A wife's heart...

First, our verse this past week.....  James 1:3 "...because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."  HOW TRUE!!!  I have been working on my study of James as well, but that'll wait for another time I think.
Today I really feel the urge (need) to share about the book I've finished, and am reading again.  It's by Elizabeth George "A Wife After God's Own Heart".  WOW, pretty much sums it up.  Here are the basics, the notes I've taken.

Growing in the Lord
Obviously before you can become a wife after God's own heart you have to have a heart for God.  If you haven't come to have a relationship with Christ that should be your first step.  He loves you/us/everyone; sinners that we are, His grace is sufficient for us ALL!!!  A relationship with Him alone will eternally change your life.  After you've taken that step these are some helpful things to do to know what God's has planned for you as a wife.  Read your bible EVERY DAY!!!  Pray for your husband EVERY DAY (3 times a day!)!!!!  Write a commitment letter to God.  Tell Him everything; confess what you struggle with, ask Him to show you the way, tell Him what you want - what you hope for - for your marriage.  Save the letter and refer to it often.

Working as a team
your husband is to lead - and in the same way we submit to the Lord we should follow our husband's leadership
your husband is to work and provide for his wife - Gen 3:17,19 says all their lives men will have to labor for their families to eat and live
your husband should love you
you are to help your husband - Gen 2:18 says man needed someone who could share man's responsibilities
"Little things"
Thank your husband.  He works hard to provide for you and the family.  Even if he's the "stay at home" parent, he still works hard, he does his part.  Thank him for whatever part he has in your team as husband and wife.
Show him respect.  Look at him when he's talking, don't interrupt, ask instead of tell, speak sweetly.  Pray and ask God to show you and help you follow His plan for your "team".   
Submit to him.  (No this doesn't mean be a door mat.  This means trust him to make the decisions and let him.  He has a huge responsibility in this.)  If someone has to lead (which according to God should be the husband), then someone has to follow (which God says should be the wife).  God's perfect plan is for the husband to lead, love, and work hard to provide, while the wife follows, loves, helps, and appreciates his efforts.
Love him, unconditionally.  Do not be a "husband-watcher".  Do not take it upon yourself to play the role of "Holy Spirit" in your husband's life, pointing out his faults.  Take care of your own faithfulness to your God-given assignment as the wife.  Do not postpone your obedience to your role as a wife and make it conditional to your husbands obedience. Instead of rating your husband, check out your own score as a wife.

Learning to communicate
Speak softly - "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" Prov 15:1  "A soft tongue can break hard bones" Prov 25:15
Speak sweetly - "Sweetness of the lips increases learning" Prov 16:21
Speak suitably - "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones" Prov 16:24
Speak scantly - "In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise" Prov 10:19
Speak slowly - "Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" James 1:19
Do not be a constant "dripping".  Do not be angry, crabby, nagging, quarrelsome, etc.  "The contentions of a wife are a continual dripping" Prov 19:13;  "Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, than in a house shared with a contentious woman" Prov 21:9; "A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike" Prov 27:15
"... wish for your speech to minister to your husband and edify your relationship with him."  It's all about how we say what we say.
Learn to pray, learn to say nothing, learn to wait.
"Little things"
Follow God's guidelines... "put away" speech that doesn't match up to God's standards; ask God to guide you, identify any speech patterns that must go
Make it a goal to encourage your husband; help, heal, and minister (Eph 4:29)
Be quick to say sorry
"Say what you mean but don't say it meanly"
Seek to please God with your words

Enjoying Intimacy
"Little things"
Go to bed at the same time
Tackle the "I'm to tired" excuse

Managing your money
Money matter's to God
Money is to be earned; "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing" Prov 10:2, "He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich" Prov 10:4, "Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase" Prov 13:11
Money is to be given.  Your money comes from God and should be used for His good.
Money is to be saved; "Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches" (Prov 24:3-4)
Money is not to be desired  "Better is a little with righteousness, than vast revenues without justice" (Prov 16:8)
Grow in character, be content with what you have, aupport your husband's efforts, and be a diligent homemaker and financial warrior as you "build your home"(Prov 14:1)
"Surely, if my husband is to provide, I can do my part by helping to make life easier for him in as many ways as I can."
Your character is more important than money (Prov 11:20); your reputation is better than money (Prov 22:1); wisdom is more important than money (Prov 14:24); and humility is better than money (Prov 22:4)  You, as a godly wife, are your husband's greatest asset.  You, as a godly wife, are better to him than money! (Prov 19:14)
"Little things"
Honor your husband's direction; check before making purchases.
Create a budget; for the areas you can control, that you are involved in; wait until funds are available.
Give to God's purposes.

Keeping up the Home
"Build" your home - "The wise woman builds her house" (Prov 14:1); a wise woman considers the caring of her house important and a priority in her life.
Watch over your home - "She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness" (Prov 31:27); shallow and unproductive activities should have no place in your life.
Manage your home - "marry, bear children, manage the house" (1 Tim 5:13-14)
Keep your home - "...be busy at home..." (Titus 2:5)
"Little things"
make the beds daily
make a daily to-do list
make a weekly meal menu
do one thing you've been putting off
work on your attitude "Heartily, as to the Lord and not to men" (Col 3:23); work with a positive attitude; work to better the lives of your loved ones; work with all your heart
work on growing; keep learning; as the season of your life changes so will the keeping of your home; look for ways to improve

Raising your children
praise God for His overwhelming grace!!!!!!!
no matter what stage of child rearing you are in God has given you an assignment like no other!
pray and seek to have His heart and mind-set toward your children
do not resent your children, do not complain about them, do not grow impatient with them, do not desire to get away from them; pray to love them, to love being with them, to love being a mother
teach your children; teach God's word; teach diligently; teach daily "My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother" (Prov 1:8)
"Little things"
get up before the kids - if you get up after you start your day behind and there is not getting ahead; it gives you time to pray and have your quiet time, to start your day with God, officially wake up!
have a daily bible time with mom - read the bible together, talk about it, pray about it, make the bible a part of their daily life

Extending love to family
"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you" (Ex 20:12)
"Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: 'that it may be will with you and you may live long on the earth'" (Eph 6:2-3)
don't get involved in mother-in-law bashing, and don't put her down to your husband either "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." "Let all...evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice" (Eph 4:29,31)

Make time for fun
joy must begin in your heart; your thoughts and attitude, not your circumstances, make the difference
"Little things"
plan one fun activity a week
make each anniversary unique - even if it can't be on the exact date

Serving the Lord
serve at home first - don't give others what you haven't given at home first; serve your husband and children, give your love to them first, then share with others; it's not important what people at church think, first it's important what people at home think
serve with your husbands blessing and support - your obedience to God's will for you as a wife will greatly determine God's blessings on your serving, no to service may be God's will as much as a yes!
serve however you can - even if it's at home praying or making phone calls
"Little things"
pick one little thing to do at church
check your heart - and check your schedule
pray for others

Reaching out to others
God very clearly says that we are to "without a word" show our Christianity by our "conduct"; this doesn't mean don't ever speak out but God wants our life to send the message
"The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much" (James 5:16)
reach out to your husband, reach out to your children, reach out to your neighbors, reach out to your family, reach out to the world
"Little things"
invite your friends and neighbors to a bible study
open your home
Pray

WOW!!!!!  That's a lot of info!!!!  I guess you may not even need to read the book now huh.  Oh well! It's amazing how much the little things that you don't even think about can make so much of a difference.  Just allowing your husband to be the man God has called him to be, the provider, the protector, the leader, can go a long way!!!!  I've started implementing some of the "Little things" into my daily life and, just this week, our house has become so peaceful, happy, organized, etc.  God's plan for us as wives is simple, not necessarily easy, but with God's help if we are trying our best, yearning to follow His plan, if we just ask Him, He will guide us!!!!

James....

Well, thanks to an idea I got from a friend's blog that I follow, we as a family have started this week "hiding God's word in our hearts".  My goal for us was to memorize a verse every two weeks.  Well, I've decided it's going to be one every week, since my kids pretty much had it memorized in a day!  We are going to take a week though because I want them to really know it.  We are starting in James... James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds".
I, also, have decided to do a short study on the book of James, to better understand it as we memorize it.
I've been considering a study bible that I want to purchase next, but as I've started this study on James I think I've changed my mind.  I know that I want to purchase a Life Application Bible in the fall, but I think instead of "per say" a study bible, I think that as I start in Genesis, I'm going to do a study of each book as I read it.  It's amazing how much I learned and retained from my reading the bible.  I just started at the front cover and read, like a book.  I'm so excited to start my next reading, and really study as I read.  I also think I'm going to start a study on religions.  My kids, and my husband, randomly ask questions about other religions and what they believe and how it's different.  I've decided I want to really know the answers, not just a basic idea.

Anyway, not a lot going on right now in our lives.  It's the 4th week of summer and we've already had VBS and youth camp.  We have a couple weeks off (except the beach to visit my mom, and brother and his family) and then our first family mission trip to W. Va.!!!  (Which we are most excited about!!!)  Then a couple weeks off and school starts.

It's been awhile since I've put pics up...  Here are some over the last month or so...

Travis' 5th grade graduation...  His teachers, Mrs. Itner and Mrs. Vera, were also John John's 5th grade teachers...

Recital...

(I have a video of Travis' dance but have to figure out how to upload it. As soon as I do I'll share, it's AWESOME!)

Some of our week at youth camp...

4th of July...

15 years....

Wow!!!!  I can't believe it's been 15 years since I gave birth to my first born. I could not have been more scared and excited all at the same time.  He made his debut at 7:23 pm that evening, June 15th, 1996.  We hadn't found out what we were having, though I knew without a doubt it'd be a boy...  and obviously I was right.  John was so excited, and I was so in love immediately.  John John was born before they left babies in your room.  They took him to the nursery and promised that we'd see him in 4 hours.  I had some minor complications after his birth and couldn't get out of the bed, but John was allowed to go see him through the window in the nursery.  At about 11:15 we heard a baby crying in the hall and thought for sure that was the nurse bringing our baby boy to us.  John walked out to meet them.  After about 10 min they weren't in the room yet, and I heard no baby crying anymore.  Next thing I knew John walked into the doorway extremely upset.  I will never forget his first words...  "It's ok, he's not dead!"  Of course I instantly paniced, not being able to move I just started to cry.  What in the world could be wrong if those are the first words he has to say after seeing our son!  It turns out John John had a breathing issue.  Basically, they said he "forgot" to breath, 2 times in 5 mins.  When John left the room to "meet our baby", it turns out it wasn't our baby we heard and he had walked around to the nursery to see if they were getting ready.  He walked up to the window and noticed John John was BLUE!!!  He sayed he started beating on the window to get the nurses attention.  As soon as they touched him he took a breath but they layed him back down and when they took their hands off him again he forgot again.  Needless to say they weren't able to bring him to me that night.  They moved him to the NICU, and hooked him up to a few monitors.  I was still having complications and couldn't get out of the bed.  It was nearly 24 hours before I got to see my baby again.  I remember thinking, "what if something happens and I don't get to hold him again".  I was so afraid, those hours seemed to go like days.  John would go down every 3 hours and feed him, and come back and reassure me that he was perfect.  He'd had no issues since those 2, and he was fine.  I'll never forget the first time I got to see him again.  They wheeled me down in a wheelchair and into the NICU.  John picked him up out of the bed and layed him in my arms, he was truely perfect.  Wires and all, I didn't care.  He was my baby and instantly everything was okay.  I had to stay in the hospital an extra day, which turned into a blessing.  John John had to stay and be monitored for 6 days.  It was one of the hardest days of my life, leaving him that Monday night.  I was physically and emotionally exhausted.  I spent 3 and a half days at the hospital, from wake up til bed time.  It was a long week to say the least!
Anyway, it's now 15 years later.  John John has 2 of the 6 feet of my heart.  I couldn't be more proud a mother of him.  He is nearly perfect in every way.  He is so caring, compassionate, smart, talented, I just can't say enough.  That precious 9 pound toe head has turned into a God fearing, God loving, young man that has been through a lot in his short 15 years.  I wouldn't trade one second of his life for anything in the entire world.  God has blessed me with the opportunity to train up one of His own and believe it or not he has taught me probably as much as I've taught him. 
John John, I love you.  I'm so proud of the man you are becoming.  I'm so proud of the life you lead, and the choices you make.  They are not always easy, and they don't always end the way you'd like but you seem to always press on.  I'm so proud of how you allow the struggles in your life teach you, and mold you into who God would have you to be.  I pray for your future.  That you would continue to strive to put God first in your life.  I know that you have only great things ahead of you and can't wait to see where the next 15 years take you in this thing called life.  God has GREAT things for you!

It's official....

Well, it's official...  I now will have children at each "level" of school!!  Jordyn 2nd grade (still elementary school), Travis 6th grade (MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!), and John John 10th grade (still high school).  I can't believe it, never again will any of my children be at the same school.  Kinda makes me sad, kinda not.  Most of my sadness is from Travis going to middle school, although he makes me feel so much better about it because he's SO excited!!!  I pray it's all he wants it to be (though I'm afraid it's not gonna be as "cool" as he thinks).  The rest of my sadness comes from John John being about to drive!!!!  OMW, is he really that old?!?!?!?!  (Am I really that old?!?!?!) (More on that next week).  Not one bit of sadness about Jordyn.  I guess maybe because this isn't gonna be a big transition for her. I don't really know why, but I'm nothing but excited to see what's gonna happen with her next year!
Anyway, I know it's been awhile.  It's gonna be a crazy summer but I'll update as much as I can.  I'll definitely be back next week for John John's 15th birthday!!!!

A fabulous Jordynism...

Ok, two Jordyn stories...

One evening this past week I had to go to a friends house to pick up a FABULOUS picture she painted for me! I had Jordyn with me; as we got in the car she proceeded to tell me that she hadn't gotten to see the upstairs. I said no big deal it was just bedrooms. She then said that she had gotten to see in the living room. She stops and looks at me and says, "what do they call it, the living room, the family room, the den, hhmmm I wonder...". So matter of fact.


Thursday she was taking a shower. I went in to rinse her hair and she started to tell me a story. "Mommy,remember the other day at school when I had my Easter egg hunt. Remember the blue bunny gummy that I got?". Me, " yes ". "Well do you think I will like it?". Me, " no, you don't like gummies". "Well do you think Travis would like it?". Me, "I don't know, does he like gummies?". "He eats them but he doesn't really like them. Wait, we need to start this conversation over.". She then proceeds to turn and face the wall, put her hand against it. "Fast forward backwards, minaminaminaminaminaminaminamina, pause, play, ok mommy, remember the other day at school when I had my easter egg hunt.". REALLY, she then proceeded to completely have the whole conversation again!!!! Dead serious, my jaw almost hit the floor. It was all I could do to not laugh in her face.

My daughter, SO HER FATHERS CHILD!!!!!

Love.....Obedience

So, last week in church my pastor asked a pretty thought provoking question...
"What happened last week to make you choose your will or His?"
So, what situations was I in that I really stopped to think WWJD?  I know it's become a kind of cliche, but it's true.  We, as christians, should be living our lives by "What Would Jesus Do"?  There are so many every day aspects of life that we don't even stop to think about how are we handling this, and are we living in His will or our own?  It's not about us, this life is only about God; about us showing Christ to each other, us allowing Christ to shine thru us so that all the world will see.  Our love for Him should translate as obedience to Him.  Sometimes that obedience requires sacrifice on our part, which in turn a lot of times could make us ignore the question "my will or His?"

So, I ask the question again; "What happened last week to make you choose your will or His?" or you could rephrase, "What could happen this week and will I choose my will or His"?  Be ready for the enemy, stand strong in your faith, hide God's word in your heart, be prepared at all times to maybe have to make a sacrifice.  I can promise, from experience, it will be worth your while to choose Christ's will.  The possibilities are endless with God on your side; the alternative, the possibility of a Jesus spanking that you can't even imagine!

oh to be excited for Jesus...

Well, not a lot to say, I've been thinking a lot though.  I have a friend who has just recently been saved.  She just posted her testimony on her blog (which I've heard quite a few times in the last few months and could listen to a thousand more times easily).  She's such an inspiration to me.  I've been a christian for a LONG TIME, like since I was 5!  There's no doubt that I was saved then, I can remember the exact place and circumstances; but It's amazing how much of being a christian becomes daily routine if you're not careful, especially if you've been "doing it" since you were 5!  I think that when you become a christian later in life it's so much more "exciting".  Now, saying that I will also say that I pray for my children to have, what our student pastor calls, a boring testimony; but I also have decided that I want to inspire them to continually be excited about being a christian.  I want them to have the feeling my friend has had, and in turn has taught me to have, all the time for Jesus!  I pray that they never get bored, stuck in the routine; but that they are constantly renewed and refreshed with excitement for Jesus!  I mean, the joy on my friends face every time I see her and the excitement in her voice every time I talk to her makes me constantly think, "Am I that excited for Jesus?  Do I exude that joy and excitement to my friends, or even strangers for that matter?"  It has become my desire, my passion, to try desperately for that.  I must honestly say, it's not easy, especially when I'm at home.  I lose patience with my kids and immediately that joy and excitement turns to yelling and chaos.  I pray daily for Christ to give me patience, to keep me slow to anger, to shine thru me like none other so that people only see Him, not the sinful, impatient, irritated, tired mom/wife I feel like!  How am I gonna inspire my children to be joyful and excited for Jesus if all I do is yell at them?  I know that this journey could not/cannot happen without Christ leading me.  I know that I am "only human" but I'm starting to think that that's not a good enough excuse, because God is so much bigger than that!  I know that I'm not perfect but being perfected.  He will use every mistake I make to teach me and transform me, but saying "I'm only human" gives me an excuse and I don't want an excuse.  I want there to be God in my life and only God, and I want everyone else to see Him without me saying a word.  I want to be joyful and excited for Jesus, always!

I love you Allison, my new sister in Christ!  Thank you so much for your joy and excitement for Jesus and for the inspiration you are to me!

(Well, I thought not a lot to say.  It's just what's been on my mind!)