True Love Stories Never Have Endings

For me, It's rolling my eyes. Or giving a sarcastic remark. That's how I respond with my attitude when K does something I don't like. In fact, I can be very sarcastic sometimes. What are some ways you respond with your attitude? Do you put your hands on your hips? Cross your arms over your chest? In today's devotion, the author, Jennifer Smith, states that "attitude is the posture of your heart". (51) We can convey our attitude through many ways like the way we pose our bodies, speech, and tone. The perfect example of attitude is Jesus. No matter what He endured, He expressed the right attitude. When He was tempted, He quoted scripture. When He was mocked and spit on, He was silent instead of exploding and firing back. When He was faced with fear of what was ahead of him, He prayed. He carried the weight of the world literally on His shoulders when He carried the cross, yet He never uttered a complaint. In the devotion she mentions that we can use our body...

What makes a good wife? I will be honest, I have been struggling with this one lately. My problem has been finding balance and routine with an infant. I only have one...I can't imagine what you go through if you have more than one! And putting our spouse first (under God) is essential to a successful and happy marriage. I know this...but can I whine a little...It's hard!! But God didn't say it would be easy. That it would be all "smooth sailing" in this life. And of course we have heard anything worth having is going to take hard work. So what is the biblical definition of a good wife? In the devotional Wife After God, she focuses on several bible verses but we will camp at Proverbs 31:11-31. This woman is the perfect example of a good wife. Let's break this down together. The makings of a good wife based on the Proverbs 31 woman: 1) Her husband trusts her (v.11) 2) She provides him with good (v 12) 3) She works with her hands (v 13) 4...

" Therefore , as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord , walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude."  Colossians 2:6-7 It's hard to accept sometimes that life isn't always easy. We want it to be; we want it to be smooth sailing. But the reality is...it's not. We will be tested and have trials and hang ups. I am learning that it's what we do in those hardships and how we lean on God that matters. The devotional today focuses on our transformation in Christ when we become a Christian. Our pastor preaches on this quite a bit. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, your life will change. The Holy Spirit in us will work in us to change old habits and characteristics from our old self. We will need to change and be transformed and the spirit will help us to become holy. We can view our marriage in the same way. When we become married and become one, we are transformed. "Marr...

" He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness, you have been healed by His wounds." 2 Peter 2:24 There is a lot of scripture today and I encourage you to read each one: Matthew 27:27-54, John 3:16, John 14:6, John 15:13 They all refer to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Let's camp there for a minute. Sometimes with all that goes on around me...raising Remy, taking care of our house, running errands, taking care of K, trying to find time to walk ...that I don't think about Jesus' sacrifice. It's not that I forget, but I just don't think about what he did for me. For you. "Jesus endured harsh treatment that led to death on the cross, providing people redemption from sin and the only way to be reconciled by God." (Smith, 31) This love that Jesus displayed for us-this unconditional, life changing, sacrificial  love- changes who you are. It doesn't mean our lives are a...

Sundays are always busy for us. To quote my nephew it is church and family day. But yesterday we kept our Sunday quiet. K has been working nonstop. He had to work Saturday, which is unusual for him so he asked me if we could just rest at home and spend some time together. So we did. We got in our pjs and enjoyed playing with Remy and watched Iron Man. We are rewatching the Marvel movies in anticipation of Avengers: Infinity War. Nerds, right? It was so nice to spend some quiet time together. In today's devotional reading, we will focus on our spouse being our special and precious gift. I don't know about you, but I don't always look at K like he is a special gift to me. But I need to. God has given him to me to take care of; to treasure like he deserves. He is special and I need to make sure he knows it. According to the author, our attitudes toward our spouse will reflect how we receive our gift. We can't forget and need to see ourselves as their gifts als...

Genesis 2: 18 Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one for they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. I love God with all my heart and try my best to obey Him...but I never really have given any thought until recently of how badly He wants a deep and intimate relationship with me. That He is pursuing me and waiting for me to seek Him. I am learning this more and more as I study His word through this devotional and another bible study I am doing. He wants to be my rock, my best friend. "To love God is a choice you must make because you have free will, which is the very thing that makes companionship so powerful...because you chose it." (Smith, 23) In this same way, we are to pursue our husbands to keep this companionship and bond strong. We can ...

I don't know about you, but if someone doesn't deserve respect, my first thought isn't "let me see how I can show this person respect?" Have you ever been there?  Or how about if you fought with your spouse and said some things you shouldn't have? Yeah me too. But we are called to show them respect no matter what. And that is what today's devotional centers on. Today we will be reading Psalm 139:13-18 and Ephesians 5:21-33. God is very detailed in the way He has made us. He made husbands and wives different for many reasons. We will focus on the husband's need for respect and the wife's need for love. A husband feels most loved and cared for when they are shown respect. Even when they don't deserve it. I think it is important to ask God for strength and for Him to show us how He sees our husbands in order to love them like He does. Not that we don't, but to love them more like Christ. That brings them to love us like we desire. Our ...

This month K and I will make 10 years...can you believe?? In some ways, it seems like it and other times it doesn't. I love that man so much. But I will be honest, here lately our marriage could use a pick me up. Our daughter is now 7 months old (!!) but we still are adjusting to life with an infant. Which will be a post in itself! But finding time for each other with his job and so many demands and her demands...our marriage definitely could use something. I am considering this our anniversary month. I want to get into the habit of doing something special for him and for our marriage. What is more special than us growing closer together with God? So are you ready to take a journey with me? I am about to dive into this devotional daily . Yes, I did say daily. That alone will be a commitment and challenge for me. But I can do this! So let's get started!! Our first readings will be in Genesis 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 5:20 The most important statement from those reading...

Hi dear readers still out there! I am still here. In fact, I have plans for this blog. Big plans to expand it beyond just a marriage blog. I respect reviews, don't you? I like to get other opinions on items, movies, books, t.v. shows, etc. I already review marriage books on this blog, so now I am going to review all kinds of things! I also plan to do a 30 day devotional on here! I am really excited about it! I plan to start in January. I hope you plan to join me on this 30 day challenge! So, that's what I have planned for the very near future but now it's time to continue with what's been going on with us.. The months following the miscarriage were hard, but it provided me time to heal and it really brought K and I closer than ever. Besides God, if it wouldn't have been for him, I would have been lost. He was my rock. It really taught us what it means to pull together...a lesson we would definitely need in the future. We always have made a great team, ...

It starts out as something small: The garbage not being taken out,  the mail piling up on the corner of the counter,  or not filling the sponge wand with dish detergent after he uses it.  I try my hardest not to nag him...so I let these things "slide".  What I really do is let them fester inside and they come to a boiling point... And this is what happened over the weekend: The pot boiled over. I was dealing with stress from several different areas of life in general and lately we seemed to be nit-picking each other. ALOT. I was getting aggravated with him over such little things. And the pot completely over boiled because I didn't let him know what was bothering me from the beginning. After a long talk and a melt-down on my part, I wanted to do something different than focusing on the things that he did that bothered me. We were better than that. We were letting the stress of life get to us and I didn't like it one bit. I started a new video bible st...

Recently, I have had this want to grow closer to God. I don't want to just be knowledgeable about the bible, (although inspired by my sister, I am on a quest to read the bible from cover to cover. As we all know, I am an avid reader and after talking to her about it, with all of the books we read...why not just read and study the bible from Genesis to Revelation? I realize that this will take a long time, but I am up for the challenge!) I want to really know God and connect with Him on an intimate level. I want my prayer life to be more than just praying in the morning and asking Him for the things of the day. Well to help me on my journey, I am three videos into this wonderful series from RightNow Media: It was exactly what I was looking for...how to have an intimate relationship with God when you have a busy life. Sometimes we get so sucked into our routines and busy schedules that we forget that we just need to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to Him and connect. Ma...

I have to admit...I was taken by surprise, but first let me explain. K and I just celebrated 16 years together. Here we are at his military ball in 2000. That is the night I said  "yes" to being his girlfriend and my whole life changed.  I posted this picture on facebook and was talking to a friend about it. She asked if she had known K was a veteran and I had to tell her that he was in JROTC for his high school. I bragged about some of the accomplishments he did while he was in JROTC. And then I apologized for bragging and what she said surprised me. She told me not to apologize because too many women complain about their husbands. She continued to say it was refreshing to hear someone praise their husband. After the conversation it really made me think about what she said. So many times I have seen on social media negative comments about husbands or marriage in general. This is what fueled the want to have this marriage blog in the first place. I understand every...

Ok...you can say it. Or say it with me...I am a horrible blogger. Here it is almost 3 months since my last post. HORRIBLE BLOGGER. There are many excuses I can throw at you: I have started a new bible study on Wed nights...K and I are now going to Sunday school (now called life groups), work has gotten super busy, and for a week we had family staying with us. But all of that is my way of saying...I'm sorry for being gone but I am here. I just don't post all the time ;) I started reading a very interesting book: K and I spent a Saturday afternoon browsing Lifeway Christian bookstore and I stumbled upon this in the bargain section. I am only a few chapters in and I can say I am really glad I picked this up. Instead of doing a review of this book, I am going to treat it as discussion topic for now. As I continue through it, I am going to post about it. It raises some very interesting topics. The most interesting being  that dirty word we talked about : Submission. Sar...

I completely forgot I was supposed to review romance novels and movies  from time to time. It completely slipped my mind. With reviewing marriage books already, I forgot about it. Unfortunately, I haven't read a romance novel in a while or seen a chick flick. I promise to get back to this idea, I will make it a point to review a book or movie once or twice a month. It will be fun. But...I felt the need to share my thoughts with you on the subject. Again... I read this wonderful  blog post  about lies romance movies tell us, and she was so right! I had to comment right along with her. I love a good romance...they have a feel good feeling and you always root for the heroine and hero to end up together. There are always obstacles standing in their way, and most of the time they fight the odds and end up together. I have to admit, it feels good when we read how they fall together and end with a happy kiss.  Here's the danger of romance novels and what they don't ...

I love to read. I know I have mentioned that before...but I want you to understand how deep that love for reading goes. It started in 1st grade. There was this program called "SRA" and it was to encourage recreational reading as well as our development in learning to read. The minute I picked out my first book, I was hooked. I wanted to learn how to read so I could read every book I could get my hands on. I quickly learned that I don't just read...I am in the book. In elementary school, I was a part of the babysitter's club, I went through all the horrors in the Goosebumps series, and I was a Sweet Valley girl. (Does anyone remember the Sweet Valley Twins?  I read all the junior books!) When I hit high school, I was teased for reading so much, but instead of it bothering me; I became rebellious. I read all the time and I made sure they saw me reading. Fear Street was my favorite series. I majored in English in college so I could study literature. (I'll be h...

I love to reread books. Being an avid reader, I want to read as many books as I can. This year, I increased my goal to read 22 books. I have read 12 so far. Rereading a book counts for me. Sometimes I catch something that I didn't the first time I read it or my opinion is a bit different. I also remember why I loved the book so much. Rereading The Five Love Languages so I could post a review for it was fun. I loved revisiting this book. I read it back in 2010; two years after K and I were married. I loved Gary Chapman's idea of love languages and how each person has one. His idea is that you want love displayed in your particular language: First I want to address his idea of "being in love" vs. "real love". I really think he is onto something here. When you fall in love, you can't control your feelings. You constantly think about the person; want to always be with them...they are always on your mind. You don't see their flaws or th...

My husband said I talk a lot... We were sitting at the table playing the game "ImaginIFF" and the question was what if I were a form of communication, what would I be? (I as in me being the subject) Email won the round for me; I always did consider myself a better writer than much of a talker. I actually prefer texting over talking. I can get so much more out with writing than with talking. (I have a lot of side thoughts that I can convey into writing that makes more sense than when I talk...struggles of being a  multitasker). Anyway, K chose telephone because he said I talk a lot. I looked at him very skeptically. He defended his response with when he gets home from work, I am at my most chatty. Although I was surprised with his answer I concluded that I have a lot to tell him and by the time he finally gets home, I unload! Then today I read an article about conversations every couple should have and it sparked some inspiration on this blog post: what do you and your sig...

I'll be honest...I didn't look at the date Wednesday. I currently have been enjoying my week off of work getting housework done that usually is put on the back burner like dusting, cleaning baseboards, etc (I actually don't mind cleaning. I love our house to be clean and smell fresh. I take pride in it) But I also have been able to enjoy two favorite hobbies...reading and scrapbooking. Anyway...K has been under work pressure and working extra hours, so Wednesday I figured it would be a typical night. He'd come home from work, need a long hug and I would fix supper while he told me about his day. This our usual work week night. What I didn't expect was these in his hand... After giving him a hug and a kiss, I gave him a smile and  asked him what were the flowers for? We had celebrated our anniversary; it was done...what else could there have been? He smiled and said..."you said yes." I quickly glanced at the calendar then it hit me...it was 15 year...

Every day life can become so...ordinary and routine.  We get caught in our hustle and bustle of work life, laundry, bills, kids, responsibilities that I seem to lose myself in it.  While I am on break from the school right now, I have fallen into wife duties.  I have taken over making sure the house is clean, laundry is done, supper is cooked, and groceries are in the pantry.  I have hobbies that keep me busy when I am not doing that (I plan to get lost in a book very shortly) as well as nephews and family who I love to spend time with...K and I have also fallen into routine and ordinary as of late. This morning I came across a pin on Pinterest that said  52 Text Message Bombs to send him...   of course God knew just what I needed to see and I thought...when was the last time I did something unexpected for K?  Something that wasn't normal and also showed that I loved him? I do my "wife duties" (as I lovingly refer to them) not because he expects me to ...