Archive for the ‘marriage’ Category
Holding Back Tears
There have been several things this week that have caused me to try and hold back tears. Many of them are on a related subject, marriage. I am so thankful and so blessed to have the husband that I do. We have been blessed with a wonderful marriage. It is not one without struggles, every marriage takes work. We have a great God and have been blessed abundantly. It almost brings me to tears of joy to think of the abundance of grace, mercy, strength, and blessings the Lord has provided us in our marriage. A cousin of mine recently celebrated 23 years of marriage! In my family that is unbelievable!!! I know some of the struggles they have gone through and know of the amazing working of God in their lives. As I think upon this tears of joy begin to well up inside of me!
However, this week I received news of the pending divorce of some dear, dear friends of ours. You hear of how divorce is just as common in the church; nothing makes that more strikingly evident than to realize that you know those who are going through it. Tears of brokenheartedness for our friends well up inside.
Tears for the state of the church are also building. In the desire to minister to those of divorce, accountability and shame have been removed. Yes, I said shame. We are not to be shaming others but sin should carry shame. Sin is shameful. We are to hold others accountable. This (holding others accountable) should be a part of our ministry to those who are struggling. God desires reconciliation and provides the way and the healing. It is not an easy road but how great and big is God???
In my husband’s line of work, he sees almost on a daily basis marriages falling apart. It makes us more thankful for our own. I have been contemplating this week my many tears. Maybe it is just hormonal (my usual excuse-LOL) but maybe, just maybe, it is as it should be. We should be in a place where we are brokenhearted and mourn over the sinfulness of this world, we should be brokenhearted and mourn when Christians choose the path of the world rather than God’s plan, and we should well up and cry tears of joy for the great, great God we serve and his many mercies toward us.
Things on My Plate
My hubby comes home in just over a week! I am anxious to see my other half. The two really do become one and I am feeling only half here which makes it difficult to accomplish the tasks at hand. I had great hopes of big accomplishments to have completed by time he returned but many of those have fallen by the wayside. There are however, several things I would like to finish before he arrives. Here is my list…..many cannot be done until next week and payday but……check in with me and please encourage me to get these things finished…I need some accountability!
- Finish the faux painting in the bedroom
- Buy and possibly put up the new ceiling tiles
- Put together a dresser and fill with clothes
- Fold and put away that MOUNTAIN of laundry which is currently residing on the pool table
- Finish planting the flowers
- DUST, DUST, DUST
- Pick up the wood flooring for the office
- Rake the leaves along the sides of the bottom half of the creek
- Restock the pantry and freezer
- hang lantern and cross in bedroom
- hang street signs in the game room
- Get baby photo framed and hung
- Clean all the bathrooms thoroughly – the whole house for that matter!
- One more dump run
- Wash the winter grime off of our vehicles
- buy a lock and then move the BBQ grill to the deck
- Plant the bushes in the backyard
- Pull the painting tape up off of the hallway floor
- Call the people about the lousy way they want to handle fixing my washer and see what concessions they will make
- Check on fabric to reupholster the sofa
OK—that is it for now.
Pondering a Blessing
How often have you gone to a wedding? I have only attended one in the recent years because most of my friends have been married for some time now. The last wedding I attended was for the daughter of a friend. That must be a true sign that I am beginning to get old. As my oldest children grow into young adulthood and more of my friends’ children are marrying I find myself thinking on weddings more and more. Since hubby and I eloped, I never had that dream wedding. I often ponder what I think the perfect wedding would be like. Of course, I will try my best not to place that upon my children but maybe, just maybe, they will adopt some of my ideas as their own. Most likely my husband will be officiating the service.
As I think of the homilies given at so many weddings along with the admonishments and blessings, I often see one vital element missing. There is often mention of what real love is, the blessing of the Lord to bring the two together, the committment involved, how to manage through the tough times, faithfulness, a long and happy life together, honoring the Lord in the relationship, and living for the other person. There is rarely however any mention of children. There is rarely the mention of a heritage.
I wonder why this element of the marraige covenant is so often neglected. Is it partly because of our culture that we think children are for a later time? Have we forgotten that children are the natural outcome from the marital relationship? Scripture tells us however that a Godly offspring is what the Lord desires.
Malachi 2:15
Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
Did you know that there is an example in Scripture of a wedding blessing? Did you know that it deals with that Godly offspring. Make sure that as you read this blessing that you realize it was actually considered a blessing!
Genesis 24:60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become [the mother of] thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”
I cannot think of a better blessing to give at a wedding. Can you?
Contraditions — When is it a Baby?
I ran across this while browsing some of my regular blog reads. Though I think we need to realize that the loss of a baby is devestating to anyone and not belittle that, they do make a very good point. When is a baby a baby? What is the determining factor? The determining factor on when life begins should not be merely the desire of a woman to be a mother! I think most know where I stand on this issue. 
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Contraditions — When is it a Baby?
True Role of the Christian Woman
Here is another question posed to me from my in real life friend and my response.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
The biblical mind is not compartmentalized into two distinct areas of though: secular and sacred. All of life is under the authority of God’s revealed Word, and children were to be taught in terms of this comprehensive authority all the time.
from: Standing on the Promises by Doug Wilson
A Personal or Larger Calling
Dear ______,I will gladly share with you my beliefs and convictions. I am often asked these questions. To be honest, in most cases the way they are asked is often in a negative tone and I try to answer them positively. I will share with you where I am at concerning these issues and my scriptural support.I am curious if you perceive having a large family as your personal calling or a larger calling to all Christian people. Do you consider the use of birth control a sin? Would this include attempts to manipulate family size through methods such as natural family planning?My beliefs really do not focus around a number or a particular size. There are many who hold the same doctrines concerning “family planning” or lack thereof and do not have large families. I know several of these people. It is not the size or number but it is about submitting to the Sovereign Lord in this area of our lives.I will say that these are difficult questions to answer simply because many get offended when people attempt to answer these questions. I will answer by stating that I believe the Bible teaches against using birth control. Not explicitly though, in other words, there is no place that we are told out right not to do so.But I believe there is an implicit teaching (combining the whole of Scripture on the matter).Those things being:
- We are told to be fruitful and multiply. This is the first commandment ever given and it has never been rescinded but instead reiterated. Gen 1:28, Gen. 9:1, Gen. 35:11
- Children are a gift and a heritage unto the Lord. Psalm 127: 1, 3-5, Psalm 128:3
- God knows us before we are even formed. Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5, Hebrews 7:9-10
- Onan was killed for being disobedient in fathering a child and spilling his seed rather than instead passing his kinsman duties on to another. Genesis 38:8-10, Ruth 4:5-7
- God desires a godly seed and that the design for marriage is to bring forth that Godly seed. Malachi 2:15, 1 Corin. 7:2-5
- God is the one who is sovereign over the womb, He opens and closes the womb. Gen 29:31, Gen. 30:22, 1 Samuel 1:19-20
- We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1-2
This is a just a brief summary. It is not that we are not capable of making these decisions, it is a question of if it is indeed a decision that was meant for us to make. It is a question of do I see God’s blessing as working in spite of my actions or in response of my submission to his sovereignty.
