I haven't felt like writing much lately :( Have wanted to blog but then wasn't really sure what to blog about, so until I allow my creativity to kick back in, I just wanted to stop by with a quick note today about something that has been on my mind a lot lately...MARRIAGE...and honestly, I am not even going to give you MY run down on what I think about it, just two awesome resources today that God put in my path, I feel, to help encourage others.
First is Candace Cameron Bure's (yes, that is DJ Tanner from Full House!), roomag.com. This site posts some excellent articles on every subject from motherhood to marriage and everything in between. Todays article is by a woman named Jennifer Smith and it is called "Praying for Your Husband." I am a big fan of praying for my husband. "Of course you are!" You might think, "Your husband is in the Middle East!". However, the fact that he is a soldier is only PART of the reason I pray for him. I pray for him first and foremost because he is a husband, a father to our children. Someday I will share with those of you who do not already know how prayer not only changed our marriage, but SAVED our marriage way back in the day.
My previous blog mentioned Ann VosKamp and I check out her blog daily ( aholyexperience.com ). I fell in love with a quote from yesterdays entry on her site, "So she made the bed and and she made his favorite omelet and service isn’t about being a doormat but about being a door for joy to walk through." I read this and I wondered....how many of us wives are afraid of being a doormat? So afraid that we do not allow God to do the work in us He would like to do? I copied and pasted this quote and sent it to my Soldier. I told him that I will always make the bed, I will always make his favorite meals and I pray our door is always one of joy for him to walk through. And I can say that with 100 % assurance that I will never worry about him treating me as a doormat. Its a funny thing, what happens when you put others joy before your own without expecting anything in return.......
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
My Joy Dare
The greatest self-help book in the world. That is what I call the Bible. The answers to any problem are all there and I love to turn to it searching out answers for life lessons. Books are life changing. I will never forget the day my friend Laurie Yarosh handed me Stormie Omartians book The Power of the Praying Wife. My life was forever changed that day as I knew God was using those words to speak directly to me. That day was long ago, and really, no other book has touched me so much or changed my life so much...until now.
I have recommended it to the ladies in our general bible study. I have shouted praises at the ladies devotion I go to once a week..and I have watched as the words on the pages have helped me to enjoy every single day even more. The book is called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I won't go into all of the details of it, because I would really hope you would look into it yourself.
For over a month now I have been writing down three things a day that I am grateful for, just sort of willy-nilly, out of the blue things. Each tiny phrase that I write, each gratitude that I thank Him for does an amazing thing...it eases my soul. And with that easement of my soul comes something else...near disappointment that I am only listing three things...because once you start to list gratitude, gratitude floods.
This year, I have decided to start with Ann Voskamps Joy Dare. Todays dare is to list "3 Gifts Heard"....and see my mind is already flooded...only three? Please forgive me while I list more than that!
1) The happy laughter ringing in my husbands voice on a choppy skype connection. When I am unable to see the smiling face, the laughter assures me that all is well in his war filled world.
2) Praise from a loving sister-in-law that the eulogy I presented last week at the funeral of my beloved mother-in-law was indeed something that would have made Memere extremely proud. Only the best for a mother-in-law who always loved, always supported, never interfered, and ALWAYS was grateful.
3) Bellowing laughter of togetherness of my children, for when one laughs, they both laugh, like twins, two peas in a pod, enjoying their last day of Christmas vacation.
4)...see, who can stop at 3......the ringing of the one hundred year old doorbell...an Army friend of my own soldier shows up out of the blue to make sure we are doing ok...a true sign of the life changing friendships my soldier has made since we moved to WV.
5) The buzz-buzz-buzz of my cell phone as yet another of my soldiers friends calls to check on us...this time, one of his oldest friends from his Cali days...Uncle Frankie, he checks on us regularly, like a long lost brother keeping track of the home front, albeit from the West Coast.
The Joy Dare...can I list 1000 things I am grateful for in 2013? With our busy life, I may not be able to whittle out the time to post them here every day, but you can bet I will be somewhere writing or praying or possibly even shouting out my gratitude to an Almighty God who blesses every day without fail!
Happy 2013 to all of my friends out there! May your year be full of gratitude :)
I have recommended it to the ladies in our general bible study. I have shouted praises at the ladies devotion I go to once a week..and I have watched as the words on the pages have helped me to enjoy every single day even more. The book is called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I won't go into all of the details of it, because I would really hope you would look into it yourself.
For over a month now I have been writing down three things a day that I am grateful for, just sort of willy-nilly, out of the blue things. Each tiny phrase that I write, each gratitude that I thank Him for does an amazing thing...it eases my soul. And with that easement of my soul comes something else...near disappointment that I am only listing three things...because once you start to list gratitude, gratitude floods.
This year, I have decided to start with Ann Voskamps Joy Dare. Todays dare is to list "3 Gifts Heard"....and see my mind is already flooded...only three? Please forgive me while I list more than that!
1) The happy laughter ringing in my husbands voice on a choppy skype connection. When I am unable to see the smiling face, the laughter assures me that all is well in his war filled world.
2) Praise from a loving sister-in-law that the eulogy I presented last week at the funeral of my beloved mother-in-law was indeed something that would have made Memere extremely proud. Only the best for a mother-in-law who always loved, always supported, never interfered, and ALWAYS was grateful.
3) Bellowing laughter of togetherness of my children, for when one laughs, they both laugh, like twins, two peas in a pod, enjoying their last day of Christmas vacation.
4)...see, who can stop at 3......the ringing of the one hundred year old doorbell...an Army friend of my own soldier shows up out of the blue to make sure we are doing ok...a true sign of the life changing friendships my soldier has made since we moved to WV.
5) The buzz-buzz-buzz of my cell phone as yet another of my soldiers friends calls to check on us...this time, one of his oldest friends from his Cali days...Uncle Frankie, he checks on us regularly, like a long lost brother keeping track of the home front, albeit from the West Coast.
The Joy Dare...can I list 1000 things I am grateful for in 2013? With our busy life, I may not be able to whittle out the time to post them here every day, but you can bet I will be somewhere writing or praying or possibly even shouting out my gratitude to an Almighty God who blesses every day without fail!
Happy 2013 to all of my friends out there! May your year be full of gratitude :)
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