Why My Husband Rocks

There are many reasons I married my husband and many more than that keep me married to him. One is the commitment we made to each other. There is this clause “through sickness and in health,forsaking all others, even as we both shall live”. We are one entity, united by God and together forever. That is only one reason, and while it is enough, I wanted to explore further why even without that I would still be married to this man. My husband is thoughtful. I mean by this that he thinks about what I may need. I had been on my own for so long and made my own money that I still am hesitant to ask for things, but he offers me what I need when I need it and thinks of these things and provides. So he is an excellent provider through his thoughtfulness as well as his career. Secondly, he loves and trains the children alongside me. As a mom, you cannot imagine how wonderful it is to be supported and helped in raising children by your stronger self, your spouse. It makes the daunting task much less daunting and shows all of us love. A third reason is that my wonderful husband wants me around. This is a beautiful thing!! It is always nice to be wanted and loved after four and a half years of marriage, growing in fellowship and respect for one another’s presence. What a gift! Fourthly, he speaks my love language. I recommend the book The Five Love Languages if you haven’t read it yet. My husband is willing and does regularly show me love how I feel most loved, which for me is quality time, and I am happy and eager to show him love the way he needs it, through acts of service. And lastly for now, because you have to end somewhere, my husband encourages me in the Lord and in our prayer life. He does not neglect the spiritual matters of the heart so we have a depth in our relationship which few can boast. There is immense power in being both physically united and spiritually united in Christ. We read and discuss Scriptures and pray together, and that is beautiful. So, this amazing man I am happily married to has some down sides, but we all do (I have more than my share), but I believe where one of the partnership is weak the other is strong and in so doing we are stronger together and more useful than we ever were apart. That is what is supposed to happen, so thank you, God!! He is so good! And thank you ,Steve, for loving me so well!!

Mosquitoes

I think mosquitoes are really around to teach us very important lessons about life. Many would say they wish Moses would have just swatted those two mosquitoes but I think they are still plaguing us for several reasons. First, they are a great equalizer. Of course, they have their favorites (me) but they can pretty much get everyone to run for the inside at dusk and spray things and hurl curses at them from our mouths pretty equally. Along those lines, we are kept humble as well for similar reasons. No one proudly struts around when they decide to attack. They duck and run for cover. They also teach us something about distraction. No matter how deep and important the conversation and thought being shared is, the conversation is over when these little evil distractions invade our space. And no matter how strong we are in our faith, if we are attacked by many distractions we can get off course and not finish the sentence, so to speak. I have had many attempts at distraction in the past, have some now and most assuredly will later, but it is my choice how I handle them. It is always our choice to allow the distraction to change us or cause us to side step when we are to go straight. Our job is to read God’s Word to know God’s will and pray for His strength and renewed protection from distraction every day or moment. If we make it a priority to prioritize, we run the very real chance of being unmoved by distractions and creation a barrier of protection around ourselves. Just a thought.

My Daddy

Most people know my Dad as a farmer, and he was. Some know him as a machine repairman for Whirlpool, and he was. Some know him as “Pudge”, and he was. Some knew him as a Marine, and he was. Some knew him as a great tenor singer and church song leader, and he was. Others knew him as Sunday School teacher and church deacon, and he was. However, I had the privilege of knowing him as Daddy, and he is. Still with us for a while longer, I see him in his state of less and cannot see the physical degeneration. I see the man he was and I thank God I had a Daddy that loved me unconditionally and that I could respect and admire unequivocally for his faithfulness to my Mom and us and integrity of spirit and soul. He is and has always been the strongest man I know and was always willing to do for anyone who needs it. Generous to a fault, he gave even when we had little until we had more and still he gave. He lived his life as I knew him in truth and dignity and respect for his parents and care for his wife and us. Tender to animals and in his heart, he felt much more than he showed when others hurt. If anyone harmed us in any way, he was a bear towards the offenders and defended us no questions asked. Many moves, he was there helping me move. If my car was making weird noises, he knew what was wrong by me making the sound and knew what I should be paying for the repair. He wouldn’t let me drive until I had learned from him and proved that I could change a tire and change my oil and fan belt. He made sure that we took a family vacation together every year, no matter what. A true patriot, Independence Day was celebrated right up there with Christmas and Easter, but all three were celebrated to the hilt! And the man could cook! I still have my Daddy today but we are not sure for how much longer but I just want ted to celebrate this great man that I love and respect so much! I think we should tell people before they are gone because it can happen any time. I love you, Daddy!!!

Why Bad Things Happen

Bad things happen to bad people, which no one seems to have a problem with (just desserts and all that) but also happen to good people. And people are always asking “Why?” My perspective or insight is quite different than many you may have heard. Oh, I have heard myself a fair share of “God doesn’t do bad things to good people but Satan does” or “they must have done something wrong” or “People have free will and can choose to do bad things against God’s plan” or some other explanation. Actually, I used to think and say that last one but I no longer do. The reason bad things happen on this Earth we live on is because we are not here to live a gloriously rich and blessed life for eternity here. When sin entered this planet, the goal of the Lord God was not to keep us here but for us to prove ourselves holy and worthy of heaven after this brief stint on this rock is up. What makes me so sure? The Bible tells me so. There are several passages (see Job for one) that speak of us being sharpened as by fire, being tested to prove our worth, etc. Everyone acts good (or at least more so) when everything is fine. You don’t generally see the weaknesses or problems in a person’s heart when things are smooth and orderly and peaceful in their life. When something bad happens, you often see all too well the areas of weaknesses in a person. God is God and who are we to say He cannot use bad things to refine our spirits and souls and mold them into the best we can be for His work. Now the difficulty would be if you don’t believe God is perfect and magnificent and awe inspiring. Then, you would not be at peace with this explanation and would call me crazy and say God would never do anything bad ever. Well, to that I would reply that there are forces of evil also that do evil and that God can use any bad or good thing for that matter to account plush your growth and development. He never allows a difficulty to come your way without providing a way through it. That is also in the Bible and is a beautiful promise!