So Pretty

Hope your day is a piece of cake!

Here is another email story I couldn't help but want to pass along.  xoxo

Sometimes we wonder, 'What did I do to deserve this?' or 'Why 

Did God have to do this to me?' Here is a wonderful explanation! 

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, 

she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her 

Best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if 

She would like a snack, and the daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, 

I love your cake.'

'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.
'Yuck' says her daughter.
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'
'Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?'
'Mom, those are all yucky!'

To which the mother replies: 'Yes, all those things seem bad all by 

Themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they 

Make a wonderfully delicious cake! '

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would 

Let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that 

When He puts these things all in His order, they always work for 

Good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make 

Something wonderful!

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a 

Sunrise every morning.  Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He 

Can live anywhere in the universe.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we 

Might as well dance.

What have we learned today??

In my family we have a little saying that my brother started MANY MANY moons ago when he was just a young adult, maybe even still a teenager.  It would start by me, my sister or anyone for that matter, disagreeing with him on something, ANYTHING, and as the discussion/argument would round out to an end wherein my brother typically ended up proving to be correct or "right" he would ad insult to our injury by asking the question "what did we learn today?" after which he would respond .. "we learned that Chris is always right!"  After a few years he started forcing us to say the "Chris is always right part", may be he thought it would enforce the lesson better?  lol, I don't know.  It's a big joke now and one of the sayings that I am sure will be read out loud at his funeral someday. 

We all know I am very fond of my brother, for many moons he walked on water in my eyes (and well in certain lights, he still does) but it was to my surprise when I was doing my daily prayer for Brian that my brother's little "lesson" popped into my head.  Proverbs 21:2 says: All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. 

One of the biggest struggles I have had when praying for my husband and my marriage is determining what I really have a "right" to be mad/upset about and what needs to be let go.  For every item Brian does that irritates me I usually can come up with one or two solid reasons how I should be compliment by the act or how while what he did was not right he did so many other good or positive things that should this item be considered small potatoes etc.  I can't tell you how many conversations my mom has had with me letting me vent about what I am upset about and then sitting there patiently while I defend my husband to myself against my OWN arguments.  Thank goodness she has a hands free and can walk around while I have these self arguments, lol.  (fyi - she is a great listener and is often adding in great advice, life experience tips and let us not forget more defenses for my husband.)  lol

Today, however, I found great comfort in Proverbs 21:2 because it made me realize that while its partly an ego trip my brother had all these years it would seem that God has wired a man to believe his ways are right.  And it helped me further grasp that when Husband makes a decision I don't agree with or see where he is coming from he honestly thinks its the "right" decision/choice etc for us. 

Not that this gives the man free rein to do whatever and go with the "I'm right thing" but it helped me to understand that even in the bad decisions/choices my Husband has made, he had the right intentions and did the best he could at the time.  It sounds like I am giving my husband an excuse but its really something much deeper than that.

Gotta love what quiet time does for the mind - hope this makes sense to yawl, my thoughts are running to fast for my fingers. 

Happy Saturday!

Power of a Praying Wife

Let's try this post AGAIN .. I had it all written  about a month ago and somehow manage to lose all the silly text.

So .. at the beginning of summer I read a book by Denise Jackson (Alan Jackson's wife) titled It's All About Him. This book really made me realize some of my own wrong doings in past relationships and how to improve on some areas of my relationship with my Husband so as to not let history repeat itself. It was really a great book and really inspiring. However, it wasn't until earlier this month that words from Denise's book came back to me as I started feeling some familiar feelings that boiled down to insecurities in myself and my current role as now full time "house wife".

My husband is one of the most easy going men I have ever met in my entire life. He is full of love, generosity, mercy and grace but as strange as it sounds sometimes having a husband that is SO easy going is hard to "please". He is happy if I have the laundry done and equally happy if I did no laundry whatsoever.  He likes having dinner ready when he gets home but has zero expectation of it being there because he can never promise when he will be home, etc.  So during the crazy six weeks of summer that my step-son was here I took little time to notice how it was bugging me to have zero expectations from my husband.  But now that it's calm down a bit and back down to our little family of four the lack of expectations was/is really haunting me.

I know it sounds silly but I have worked a full time job since I was 17 years old and well at a job you have certain items you must get done and done well to keep the job and I guess I am just truly in a rut about having someone else set my expectations and demands.  I find I want Brian to be more like a boss than a partner sometimes and that is a weird feeling for both of us. This week I could feel tension and stress boiling up inside of me from all my insecurities and luckily I stopped and went to the Lord in prayer asking him to help me and its amazing how I am always so amazed on the wonders God works in a persons heart and mind overnight.

It was at this moment I started the book, Power of a Praying Wife and it changed my outlook on  things pretty much immediately.  It has helped me get a glimpse of the world through a man's point of view and help to narrow down maybe how and where my husband could use my prayer support more than a three course meal for breakfast each day.  It helped set some of the guidelines/expectations I have been longing for yet I set these guidelines for my role as a wife as GOD sees and expects them, not Brian or I.  I have turned to God for pretty much every delima in my heart and mind the last four weeks and he has been really clear as to the things that are worth being upset over and the ones that aren't.  The prayers in this book has allowed me to talk to God about my husband in a way I have neve done before.  Its a quick read and one I highly suggest to all of the wives out there. 

Nights like tonight, I still wrestle with some of my typical feelings but somehow praying for my husband and marriage in the way this book teaches helps lighten my mood.  One of the BEST parts of this book was the part where I learned to open all of my prayers by asking God to open my heart to the what HE wants me to feel, open my ears to what HE wants me to hear and open my heart to what HE wants me to feel. 

I beleive its that first part of the prayer that has done the trick the last few weeks and I just wanted to share all of that with you.  My life isn't perfect but the love God has for me is and He has never let me down when I truly lean on him with an open mind and heart.  I think I could go on and on about these books and this subject but its already a really long post and the first half was written a month ago and the second half tonight so who knows how much sense it really is making.  lol

xoxo