited because now I can always remember how mature we have gotten by this point in life and what sincere joy we have found in each other and never earlier on could I have felt that our photos were so genuine.  I love my husband and it's only because of my other groom that we are where we are...Jesus Christ!  And soon we will get to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS! Have a great month celebrating with your family and loved ones why our life can be so peaceful!

A Lesson in Listening

My husband taught me a lesson in listening this week:)  We were sharing about our life around the house and he mentioned that he feels bad on the days that I get up to go to work earlier than him and I fix him breakfast before I leave and get home just in time to make dinner...And on a good day, I'll remember to make him a lunch to take with him too.  I LOVE doing this because working out of the home is not ideal for me, but since I can't be home, I want to do all I can to serve him so he will notice I'm gone as little as possible.  So I told him not to feel bad because I love serving him like this.  Since I can't serve him all day long in the home, it's one of the joys I can still have even though I'm working outside the home.

Well, this morning it was my husband's turn to get up and go to work early and I usually lay there groggy, but awake to talk in case he wants to.  So he looked over at me, saw my eyes open and asked, "Are you wide awake?" to which I responded, "Yeah, pretty much."  So he then asked, "Would you make me some breakfast to take with me?"  "Of course," so I jumped out of bed and then realized I guess I wasn't as awake as I thought I was, but collected myself and joyously made my husband a breakfast bowl he could eat in the car on his way to work. 

Then I thought about it, HE HEARD ME this week when I told him how it brings me joy to serve him, never mind that it's a couple hours later when I usually do it, I would never turn him down!  Thank you Lord that my husband can ask me to serve him and that I can give with a happy heart.  I love you Lord and it's all because of the joy you fill me with that allows it to overflow onto my husband!  Deuteronomy 16:15

Things to Think About During Desperate Times

Don't EVER let ANYBODY let you think they have the whole marriage thing down, no matter how perfect they seem as a couple in front of you. Things go on behind doors in EVERY marriage.  There are a couple MAIN things to keep in mind:

You are the ONLY one who knows BOTH sides of your marriage (your spouse does too, but I mean for people you will ever talk to or consult about your marriage)

Once you evaluate your marriage appropriately, you really need to decide whether you are IN or you are OUT and STICK with that decision otherwise it's not fair to yourself, your spouse or your kids to go up and down up and down emotionally...I know we should have made this decision when we said our wedding vows, but things change and people change after that day UNFORTUNATELY.

Are you and/or your spouse Christians and how is your RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ? Not just attending church or doing prayers, but your direct relationships with Jesus Christ? You both need to have this relationship on your own before any marriage can work the way marriage was made to work. So if one or both of you is not close to Jesus Christ then 1st YOU need to become a Christian, I can help you do that if you want and 2nd YOU need to live a life as a beautiful bride so that your spouse will be drawn to that lifestyle.  This is THE determining factor in your marriage along with knowing that YOU are the ONLY thing you can change.
Hopefully these are some good things to think about:) I Corinthians 7:12-16

For Better or For Worse

When we get married, the majority of us who don't create our own vows, hear a list like the following:

"for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health" 

To me that means we will most likely face all of those extreme opposite situations and everything in between.  There is no way a person can stay the exact same person having gone through all these extreme experiences, highs and lows, but the one thing that should remain conisistent is our love and loyalty because the end of that long list is ...till death do us part!  So many people I hear say, well he or she changed and they are not who I married so I have fallen out of love...those FEELINGS are not the vows we took when we married!  Yes, it takes a lot of work, but if we focus on these vows more every day of our married life, we would not be swept away at the first sight of what we think is greener pasture.  And make sure you are nurturing your relationship with the Lord even better since He comes before your spouse and will only make "working on your relationship with your spouse" SO much easier!

The following thoughts are what brought this idea to mind, so please ponder it with me:

What is the difference between a couple who is married, treats each other poorly, has a shelter, a spouse to live with, enough money for all their needs and a car to get around in whenever they need run somewhere

vs
a couple who is married, has a loving companionship, is homeless, has no vehicle and no consistent shelter, yet still remains to do all they can to get back on their feet financially?

I hope you can see the difference with me.  Especially during these tough economic times, people are having to cut back on those "things" that the first couple had to keep them busy and so now there is more focus on the time and love and companionship...When we get married, we need to respect and love and cherish our spouse no matter what changes in life...for Better or for Worse.  That love and respect will help us endure during these "worse" times that a lot of us might be facing right now until we get back to the "better" again.  Matthew 19:1-12

Pictured above is a past "better" time and cheesy things like this are what get us through

our "worse" times, laughter makes our hearts grow fonder!