Celebrate!

I believe that we don't celebrate the small things enough. Most of the time we wait for something big. How much better would life be if we took the time to enjoy the smaller, insignificant things?

 In our home we celebrate Fridays with movie and junk food. We celebrate birthdays twice...on the day just us and on the weekend with family and sometimes friends. This causes us to take our eyes off our obstacles and for a few moments focus on our blessings. These celebrations don't have to be extravagant, expensive endeavors. We enjoy simple much more. And with us in the middle of a spending freeze until further notice there is plenty of motivation to get creative and enjoy what God has already blessed us with.

 My favorite celebration happens nightly. Donald and I find time to either talk on the phone if he is working nights and just flirt and connect, time seems to slow down and things seem better when I have this time to talk to my love. If he is home, we have dinner together after the kids are in bed and enjoy either a movie or one of our favorite shows. This is my favorite time of the day and it gives us both something to look forward to when the days get busy and chaotic. It also shows our children that you must intentionally nurture your marriage DAILY. Of course they tease us and say how gross we are, but I know that this act isn't lost on them.
How will you and your spouse celebrate your marriage today?

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:8-9

The Snake.

Yesterday I was out running around,so I called my grandma to ask her get my youngest child ,who is 11 ,off the bus. Her house is right next door to ours. He usually drops his book bag on the porch and runs over there until I get home. Well today his bike was on the porch.. it had rained all night and he didn't want his bright electric orange paint to fade or get messed up by the rain.. He says rust and orange clash. Anyways, he drops his bag on the porch grabs his handle bars and starts to push the bike off backwards. All of sudden he looks down only to see a big black snake with yellow on him sitting by his tires.
 Matt screams and probably scares the snake to death. Off he runs to grandmas for help, to get a rake, a gun, a broom what ever she can find. He knows his mama does NOT like snakes. So he is going to protect his house and his mama! I am so proud of my boy!
 As Christians don't we sometimes  let that snake scare us? Satan likes to raise his head and try to scare us or jar us, knock us off God's course. Just as that snake startled Matthew, the devil tries his best to insinuate himself into our day, our thoughts and our actions. Causing us to run from God.  Matt ran for help . We should run directly to our Heavenly Father for help when things come our way, that we don't like or can't handle. Harmful situations will happen both spiritually and physically, God is our strength.  He will be our shield and our refuge. As grandma's house was for Matt. God will guard us from the dangers that come our way and keep us on course.
 Matt will surely look around the porch for dangers like snakes for sure. We need to look around our surroundings for things or people that will do us harm, use discernment, it is a gift from God. Guard your hearts by surrounding yourself with things that honor and please God.  Shoo the dangers, negative thoughts, a criticizing spirit, bitterness away ... get into God's word...it is the best weapon!

The Dreaded...

Laundry,Laundry,Laundry (to the tune of Marsha, Marsha ,Marsha!) I am such a wiener when it comes to doing laundry. I de-test it! It is a never ending pile of mountainous mess, all the time. I dread  Mondays especially, since I do not do laundry on weekends. That means when I wake up on Monday morning it is staring me straight in the face!

 BOO. BOO I can hiss at it ,its still there.

Today was like no other, my hubby comes in early wakes me up and says. I am running late babe I have no pants. That statement rings in my half asleep ears. I roll out of bed knowing that the hunt is on. ( My husband and son wear the same size pants) So Ethan, tends to wear his dads pants not knowing, well maybe! SO here I go on a mission. Silently praying , Lord, I need to be that good wife and have my mans pants clean and ready. He works so hard for us. Lord, help me find him at least one pair, not the too short ones. He looks so silly in those. Tall man problems ya know. Being 6 foot 6 and all he has issues with length  and they are so stinking expensive! Who would think a pair of pants would be such a problem. Sigh,.. back to my task at hand. Looking high and low for these pants. I see all the lovely dirty ones but no clean ones. I pray a little harder! Please Lord, don't let me be his stumbling block this morning . I want him to have a good day. So in and out of the laundry room I go. Into my boys rooms still on the search. I go to close my son's door and what in front of  my wandering eyes does appear..... A pair of pants!! Angelic voices sing through my head! I praise God ! And run to the bedroom smiling from ear to ear I found them! I am not a failure, I am not a sloth for letting the mountain of clothes betwixt me! I have found the blessed pants! At this time I think they should be glowing! LOL My darling hubby says thanks and kisses me softly as I drift back to sleep while listening to "I LOVE LUCY" theme song. I can't help but  think I am so like her! Never a dull moment.  Now, I am off to do laundry. Wish me luck! Happy Wednesda y'all! 

Delight in your Love.

Today I want you to find some way to delight in your love. The person whom God has given you to share this life with. Forget for a few minutes about all the obstacles you face, the annoyances that eat away at you and just enjoy them for a time. I have found that when Donald and I do this the "problems" seem insignificant and small and are more easily tackled another day. I would also challenge you to ask God to give you His love to you for your spouse, He knows what each of us need and can guide us to be the spouse that He designed us to be if we give up control. Have a blessed day!

A little selfishness can ruin the whole marriage.

Yesterday at a stop sign the thought occurred to me, Who are you living for? Who is your marriage focused on? Often times the answer is ME. Not Christ and certainly not my husband. This thought convicted me. As a Christian I am to be focused on Christ and putting others first, especially my family. When I don't follow God's blueprint then I find myself in real trouble. When I am focused on ME chaos reigns in my home. This may seem radical to most but is it really? Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice for you and I, people who were yet to be as well as people who were in existence. He gave no thought to his own comforts and "rights" He loved without boundaries. If we are Christ followers then we should be willing to do the same, especially for those we are given to love.

Hebrews 13:16 - But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well
 pleased.
Proverbs 3:27 - Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it].

 In most marriage situations we can find solutions to what seems like insurmountable problems just by putting Christ and our families first. This is not an easy thing to do, especially at first. Our flesh will balk against the change and the world will tell us that we should not feel guilty putting ourselves first, afterall we have to take care of number one. The more we choose to put others first and the more we focus on Our Lord and God, the easier it becomes because we have changed our mindset and our focus, we are actively practicing our faith. So today I challenge you to put ME on a shelf and focus on Christ and the family He has blessed you with, great things are bound to happen!

Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
  
John 3:30 - He must increase, but I [must] decrease.