No Work

Today brought the second week of the hubby being laid off. Fortunately we are able to receive other sources of income for the time being. We have been so blessed with work through this winter since most all of the business that his employer takes on is commercial construction. Unfortunately there just isn't enough work to go around for all of the employees and now it's his turn to sit home (for a short period hopefully).


Although this has been a little disappointing, it has really allowed us to spend some great quality time together (and even some alone time when both of the kids are at school). I feel totally blessed for the time that we have had together lately. Now that my hormones are under control (hopefully) we are able to enjoy each others company so much more.

Looking forward with bitter sweetness to him punching the time clock again tomorrow.

Continued...

I want to start out by apologizing for misleading you if I have. I want to emphasize to you how wonderful my husband really is and how amazing our relationship is. My point from my post yesterday is that that is a very true conversation that I had/have often. But you see, years ago God made this answer very clear to me about how to feel in circumstances like these.

Alright, let me start here ladies...

If you are a wife, then you have been created to fill a need, and in that capacity you are a "good thing", a helper suited to the needs of a man.

Now, some of you may already know where I'm going with this, but it only took one book for me to get the big picture.  When God spoke to me I immediately understood that it was my job as a wife to be obedient to my husband. It prepared me for the fact that there were going to be many times throughout our marriage that we were going to disagree or see things differently, but in the end it was going to be I who needed to give. And not so much was it to give in, but just to be obedient. God's Word tells us that we need to submit to our husbands. Ladies, our husband's authority is delegated by God, and we need to submit to our men "as unto the Lord". We need to understand that when we do this we are indeed recognizing God's authority and submitting to Him.

When all of this came together in my little "want to be stubborn head" I immediately realized that God knew my heart and my actions. It was my job to answer to my husband and He would take it from there.

This is when I began a point in my life where I started to implement everything that I had learned into our marriage. There were many days of my biting of my lip to agree with or obey my husband. But then I realized that I didn't have to always agree with how he felt about something, but it was my job to obey his wishes.

This was a turning of a page in our relationship. It was so amazing to see how God began to work in our home. There were fewer arguments and so much more fun and happiness. It was almost as if we began to gain even more respect for each other. I knew that from here on out it was my responsibility to live a life pleasing to my husband.

As I continue to work very hard at this day in and day out, it does not guarantee that every day is going to be a walk in the park. But what it does guarantee is that I am pleasing my husband. So, if all that he is asking me to do is to get myself ready a little earlier in the day and maybe a few other things, is that really all that bad? Is he really asking the impossible of me? I don't think so! If that is all that I have to do to start our days off great, than I would think that I have it pretty darn good.

So I am going to continue living my days in submission towards my husband. I plan to glorify God while doing so and hopefully my daughter will see a good example of a wife who honors her Lord by honoring her husband.

I have been Created To Be His Help Meet!

With Love My Friends-

A personal conversation (and you’re just a fly on the wall):

Dear Lord,

I was sure that by now I would have known everything about my soul mate. I mean, c’mon now. We did marry each other. It’s been over eight years together and you’re telling me that there’s more? Okay, so I know that he wants his dinner ready every night when he gets home from work. And I know that I need to be on top of the laundry. And yes Lord, I know that it bothers him to all ends of the earth when the kitchen counter is full of clutter. I haven’t forgotten either about the desk, I know, he wants those papers filed still. And don’t worry I would never think of not getting up in the morning with him at 4 am to send him to work with a fresh packed lunch. That just wouldn’t happen. I guess I started a bad habit on my part with the whole lunch thing.

But Lord, what about me? What’s he gonna do for me this week? I’ve spent the last eight years doing, doing, doing for him and it seems like I’m still not doing enough.

And, did you hear him the other day? He said that he would like it if we changed our ways in the morning a little bit. I mean, he did ask nice and all but he wants us to not sit around in our pj’s on a Saturday morning anymore. He would like for the kids and I to start making getting ready for the day, the first thing that we do in the morning. And I don’t think that he’s talking sweatpants either. I think that he means that he wants us to make ourselves presentable first thing in the morning. In fact, I know that’s what he means. But c’mon, Saturday? This IS my day to sit around, drink some coffee and tidy the house. Do I really need to change these things.

Please Lord, help me to understand this. Help me to change my ways with a loving heart.

Amen!


To be continued…..

He Is....

He's so awesome!

(He and Little Man)

He is an amazing man.  He's a hard worker and a doer.  He loves unconditionally and has a huge heart.  He is forgiving, loving and kind.  He's committed to his family.  He is a man created for the outdoors.  He's brilliant.  Although shy, he loves reaching out to others.  He's a firefighter, a construction worker and a provider.  He protects.  He's a son, brother, uncle, grandson, and father.

And for as amazing as he is, he's not perfect!  And that's what I love most about him.

Just as the Lord sees beyond our imperfections, we too see past each others.

"HE" is my husband!

What he wants to be...

We all have had our dreams as a small child about what we want to be when we get big.  My husband and I have tried very hard to make it known to our children that they can be anything almost anything/body that they want to be.  We have felt that it is important that they know that and we will be there to root them on in whatever it is they decide to persue. 

Our Little Man just told me last night that he was changing what he was going to be when he got olger.  I continued to ask him what was on his mind and then he answered... I'm just going to be a guy on American Idol who sings My Big Green Tractor.  I looked at him and said, Little Man you can be anything you want to be but can Mom be your back-up singer?

Apparently there was something more interesting about singing than there was about being a firefighter,  swat guy, or construction worker. 

What will he want to be next?

(For now the Firefighter is in the blood.)

Wordless Wednesday

Should I feel guilty about this stack of clothes that came out of the kid's room the other day when I was cleaning.  Yes!  They're all to small and they are on their way to consignment.  And if you answered "yes" to my guilt question then good, I'll understand that what I'm feeling is normal.

And The Day Came...

Ahhh!  It's here.  The day after Monday.  The day that I didn't want to come until I was ready.  You know, with my post... but it still came.  The day that I feared, another one of those days that I wake up and look Fear right it's face and I say..."You're back again!?!?"

You see, we all have them.  You know.... those sinful enemies.  The ones that we fight with and fight with to please go away.  And here I am putting up a little bit of a bigger battle today.  I'm not going to let you get me this time.  I'm here, I've logged in, I'm writing all about you, and pretty soon I'm going to hit the publish button. And that's how you'll know that I'm in it to win it!

With the enabling power of the Holy Spirit I am ready to put to death the sin in my life.  The fear that I have.  The fear that has allowed me to believe that my words are nothing to others, that the things that I have to say are of most non-importance to those around me, and sometimes, yes even sometimes the feeling of being a complete nobody.  But today I have seeked the power of the Holy Spirit, and I am confident that I Will be of some importance to at least one individual.  I hope that through the things that I have to share here, you will find interest and so much more and that you would want to visit here often. 

 I am ready to be bold!  I am up for the battle here on this blog.  The battle to not fear what my readers might have to say about me and what I choose to write about.  This blog will not be for everyone and that's okay, but I sure look forward to sharing stories and comments with the rest of you.

So... to fear,
             you're going down!

ka-ching

For the second week in a row I have found myself interested in a section of the Sunday paper that I didn't even know existed.  You see, I wasn't aware of the part of the paper because the only reason I used to purchase a paper on the weekends was to see what great deals were in the local ads.  I had a total spending addiction on my mind and it involved a lot of shopping.  And now, I'm a proud coupon junky!

Well this week again I was reading up on the ka-ching section.  Chris Farrell tells us exactly how it is.  He sees it as borrowing more and saving less is not going to be a way of life again.  It just can't be!  Employers can no longer afford an increase in wages for employees and in addition to that we need to take in account for the increase in health care costs.  Most of us cannot afford to take a risk of not carrying health insurance on ourselves due to the spendy rise in medical treatments, but it also hurts when little is left to our paycheck after taking out for health care and 401k's. 

The picture that I'm painting is that we no longer are or will be able to spend like we used to.  Society has changed and we need to jump on the band wagon before we get left behind and end up learning the hard way again.  We need to become more frugal with our lifestyle and money.  If that means buying two Sunday papers so that I can double up on  my savings with coupons, then that's what needs to be done.  We need to be more aware of our resources out there to help us learn effective ways of spending more wisely.  And most importantly, we need to start saving again.

Some of the resources that I recommend are listed below.  Note that there are numerous more out there in books, websites and blogs.

Dave Ramsey

Suze Orman

Star Tribune - ka-ching

Happy Savings