Something Priceless

I could probably write a million blog posts on marriage.  I'm so thankful that my parents set an amazing precedence for me, but I've never met anyone who has had as wonderful a relationship as they do.

From Pinterest

They've been married now for 32 years.  According to the world, their marriage should never have lasted!  They barely dated before they got engaged and married, and only 15 short months later, I was born.  But they are in love.  Disgustingly in love.  Always have been!  I've never seen Dad raise his voice at me.  I've never seen Mom contradict Dad's authority in the family.  The doesn't mean it never happened, but I never saw it.  They've had their fair share of hard times, but they both kept smiling, and kept loving each other.  They valued their relationship.  Mom always said they had children young (my parents are both still in their 50's) so they could still be young enough to enjoy each other and have fun together.  But, the key word is valued.  Dad knew that mom was a jewel among pebbles.  Mom knew that Dad was a musician among karaoke singers.  (See what I did there, Mom and Dad!?)

I like to think of it in terms that I am more familiar with, though.  I collect tea pots.  Most of my teapots are antiques, and most are china.  Each teapot comes with a story about how and where I acquired it.  Each one is carefully placed on a shelf, out of the reach of little hands.  Each one gets dusted and cleaned.  Each one is special to me in some way.  But the most special is one I don't have yet.  It belongs to my granny, and I have loved it since I was a child.  It is beautiful - cream with a beautiful light green design around the top.  She's already written my name on it and promised it to me after she is gone, and it will be the most prized teapot in my collection when I have it.  Why?  Many reasons!  It is a gift from someone I love dearly.  It will remind me of her every time I look at it, and how she always thought of me when she looked at it.    It is irreplaceable.  It is beautiful and special.  It is time tested.

From Pinterest

In other words, I will guard that teapot more than I will any other teapot.  I'd rather lose all the other teapots I have in my collection than to lose that one.

My marriage to my husband is like that teapot.  It is a gift - a gift from God.  Every time I look my my husband, I am reminded of how much God loves me.  I'm reminded of how much He thinks of me, that he would put someone as special as Barb Wire Man in my life.  He planned for us to be together!  My marriage to Barb Wire Man is irreplaceable.  Sure, he or I could marry someone else, but there are memories, dreams, goals, and a friendship that would never be the same with anyone else.  What we have is special, and I rather lose friendships with everyone else in the world than to lose the love and friendship of my husband.

From Pinterst

I want to guard my marriage to Barb Wire Man even more than I would that tea pot.  Marriage isn't something to be put up on a shelf, then forgotten.  It also isn't something to be taken off the shelf and passed around haphazardly with everyone we see, to be broken, chipped or dirtied.  It is something to be valued, cherished, and lovingly care for.

My goal is to value every moment of my marriage.  In 15 years, I want my kids to look back and say they were disgusted at how much Mom and Daddy love each other.  I want them to model their marriage after ours.

Be blessed today!

Trust

Trust.  It is such a small word, but one of the greatest.

Without trust, a marriage is nothing.

This may be one of the hardest posts for me to write, because I know I'll be admitting to something that I've never wanted to!

I've mentioned in previous posts that I had been married before I married Barb Wire Man.  I married young...I was 18 and he was a Marine.  I was crazy in love with the boy at the time.  I hadn't ever lived on my own.  I grew up around incredibly Godly parents, and their Godly friends.  I only knew one person who had ever been divorced, and all my friends were wonderful, trustworthy people.  The truth was, I lived an incredibly sheltered life.  I'd never been betrayed or seriously emotionally hurt by anyone, because everyone I knew was raised that it was not okay to do that to a person!  I truly believed that everyone lived life like that!

To make a very long story short, I married very young, at 18, to a Marine whom I was madly in love with at the time.  He had plans of going to seminary one he was out of the military.  About 10 months after we were married, I found out I was pregnant with out first child.  I also found out he had been having an ongoing affair with an woman he worked with, and it was not his first affair.

I was shocked.  I was hurt.  I was ashamed.  I was embarrassed.  I was angry...no, furious.  I was devastated.  I was forever changed.

It was at that moment I chose  to trust no one.  There is, after all, only one man a girl can trust, and that is her daddy!  (Well, in my case 3, daddy, pa, and pawpaw!)

Then, I met my husband, Barb Wire Man.  Aside from the three aforementioned men, I've never met a man more honest.  Because he always shot straight with me, I tried to make sure I was a trusting, un-jealous wife.  When he went out with the boys, I shoved any un-trusting feelings down so deep, even I didn't realize I felt them.  For 9 years, it worked great!  Now, the trust I have in my husband was not ruined, far from it, but it did take a little jolt.

There are two things, though that I noticed about myself recently.

First, I realized that while at one time I trusted no one, I was beginning to trust people again.  Not just saying that I trusted people, but actually trusted them.  And I also realized that I really do not want to trust people.  I hate that I feel that way!  After 30 years of being on this planet, I've learned to not trust people, and those who I do are met with a very guarded, cautious trust.

Secondly, I realized I am a very, very jealous person.  I really don't like that, either.  I've always tried to shove any form of jealousy down very deep, because I never wanted to be a jealous person,  Jealous women annoy me!  But I was forced to admit that when it comes to a few things, like my husband, I am very jealous!

For our marriage to be healthy, I have to learn to work past these things.  So far, the only thing I can do is pray about it!  I don't want to be a guarded person, and I do not want to be a jealous person.  Do you struggle with trust issues?

Be blessed today!

Taking Each Other for Granted

We take just about everything for granted these days.  We don't think twice about flipping on a switch and having lights until the power goes out.  We get in our car, turn it on and drive off without thinking about it, until the car won't start.  We load the dishwasher and hit start, never even thinking about the convenience.

When two people are first married, they notice all the little things the other does for them.  The longer a couple is married, the less those little things are noticed.  Before I go much further, I do want to say this isn't a matter of the other needing things from the other.  Barb Wire Man and I neither on need each other.  He has and is perfectly able to take care of himself in every way.  I do not need Barb Wire Man - I have, and can take care of myself in every way.  But, I suppose this is a little rant.

I'm talking about the little things we do each day to make the other feel special, or to help make their life a little easier.

I work each day.  Yes, I stay at home to work, but I do work.  During the school year, I babysit.  Contrary to what some believe, I do not sit on the couch while they watch TV.  I hardly sit down throughout the day!  We play, and sing all day.  I change diapers constantly (literally about 18 a day!), cook breakfast and lunch for them, make them snacks, and even help potty train.  Essentially, I am their mommy from 7:30 in the morning until 5:00 or later in the evening.  And I love it!  Financially, I could take care of myself and my kids, and I intend to keep it that way.  On top of my job, I still have everyday household chores.  Barb Wire Man is old fashioned in the sense that he believes it is the woman's job to care for the home, and he got lucky enough to marry a woman who believes the same!  I do all the laundry.  I do all the cooking.  I do all the cleaning.  I go to the grocery store alone.  I wash his favorite coffee cup every day, and if I don't for some reason, he'd rather skip coffee than wash it himself!  I make sure he has plenty of snacks in his semi.  I do all the banking and bill paying.  I take the trash out when he..."forgets".  I take care of the garden.  I rub his back.  I bathe and take care of the kids.  I do these things because I feel like it is my job, but also because I know Barb Wire Man is tired.

Barb Wire Man goes to work everyday, and sometimes, has some pretty funky hours.  In fact, today, he left our house at 1:30 in the morning.  When he gets home from work, Barb Wire Man's "duties" include taking out the trash (if I haven't already), mowing the lawn (once a week at most), and......and......and....yeah, I have nothing else to add.

I do not mind doing all the things I do around the house.  I know my husband is tired after a long day at work, but sometimes, he fails to realize that I am tired from work, too.  He sometimes fails to see that we both have jobs, but that on top of my job, I have work!  Occasionally, it would be nice to hear a thank you from Barb Wire Man.  It would be nice to hear "Let me help you with supper tonight!"  Or even "I know you've been working all day, too, let me help you fold the laundry."

He takes for granted all the little things I do for him, like, washing that stupid coffee cup for him.  I do it to be nice to him.  To do a "little something" to make his day better.

We have to remember to never take the little things for granted.

Tell your spouse thank you for all the little things they do to make your life easier.

Better yet, help your spouse with those things.  We are supposed to be a team, right?!

Be blessed today!

Happy New Year!!

It is 9:21 PM on December 31st, 2012 as I begin to write this.

I've spent virtually this entire day contemplating life as we have come to know it these days, and frankly, it has given me one hell of a headache, because all I have been able to dwell on are the negatives: the government in a state of disarray, joblessness...the list could go on and on.

As I was trying to gather my thoughts to put on paper, so to speak, I struggled with which direction to go with this post.  Most would consider me a "clinger"...I'm clinging to my Bible and my guns.  I won't deny it, I am.  I considered going a political route, after reading a story about a young Austrian girl named Kitty Werthmann.  You can read her story HERE.  But, I won't.

You see, Ms. Werthmann's story hit me hard.  The subtle, between the lines part.  The little part of the story that could have been summed up by simply stating that so, so many had turned from their faith.  Faith was no longer popular.

Ms. Werthmann's mother sent her to a convent, where she was shielded from the humanistic ideals that were permeating the world around her.  She didn't want her daughter to lose sight of God; to become wrapped up in the idea that government held the answer.  She didn't want her daughter to be blinded by the ideal that "free" was equivalent to "freedom", or that choosing to stay at home and care for her children and her husband put her on a wrung lower than women who were working.  She wanted her daughter to know the joy of having a family, not just of having a baby.  And how dare her mother send her somewhere that wasn't "fun", where indoctrination and politics wasn't the curriculum! (Please, sense the sarcasm here!)

After I finished reading the story, I looked over at my dear Barb Wire Man, who was glued to his computer.  Indeed, he is an incredibly wise man.  He knows many things about many things, and is the first person I go to with a question about anything.  

I looked over at my two beautiful, wonderful children.  Little Man was glued to the Rocking New Year's Eve bands playing, dancing and playing in his wonderful, innocent 3 year old way.  Flower was annoyed at his mere existence, and wanted to know why I wasn't allowing her to stay up until midnight, when "all her friends got to".

Have we been slowly sucked into believe things contrary to the Word of God?  Yep.  Heck, we are even giving in, slowly, to believing the Word of God is nothing but fairy tales.

Have we been slowly sucked into believing the women who stay at home with their children are rich, lazy women who can't get a job? Yep, many times.  At the very least, we hear "Oh, your husband won't let you work?  You are so oppressed!"

Have we slowly been led to believe that country comes before all things, including God? Indeed.  Need something?   Don't ask God, ask Big Brother!

God is in control, whatever the future may hold, but we have to do our best to prevent anything that is contrary to our beliefs.  Isn't that what we all want, whether you believe the same as me or not?

So, as I sit here watching my husband and children, writing this post, I consider my New Year's Resolutions.

I will train up my children in the way they should go, so that when they are old, they will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

I will teach my daughter to be noble, to love her future husband, to work hard at whatever she does, to open her arms to the poor, to have no fear for her family, to laugh at the days to come and to be clothed in strength and dignity.  I will teach her to speak with wisdom, watch over the affairs of her family, and that a women who fears the Lord is to be praised (Proverbs 31).  I will pray for her every day that she will be a true, Biblical woman of God, and will be blessed with a true, Godly man who loves God more than her, or their future children.

I will teach my son to be slow to anger (James 1:19), and to teach his children about the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).  I will teach him to love his wife, just as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25), and to treat her tenderly (1 Peter 1:37).  I will teach him to keep his way pure, by living according to God's word, by seeking  God with all his heart, and hiding God's word in his heart. (Proverbs 119-11).  I will pray for him daily, that he will be a Godly man, who loves his children, adores his wife, but places nothing above God.

I will focus more on my marriage and my husband, that my husband will continue to love me more than himself, but God more than me,and that I will continue to be submissive and loving towards him (Eph. 5:25-33).  I will pray that our marriage will be held in honor (Hebrews 13:4), and that our home will be filled with love (1 Corin. 13).  I will pray over myself all the things I pray for my daughter, and I will pray over my husband all the things I pray for my son.

I will continue to store up food, and other things, though I will not store these things up in my heart (Matthew 6:19-20).  I will continue to place my faith in God, that He will provide (1 Timothy 6:17, Phillipians 4:19), regardless.

In short, I will continue to guide my family towards God, but with stronger zeal.  I won't send my daughter to a convent (yet, unless she continues to grow up and get prettier!), but I will be damned if they grow up not knowing the Lord because I don't teach them.  They may not like all the new ideas I have, but I don't care.  This is my job, right?  And I will do it to the best of my ability!

Happy New Year, everyone!  May your new year be blessed!