Midweek Update

So in the interest of accountability, I thought I would do a quick (or not so quick) update on my goals for the week.

Here were my goals:

• Make up the bed daily and pray for Steven while I do it.
• Do a Bible Study with Steven at least 3 times this week
• Eat dinner at the table with no TV once this week.
• Cook at least three meals this week.
• Do a small cleaning task daily to maintain my home.

So far I have made up the bed and prayed for Steven all three days. Steven and I have done our Bible study  twice, and will do it again in a little while.

We ate at the table with no TV tonight (before the World Series). I made this:

And it was pretty much amazing. That's my version of my mother-in-law's Parmesan Chicken with Red Potatoes and Green Beans and Parmesan Knots! Super yummy!! I've met my fourth goal and cooked all three nights (even if last night was just nachos -- it came from the kitchen, not a restaurant, so it counts!)

I've also done my cleaning. Steven even joined in tonight and helped me clean up the "man cave" (which has become the junk dumping ground). He even moved miscellaneous furniture around so I could vacuum it really well!

And if you didn't read it earlier, God pretty much punched me in the face this morning about my mouth, so I read up on the rest of 1 Peter 3, and lo and behold, it completely and utterly fits in with what I've been working on this week! I read mostly in verses 1-12, and verse 1 jumps right into what it means to be a godly wife.

He tells us that our behavior should be so glorifying to Him, that our husbands should be able to see God through our actions, without us ever saying a word! What a challenge for us! I have really been able to see God's hand this week, and it's such a blessing. Jessica, the author of one of my other favorite blogs, The Southern Belle Baby, posted today about respect, specifically about wives respecting their husbands.

I really think it's important for godly women to speak up about what it means to be a godly wife in a society that is so focused on independence and living without a man, that we forget about godly submission, and becoming the women that God has called us to be.

If you haven't read 1 Peter lately, I really encourage you to jump in! Even if you aren't married, getting closer to God now, just means a healthier marriage and healthier dating relationships until marriage happens. I believe that you will never regret learning more about God and drawing nearer to him.

I would love to hear what you think about the passage too. I'm by no means a scholar, but it really spoke to me tonight.

Tweeting the Message

I'm not sure how many of you are twitter addicts, but I can tell you that I am hooked. They keep it simple and it rarely changes, unlike some other social networking sites (**coughcough**Facbook**coughcough). The best thing about it? I not only get to keep up with friends and family (and post the occasional embarassing picture), but I also get to follow some really incredible people, that I wouldn't be able to hear from on a daily basis otherwise, and no, I'm not talking about Kim Kardashian.

I'm sure most of you who even sporatically attend church, have heard of Beth Moore. I have to tell you, she's a hoot, and I've never met her. I follow her on Twitter, and she blesses me, makes me laugh, and opens my eyes to scripture regularly.

But this morning she BROUGHT IT. In like 4 tweets. You can only have 140 characters in a tweet, and this woman quoted scripture, and then completely brought to light one of the biggest issues in my life in less than 600 characters. CHARACTERS people, not words. That is why Twitter is awesome. Because I can hear from my friends, my family, and other wonderful, Godly people, while sitting in the office waiting for my coffee to cool off. For some technology may be their downfall, but for me, it means there's a laugh, a smile, and a word of encouragement just a click away on my phone.

And just to fill you in, she tweeted about 1 Peter 3:10. I plan on digging into the chapter tonight, but here's the verse in case you're curious. It's about our MOUTH and how it can make us or break us.

"Whoever desires to love life and see good days,

let him keep his tounge from evil and his lips from deceit;"

1 Peter 3:10 ESV

Obedience

If you want to see what a beautiful thing can come from obeying God, I highly recommend hopping over to Our Happily Ever Afters. Ashley and Kurt are currently in South Korea, bringing home their precious little boy Liam. They even posted a few pictures of their sweet son.

Ashley's cousin actually goes to our church as well. Ever since my mission trip to Romania in high school, I have always held a special place in my heart for international adoption. Ashley has kept up a blog of the entire adoption process and I have loved reading how God has worked out a perfect plan for them to grow their family. You can read all of that on Our Adoption Tapestry.

Ideal

This Sunday, our Pastor completed a series called "Modern Family." I missed most of it (I can admit we've been bad about going lately), but this week's message was one that hit very close to home for me. Brother John chose passages in Genesis, Romans and 1 Corinthians, and talked about how our society as a whole has perverted the view of the family, and what "ideal" family and marital relationships should look like.

I'm not going to skirt around this -- he very clearly called out homosexuality as sinful, and I agree with him. Now don't get me wrong, he also called out many other sins -- adultery, lust, etc.  But that's not what struck me this week. The more he talked about marriage and family, the more I realized that I haven't been fulfilling my place in my home.

My attitude has been horrible. My moods have been unpredictable. I've been greedy and selfish. And on top of all of that, I manage to justify it by the time of the month, my work schedule, and my health.

"I worked all day, I don't want to cook dinner."

"I've been a showsite, I don't want to get up for church."

"I'm taking medicine that makes me feel angry, so I can lash out at my husband whenever I want."

Umm, yeah, that's not really how this whole marriage/Godly woman thing is supposed to work. AT ALL.

I'm sure you've all read Proverbs 31. It talks about the woman who fears the Lord. If you want to read the whole thing, you can check it out here.

Obviously I've recently had a big fat FAIL in these areas. Like, all of them. Seriously.

So here's the deal. God and I, we're working on it. And I'm putting it out here, because, well, I don't like to look like a failure in public, so this is motivation for me.

I'm setting mini-goals for the week, that will hopefully build up and turn into habits that are good for my marriage, my home, my health, and most importantly my relationship with God. What I'm realizing is that I'm not that "undomestic." I just have a bad attitude, and I need to work on it.  By not honoring my husband, I'm being disobedient to God.

This week, I'm focusing on my idleness. Verse 27 says that the woman who fears the Lord doesn't eat the bread of idleness. Lately, I've been buying the bread of idleness in bulk from the warehouse store, and gorging on it 5 times a day.

So here's this week's goals:

• Make up the bed daily and pray for Steven while I do it.
• Do a Bible Study with Steven at least 3 times this week.
• Eat dinner at the table with no TV once this week.
• Cook at least three meals this week.
• Do a small "cleaning" task daily, to maintain my home. (Today I dusted!)

I think I've rambled on far long enough. Let's see how this goes...

For the Love of the Game

Most people who know my family well knew my Aunt April. She was a funny, happy, godly woman who loved baseball more than anyone I knew. In fact, she took my sister and me to our first game at the Astrodome in Houston when we were kids. I don’t remember who won or even who they played, but I will always remember the fun, and the passion she had for the game and for her team.

April was a huge baseball fan, and was fiercely loyal to the hometown team wherever she lived. April had been living outside of St. Louis for years, and was a huge Cardinals fan. When the Cardinals played the Boston Red Sox in the World Series when I was in college, I rooted for the Red Sox just to instigate trouble. She watched almost every game, and could always tell you how well (or poorly) her team had played. She made my level of fandom look laughable. She lived in the DFW area for awhile when I was younger, and during that time she was, of course, a Rangers fan.

April died earlier this year, very suddenly, and I’ll admit it knocked the wind out of me.
I handle tragedy and death very well outwardly. I’m really good at being the strong one. I learned the art form last year when we lost my mother-in-law. Being the strong one is how I get through the motions of death, of funerals, of my family’s heartbreak. It keeps me busy, and leaves me very little time to get caught up in my own emotions. I’m the one who can call the florist, write the obituary, make lunch, whatever has to be done.

Steven and I have gotten into the habit of buying a Texas Rangers discount thing every year. It costs $40 and gets you a certain number of free games and then a few buy one get ones, etc. We bought it this year as usual, but after April died, I couldn’t make myself go. For me, baseball’s biggest fan was gone, and things just weren’t ever going to be the same.

Different members of my family always joked that it would make the perfect World Series for us. Our Texas Rangers versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

Well this year it’s happening. April is finally getting her World Series, and no matter who wins or loses, I’ll be happy because they’re both April’s team. I know she’s moved on to much better things than baseball, but I have to think that she just can’t wait for Wednesday.

So Go Rangers, Go Cardinals. Be stars. For the love of the game, and for one very loved Aunt.

He is Mighty to Save

I'm sure most praise and worship music lovers know the song I'm referencing in the title. It is by Hillsong:



For the first time tonight, I looked up the scripture that references our GOD as mighty to save. I found a passage from Zephaniah that really spoke to me.

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you by His love;
He will exult over you with loud singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17 - ESV)

I love the song, but my favorite part of this verse isn't that phrase - although I am thankful that my God is mighty enough to save me. What stands out to me is something else: "He will quiet you by His love."

He can move mountains.

He can calm the raging storm.

He is mighty to save me not just from my enemies, but also from my sin.

He will quiet me with His love.