Completing Him Challenge--Praying For My Husband

What a wonderful challenge this week! This week I am to pray every day for my husband, and specifically ask him what I can pray for every morning. It's something that's so simple, but I admit that I'm horrible about praying for him.

And as a bonus, I can fast for him one day. Again, that's not something I don't do a whole lot of either.

Thank God I don't have to work for my salvation!

I know that John needs prayer. I just don't always know how to pray. Actually, Courtney mentioned the book "The Power of a Praying Wife," which is one that I don't have. In that book, there is a list of ways that wives can pray for their husbands. Courtney has it listed out in her post, which you can access through the image at the top of this post.

I can't wait to see what happens through faithful prayer. I know that powerful things can happen. I have seen things happen in my own life when I pray and put my problems before God.

I'll have to wait until the end of the week to see if I was successful in maintaining regular prayer for my husband. Please pray for me!

Frozen yogurt is not health food

Frozen yogurt is not health food

Frozen yogurt shops don't deliver healthy food, but they do deliver the illusion of healthy food. And in America today, where illusion dominates reality, that's good enough!

I got this email from Natural News a few days ago. It was an article by Mike Adams about frozen yogurt. I don't really think much about frozen yogurt. I mean, seriously, if I'm going to have a cold treat, I really want ice cream. The point isn't to be healthy anyway. But there was a really good point about frozen yogurt having this illusion of a healthy snack, while it's nothing more than glorified ice cream with probiotics.

Then at one point in the post, the author turns a corner and starts talking about reality in the US being an illusion. We don't want the reality, because it infringes on our right to live the life that we want.

Then he gets into popular religion in America.

I mean, I have no idea where he stands with religion, but I can see him getting really passionate about this. Mike says, "They don't really want to authentically believe in God, you see, because that would require a whole different level of personal discipline to act in a way that honored their beliefs (and honored their body as a temple)." Whoa. The guilt starts pouring in, and I'm not even sure I did anything wrong.

So he's talking about authentic Christianity. Authentic living. Living the life that reflects a belief system that has depth and breadth. Being consistent with those beliefs. And by consistent I mean wanting to save the animals and the unborn from a violent end.

Just read the article. It made me stop and examine my beliefs and the way I care for my body. I am constantly learning new things about health. I'm not consistently putting it into practice, but I am making an effort everyday. The way I do my grocery shopping has changed dramatically since the beginning of the year. It will continue to change as I figure out how I can reconcile my family's eating habits with healthy ideals. I want my life to reflect the truth of what I believe.

Eager Obedience

Titus 2:14
"[Jesus] gave himself for us to...purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

If I belong to God, I should desire to be EAGER to do what is good. I can put a happy face on, but have a heart that is grumbling underneath. God sees my heart. I can't fool Him. If I have an issue with eager obedience, I need to talk to God about it and work it out with Him.

What is the good that I should do? Earlier in the chapter, there are some things spelled out specifically for me as a young wife:

• to love my husband and children;
• to be self-controlled and pure;
• to be busy at home;
• to be kind;
• to be subject to my husband.

All of these are a struggle for me at some point. Some are harder than others. When I am having a hard time with being eager to do one of these things, I need to pray for a heart adjustment.

To be honest, I don't feel like I'm struggling with any of this RIGHT NOW. Not that I don't ever. As I'm writing this, I feel as though I'm giving some sort of wimpy "just trust God and it'll be okay" answer to the problem. I mean, trusting God is huge, so I don't want to minimize that at all. That is not my intention.

It's just that in the struggle of life, it feels so much harder to trust God. It's easy to tell people to trust God when I'm not struggling with that issue.

But don't worry. I'll be struggling in a few days, and then I'll need the reminder to hit my knees and work it out with God.

Completing Him Challenge--The Wedding Day

June 21 - Remember Your Vows - post pictures of your wedding day. We will review the sacredness of this day.

This is one of the most important days of my life. It is the day I vowed to love and care for someone until death separates us. We all know that this is something that is not to be taken lightly, yet so many go into marriage with the idea that they can get out if it doesn't work out. I cringe when I hear this. There aren't supposed to be "take backs" in marriage.

Marriage is no walk in the park. Sometimes you have to put someone else's needs before your own. That is not an easy thing to do. I've found in my own marriage that it makes the marriage better when I put John's needs before my own.

In spite of the rocky patches, I wouldn't trade my life with John for anything. He drives me bonkers at times, but he is really the best man for me.

I forgot one very important part of this post: the wedding story!! It's pretty simple, actually.

We had a short engagement, just a couple of months. We decided to get married in Phoenix for a couple of reasons. First of all, all of my immediate family was there. Second, because this was my first marriage and his second, this was more important to me. He didn't care if his family was there. Third, my dad had an awesome backyard, and it was the perfect setting for the wedding and reception.

I had to pick out my dress here in Pennsylvania and transport it out there. Cate and I went to David's Bridal in Whitehall to pick my dress. I found the perfect dress. I knew it was the one when I tried it on. I cried though, because my mom should have been there. Someone else should have been there.

I didn't have much else to do except pick the flowers and colors. My parents took care of every other detail. It was so elegant. It wasn't the large wedding I dreamed of when I was younger, but it was perfect.

We decided to have the wedding Memorial Day weekend. My sister was having a baby shower that Saturday, and then we'd get married Sunday. John's parents came out too. I think they enjoyed themselves in spite of the heat. Frank, my father-in-law, is a biologist, so I know he enjoyed himself with the landscape.

I'm not sure if you can see it in the pictures I posted here, but John was such a happy groom. I loved going through my pictures. It reminded me of just how much I really do love my husband.

And they all lived happily ever after...for at least a couple of months.

Completing Him Challenge--The Dating Days

June 14 – Post Pictures from your dating days (or tell us all about it!). Think about one thing you used to do or have as a couple that you have lost in the shuffle of life. How can you regain it?



Well, I don't think I have any pictures from our dating days. Our dating days were interesting to say the least.

I do remember that any gifts John gave me were practical. That was somewhat frustrating to me, because I am not a practical person. Especially back then.

I've grown a lot in the years since we first started dating. I never cooked anything for him. In fact, he used to cook for me. Obviously the way to John's heart is not through his stomach! We would actually just go out to eat most of the time.

Way back in the beginning I wrote poems for John. I was inspired by him. I haven't done that in a long time. Since we've been married, I haven't found a lot to be inspired by. I need to learn to see inspiration. I'm sure it's all around me.

One thing that I would like to do again is go out for walks in the evening. We used to walk around Fleetwood and then hang out on the playground at the Elementary school. The thing I liked most about that is that we would talk about everything. Now it feels like there's no time to talk.

Those are a couple of the highlights that I remember most about dating John. As far as regaining any of those things, we really need to make more time for each other. Date nights are few and far between. That's probably the biggest thing we can do for each other and our marriage.

Next week I'll be more prompt on posting for the challenge. I promise!

Happy Father's Day!

I know it's not quite Father's Day yet, but James brought a present home for Daddy that he made at daycare. Here's a picture of the project.


James isn't much for touching paint with any part of his body, so I'm really proud of him for letting his teacher do these footprints. There's a poem in the middle, and that made me want to cry. So here's a poem for all the dads out there.

"Walk a little slower Daddy" said a child so small.
"I'm fallowing in your footsteps and I don't want to fall."

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child,
Who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you.

--Anonymous

When I read that for the first time, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I think it is the sweetest Father's Day poem I've ever read.

There's so much truth to it too. There is so much on parents' shoulders, because our kids watch our every move. Fortunately, we have a Heavenly Father who never walks too fast for us. He meets us exactly where we are, and we can trust His footsteps. They are true. We can follow in His example, because it is perfect.

Proverbs 14:26 -- "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."

Green Me

I am seriously the last person you'd expect to care about being eco-friendly. Don't get me wrong. I don't think that we should trash the earth, but I do think that the earth's resources--oil included--are here for us to use. It is important to be responsible in how we use our resources. Plus, and this could be the liberal part of me coming out, I'm not going to run around and tell people that they should be eco-friendly. I just think that this is one of those issues where people need to make decisions based on their conscience.

Just to be clear, I don't seek out eco-friendly products, unless that product directly impacts the amount of chemicals going into my body. If one happens to jump out at me that is also economically viable, then I'll consider it. And today something jumped out at me while I was shopping at Target.

I went there to get a notebook to put blog ideas in and found one that I liked in the eco-friendly section. It had an odd feel to it, but I did like the cover. The price wasn't too bad ($2.99 for a 100 page composition book). Because I prefer something with an attractive cover, I checked the prices on the other notebooks to compare the price. I decided the price was pretty good.

So what was so special about this? Here are the features of the notebook:

• It is completely tree-free. The paper was made with "all natural" stone.


• The production of stone paper uses much less water than virgin paper and creates no air pollution.


• It writes with ink and pencil very nicely. The only downfall with pencils is that very sharp tips are not good with the paper. Otherwise, I love how it writes.


• It is virtually water-proof! I carried it out in the rain today, and it left no water spots. The stone does not absorb water the way that fibrous paper does. This is a huge benefit with kids around that are prone to spilling things.


• It does not tear very easily. Actually, what it really does is stretch a little and then tear apart. I have a picture of that to the right to show you how it looks. You can see at the top that the paper stretches a little before tearing.


• It is recyclable.

So it's a unique product that is not ridiculously expensive but is still a quality product. A google search revealed that this has actually been around for at least a year. You can get invitations and other stationary online made by stone. I think that this is one of the better eco-friendly options for paper. Besides the benefits that I listed above, I absolutely love the feel of the paper! It feels kind of soft.

So the next time you're at Target, if you've never seen stone paper before, check it out.

Completing Him Challenge Summer 2010

I came across this challenge on Facebook. The blogger who came up with this posted it on her Facebook page, and I was curious about what "completing him" means. I thought it had something to do with God, and I guess I was partly right. The "him" in the phrase refers to your husband, and the purpose of the challenge is to learn how to be the wife that your husband needs. Since we all have different husbands, no two marriages are going to look exactly the same. It's important to learn what makes your marriage work while still being biblical. Throughout the next 10 weeks, I will be posting about my marriage and my relationship with my husband. I'm hoping this will be a time of discovery and renewal in this important relationship. Incidentally, this post came to me the day after I prayed for more passion for my husband. I didn't labor over the prayer; it was more like an afterthought.
I would love for some of my friends to join me on this journey and see what God reveals to us during the next couple of months. Click on the button above to go to the original blog post. You can also check out a video of Courtney talking about the challenge right here:

My New Life

This year has been...shall we say...interesting. We're already halfway through the year, and I've been through more than I'd care to go through. I started out thinking that I had a job and life was going to be good. I'd work at home, get some new clients, bring in some income. Life was going to be good. Alas, this has not been the case. The job was a bust, and I've been bouncing around trying to figure out what I'm going to do. Oh, yeah. Then I had some depression and almost left my husband. I'm sure that's the last thing anyone would expect to hear from me. But as they say, life doesn't always turn out the way you would expect it to. I just didn't think they were talking about my life.
Fast forward to the present. I'm stressing myself out with finding a job, because I know that financially we need the extra income. I have James in daycare full-time, which has been wonderful for him. He's a lot more social now than he used to be. In spite of being jerked around with a job, God has provided the means to pay for daycare. Cate has been having issues in school, but she is getting through. I haven't been a perfect mom, but somehow we're all surviving.
I'm starting to think that God might have another plan for me. Maybe--just maybe--I'm supposed to be a stay-at-home mom. Please note: I am not a homemaker. I hate to clean. I'm not even a great cook. And when it comes to being around my kids 24/7, forget about it! This really is not my forte. Being in school and studying is more my thing. That's why I applied to Kutztown. I love learning, and I'm really good at it! Here's the proof: I graduated magna cum laude from RACC. That's right. God blessed me with a brain. I have too much potential in the academic arena to waste it on cleaning house and running after children all day. But I have kids. They depend on me to be their rock every single day. I am charged with teaching them about God and raising them to be godly people. People who will one day serve Him with all of their hearts. I don't know what is in store for them, but God tells me in Jeremiah 29 that He has a plan for them just as much as He has a plan for me. His plans are for prosperity, hope and a future. So even if I don't make it in the academic arena, I can make it in the home. My kids' future is at stake, and I'm not going to help them by being preoccupied with my studies.
So where does this come from all of a sudden? Well, I'm going to explain that right now. If it doesn't make sense right away, just bear with me and keep reading.
Yesterday Pastor Tim spoke on 2 Corinthians 12. The title of the sermon was "Sufficient Grace." Grace for our weaknesses. The main thing I got out of it is that God wants us at our weakest so that His strength can be displayed. How is God honored if I am only focusing on my strengths? Hint: He's not.
Then I got an email from my mom. Every now and then she sends me devotions from Greg Laurie, and this one was called "My Grace is Sufficient for You." He even quoted from 2 Corinthians 12. It was more about God being with us in our storms. Weird. But not too weird.
But then I read a post from Mark Brown (He's a pastor from Australia who posts his journeys into God's word.) called "The Strength in Realizing I Am Weak." Mark talked about how he loves to focus on his strengths, but really he is weak. He really needs the Holy Spirit's strength to overcome his sins, which are his weaknesses. Okay, God, you have my attention now.
And that's where all of this ties in. There is one more thing, but I'll get to that in a minute. God is not glorified when I am showing off my strengths. It was nice getting recognized at church yesterday for my accomplishment with my education. I love recognition. But it's not about me. It's about God and the eternal impact I am making for him. My eternal impact starts at home, and, I must admit, that is a weakness for me. I need a ton of God's grace to raise my children in a godly manner. It's a weakness for me to become just a homemaker and stay-at-home mom. I know I'm capable of doing so much more. But just being a homemaker gives me the opportunity to rely on God for the strength to stay on task and not get distracted.
I was recently given the opportunity to grab hold of God's promise to not leave me and to give me strength. I had an MRI on Friday, and it was the worst experience of my life. I was put into this tube, and I had to stay completely still. That wasn't so bad. But then I heard the noise of the MRI, and that was more than I could bear. I had a number of times when I panicked and all I wanted to do was get out. The only thing that got me through was praying and focusing on God. As long as I was focused on Him, I had strength to endure the MRI. Without God, I know that I couldn't have done it.
Well, there was one more thing that God used to speak to me. I prayed yesterday that God would give me a passion for my husband. Well, I got an answer to that one! I read the Women Living Well blog and Courtney, the blogger, posted a Completing Him Challenge that starts today! Well, I wasn't sure what "completing him" meant when I saw the post on Facebook, so I read it. It is a challenge to be the woman your husband needs. If that isn't from God, I don't know what is! So I'll be posting about this challenge in the coming weeks. While I was at Courtney's blog, I saw a segment of the Rachael Ray show that she was in. It was all about housewives. And I really saw how I'd like my life to be. And it scares me, because I have to have full reliance on God to meet our needs. It's going to be a lot of work to break out of the routine that I'm currently in. I really am going to have to commit to being the woman that my husband needs me to be.
This isn't the final word on the direction my life is going. I still need to pray a lot more about it. I want to make sure this is from God and not from me.