Everyday we strive to walk together towards God. Our new goal is to encourage other couples to do the same. We have had this passion for couples ministry for years and God has opened up various doors including this blog library of cataloged life moments.
This Memorial Day weekend, Maurice and I had a great time celebrating my grandfather's 90th birthday and spending some quality family time together. It made me think about what kind of legacy we will build together. I want it to be great, but greatness does not happen unintentionally.
My grandfather intentionally took his family to church, discplined his children, loved his wife and made great contributions from his neighborhood as a business owner to his nation as a soldier. At his special party today, he had honorary acknowledgements read and many people thanked him for his influence in their lives and in the lives of their families. The fruit of his very full life was abundantly apparent in all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present. He is STILL influencial!
This weekend also marks the 13th anniversary of our engagement!! It was on a beautiful day like this that Maurice proposed marriage and I happily accepted. It is easily one of the best days of our lives. That one decision will ripple through the remainder of our days.
Everyday we can make the choice to make a difference. We begin in our own marriages and families and it spreads to co-workers, church members, neighbors and strangers. At this venue, people were curious as to what all the fuss was about - balloons, cakes, music, food and kids EVERYWHERE! We were proud to share that the patriarch of our family was being celebrated. And the legacy continues....
Our youngest son went on a school fiendtrip that resulted in a bumpy, scaly rash that reminded me of poison ivy! He was itching terribly and my first inclination as a nurse was to grab the diphenhydramine (benadryl). We tried that and some cortisone 10, then I remembered my essential oils! I quickly researched which oils are good for irritated skin and rashes and whipped up a small batch to ease his symptoms. I had no idea what amounts to use or what I should add first, second or third. I just wanted my baby to get better fast! He had been rubbing, so poison ivy oils spread all over that way. He had bumps and rashes from head to toe. I wanted to cry!
I started by just applying a little to one area. I dabbed it to his skin manually and he said that he felt a little burning, but then "it felt better". I started taking pictures to make sure that I was seeing what I thought I was. The rash started to disappear in about an hour. Then, to my amazement, my son told me that he definitely preferred the oil mixture to the medicine. What a pleasant surprise! We began alternating with cold apple cider compresses with the oil mixture and his skin showed an almost immediate change! It was working VERY well. It was time to give more benadryl, but I didn't and applied even more of the mixture instead.
We used patchouli oil with lavendar, peppermint, tea tree and organic coconut oil to ease
my son's symptoms of poison ivy! The benadryl and cortisone 10 only had
temporary effects. However, combining the oils and alternating with cold
apple cider vinegar did the trick! I added about 5 drops of each oil to a medicine cup with the coconut. It even smelled great :) His room was extremely aromatic at that point and he slept like a baby after a little extra lavendar to the bottoms of his feet.
Within about three days, the itching had greatly subsided. He even went to school without a problem. I am completely sold on natural
remedies. When you pray and let the Lord direct your steps, He will lead you to what He has already provided for you! God has every cure in the earth that He created. I knew that essential oils and natural remedies
were good, but now I am convinced that they are GREAT!
If love is an action word, how do I "perform" it as a wife? Well, there is the obvious physical intimacy that I can willingly offer and receive from my husband, but sometimes, my love needs to be a real sacrifice. I could just hear someone saying that depending on their mood, sex would be a sacrifice...lol!
Well, today my husband called from work and wanted a special meal and.....well, my heart was not in the right place. I was thinking about how I wish someone would fix my favorite foods, cater to me, spoil me. How sad that I can let those selfish thoughts creep in! Then I remembered how my husband had so thoughtfully served me the weekend before. He did some things out of his "comfort zone" for me and my heart softened. We have to train our hearts and minds to mold themselves to the Word of God. Put others before yourself is what the Bible says.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.." Philippians 2:3
Another time, my sweet husband rescued me from the highway when my car decided to break down. I had to wait a long while and I was tempted to be impatient. Then the sweet Holy Spirit reminded me that He blessed me with a husband who cared enough to see about me in my distress and I repented in my heart and was able to welcome him with a smile of gratefulness.
I thank God for the gentle nudges throughout the day to remind me of the Word of God already hidden in my heart. You will find that if you store the Word of God that you will always have enough for those "winter" season situations, monthly emotions and ebbs and flows in marriage. Loving your husband will just be the overflow of what God has already invested.
Challenge: For you wives out there, find something specific that your husband enjoys and do it with him. You could make a favorite meal or watch the game with him. Surprise him by showing some interest. After all, you are One!
There was a time that I wondered if I would ever be a mother at all. After we got married in 2001, we waited for a few years and then we were pregnant with our first child in the spring of 2005. We were elated because we had finally saved enough to move out of our 1 bedroom apartment and become real homeowners!
Our happiness quickly took a turn for the worse just a few short months later when I began to have periods of cramping, then spotting. I had been working full-time throughout my pregnancy in rehab. It was heavy work, but I thought nothing of it. I was also very ignorant about heavy lifting while pregnant and monitoring my out-of-control mood swings. I took a lot of my frustration out on my husband. We had told our families and then we lost the baby to a miscarriage. Incompatible genes they told us. Incompatible?? Bind the Devil!! Now, I was no midwife or OB/GYN nurse, but I figured two healthy people could have a healthy baby together without complications. It's been happening for years!
We found out after some testing, that it was a chromosomal mismatch of sorts. Not his fault, not my fault. The baby would have been a girl. I was so crushed. I cried and mourned heavily. "It happens sometimes" is what I was told. They eventually assured us that we could have children together, and to just.....try again. Well, after that green light, it was on, and 6 months later, we were pregnant again with my now oldest son. Fourteen months after that, we had our youngest son.
God graced us with favor after a very trying period of wondering if being parents was God's plan for us. It put a great strain on our marriage and we were so tempted to blame each other. But we prayed. Through the tears and the heartache, we reached out to our heavenly Father for answers and hope. I continued to struggle greatly over that first loss even after having two more children! I think about how I would not have ever known our current children had we carried our first pregnancy to term. It's mind-boggling, but makes me so grateful to the Lord for (1) getting me through that hard time, (2) blessing us to be able to have children at all and (3) for my two, handsome, perfect sons!
Every Mother's Day is special to me. God has chosen every mother for their particular child. It is an amazing privilege and a wonderful opportunity to make disciples for our Lord. I have dedicated them both back to the Lord. We are raising them for Him. I love my two and wouldn't trade them for anything....ever!
CHALLENGE: Encourage a mom this weekend and give her a sincere compliment on her parenting. Ask if you can pray for her and do it
Way back in the day, I was given my first journal by my mom. I felt special. My secrets were locked away behind pretty pink pages. I remember that it had a lock and key - which I unfortunately lost after a few entries.
Since then I have been better at keeping a real journal. As a matter of fact I have about 11 of them that are full of memories, both happy and sad. I saw myself growing up between those pages. I went from sharing thoughts about not wanting to be best friends with my sisters anymore, to the confusing tween and teen years, as well as my struggles with relationships and being hopeful for marriage then a tragic miscarriage with my husband.
There were times when there were very large gaps, years even, when I did not write anything. It wasn't as if there was nothing interesting happening in my life, it was just either very personal, forgotten or not notable. It's nice to see the documentation of my past, but it is also good to know that I can see how my decisions have influenced my present. Whether documented or not, every feeling emotion and decisions have shaped who I am currently. It is still shaping my future as a follower of Christ, wife, mom, nurse & teacher.
What I love most about journaling is being able to leave my story of for those following after me. From guilt and shame to triumph and victory, God was always with me. If I have followed Jesus, then that's an amazing legacy to leave behind.
I've always added my name to the list of disciples in the Bible. That's how serious I take the Great Commission. It is my calling and yours while we live to make disciples who will make disciples, who will make disciples. I am an Ambassador for Christ, so I like to call them "The Ambassadors Logs". I like that...a lot.
Today many people are armed with cash, checks and credit cards, ready to spend in preparation for any reason and every season. Even though they have plenty at home, the newest and the best is out and ready for purchase. Those who can afford it will get it all - the spoils of their labor.
Well, the Lord showed me something interesting about being spoiled. Itis actually a military term as well that brought some scriptures to new light.
The phrase "the arm of the Lord" appears multiple times throughout the Bible. It refers to strength and one who fights for the Lord (bears arms). It is most often referring to the coming Messiah, Jesus Himself. We see this theme throughout the book of Isaiah 51:9, 52:10, 53:1, 54, 59:1. Jesus is the arm of the Lord. He bore our iniquities. Although we are instructed to take up arms (Ephesians 6), our enemy has already been defeated. My Bible tells me in Colossians 2:13-15 that Jesus "spoiled" the evil principalities that were against us when we died on the cross and rose again! Our heritage as children of the King is victory by birthright.
No weapon formed against us prospers. Jesus made the greatest interception of all time! Think of it this way. There are those who are chosen to be on God's team, go to practice, hang in the locker room and even wear the jersey, but the sit on the sidelines for the whole game while Jesus takes to the field and scores an interception that leads to victory for ALL of us. We get the spoils of our hero, the title and the accolades that we technically did not earn at all! God takes it a step further and actually present us with a MVP award called "joint-heirs with Christ". Wow! What did we do to deserve this? Nothing actually. His strong arm has gotten the victory for us.
Remember David and Goliath? We see this story in 1 Samuel 17:32-50. The youngest, non-military brother of a family gets bold for God and stand us against an enemy that he cannot defeat. Most of us know how this story goes, but I noticed in verse 47 & 50 that David had no armor, no sword. In other words, he was "unarmed" but managed to "disarm" or spoil the Philistine. He defeated him and took his armor. His faith in God's ability to work through him overcomes the inevitable defeat. Not only that, but something unique happens. The King takes him home and the King's son disrobes himself and gives his royal attire and weapontry to David. This was a picture of what was happening spiritually. David took an anointed and appointed position before it was his to claim. Transfer was taking place. What a picture of what Christ does for us! Jesus is our armor-bearer.
In love, Jesus took our punishment for sin, defeated the enemy for us and bore the unbearable for us. We in turn, receive the spoils of war - food we did not plant, children we did not bear, blessings we did not earn from our own merit. God's children are spoiled! Even the wealth of the wicked is laid up for us and heavenly riches besides.
What if you were told that you had worked hard and could rest and relax on the day after Thanksgiving then awake to see that shopping had been done for you? Presents awaiting you at breakfast and and everything that was ever taken from you or that you were told you could not have was now yours? Your neighbors would say that you were "So Spoiled"! That's right. All the work was done for you and is yours to enjoy.
In 1 Samuel 30, that is exactly what happened. Half of David's army was tired from war and couldn't fight. The enemy had the advantage and stole everything from them. So the other half went and recovered everything plus spoils (extra) and brought it back. Instead of only half of the army getting the spoils, David had every man share equally, even those who did not fight at all! They were armed but received the spoils of a battle in which they did not fight.
How thankful and grateful we should be as children of such a generous God! His arm has gotten the victory for us!
