Ask Your Husband

Many times, as women, we will have a 'problem' and then look everywhere to find a solution.

We will search high....

and low.

We will ask our girlfriends.

We will write complete strangers in magazines and newspapers.

We will even ask on other people's blogs.

or sometimes even on Facebook.

We might even do a google search...:)

And we forget to ask our husbands!

The very man that God has placed in our lives to give us wisdom and direction!

When I was a young Christian I was fortunate to have a mentor always ask me "have you asked your husband?" ...

At first, I thought it to be strange. Ask my husband? What does he have to do with it???

But she was right by always pointing me to him. And the great thing was that she would always tell me her stories about asking her husband--(yes, there are women that actually do this!) What an example!

So what did I do? Well, I started to ask my husband. And something special started to happen---I could tell that he felt more respected since I wanted his opinion. I didn't have to go to the Pastor, the pastor's wife or my Bible study leader...no, just Him. And the Lord used him mightily to give me the answers that I needed AND to teach me a thing or two about humility and deferring to him. The more questions I asked, the better he got at answering them too. He knew I valued his opinion and would try to answer the best that he could.


So next time---ask your husband!

And see what the Lord will do through him...





*********************

Note: I am not referring to those who occasionally ask for advice, as it is good to get wise counsel-- but to those that might always ask others or valuing their opinion more, never thinking twice of asking their husbands first.

I Was...

• a murderer
• a thief
• a liar
• someone who caused others to stumble and led them to sin
• an idolator
• a man pleaser
• a slanderer 
• a fool
• promiscuous
• and every other horrible thing you can imagine

I am not perfect.

Only saved.

Washed white by His blood.

Sharing this so I will NEVER,

EVER

get the glory for anything He has ever done in my life.

And now I am....

• Forgiven of all my sins (Eph. 1:7, Heb. 9:14)
• A new creation (2 Cor 5:17)
• Rescued from the power of darkness and brought into God's kingdom (Col 1:13)
• Loved so dearly (John 3:16)
• A saint (Roman. 1:7; 1 Corinthian 1:2)
• Holy and without blame before Him (Eph. 1:4)
• Elect (Col 3:12)
• Set free (John 8:31:33)
• Dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:2)
• More than a conqueror (Roman 8:37)
• Accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6)
• Complete in Him (Col 2:10)
• Alive with Christ (Eph 2:5)
• Free from condemnation (Rom 8:11)
• Reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:18)
• Born of God and the evil one does not harm me (1 John 5:18)
• Blessed with every spiritual blessing Christ (Eph 1:3)
• His disciple because I have love for others (John 13:34,35)
• The light of the world (Matt 5:14)
• The salt of the earth (Matt 5:13)
• The righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24)
• Chosen (1 Thess 1:4; Eph. 1:4)

and SO much more...

...and so are you--- if you believe in Jesus Christ and have made Him your Lord and Savior.

**************

Seeking Imperfection

We all know the days....the day when everything goes wrong.

It can happen before your feet even hit the floor, but you know it from its familiar visits--- from the minute the day begins multiple supernatural-like events begin to happen in your home. For example:

Two children (or three) are bleeding before breakfast.

The baby's diaper comes off and smears a 'special scented gift' all down the front stairs five minutes before your friend is supposed to stop by. To top it off, they thought they would slide down the stairs in it for a thrill ride and hardly noticed all the children sitting there laughing and pointing at them since they are covered from head to toe.

The children are all screaming and have eachother in a choke hold (and they are only under the age of 2) and right about then the phone rings and your husband wants to know how your day is going.

The dishwasher's heating cycle is burning something instead of drying it so it begins to smoke.

Breakfast is burnt because you are distracted with the smoking dishwasher.

Your child spends all morning trying to find his book for school and you don't realize he is missing until its 'too late' because now he has run upstairs to report that-----

The baby tried flushing the toy fire truck down the toilet.

The toilet is clogged from the skillfully inserted fire truck and thus begins overflowing all over the floor and to top it off, it wasn't flushed from the person who used it before he thought he'd try his stunt.

And I could go on, but really, you all know what can happen before noon in a family of ten , don't you? Come on now, surely you have all experienced this in your own home!

So as a word of encouragement to you, I want you all to know that I am a mom just like you! This blog has pretty pictures and the inspiring quotes because *I* am the one who needs the encouragement, just as much as the next mom. There is no such thing as the 'perfect' mother and we should not kill overselves trying to achieve this with lofty expectations of ourselves and others in our family---this is not building up our homes but instead tearing it down. I would never want any mom or wife to get discouraged and think they have to live up to some faux supermom model that is unachievable and unreal. Yes indeed, imperfection is freedom and that means I am okay if my children sometimes jump into the van before we go to the store and have mismatched shoes, clothes that are backwards or sometimes they are just missing underwear altogether (but thankfully, not pants!)

Through it all I have learned to keep my sense of humor (I think), and thankful that imperfection is a part of life. This was hard for me at first, as I am sure for other moms well. I thought I had it all together with four children and knew what I was doing and then came #5 and #6 and then lo and behold--- baby boy twins to make #7 & 8! What on earth was I thinking? I knew nothing about this mothering journey. Gone was the pride---banished! The Lord knew just how to humble me, indeed.

There is freedom in mothering, ladies! And that is imperfection!

The next is God's forgiving grace.


Wouldn't you agree? ;)





(Homeschooling cartoons by Todd Wilson @ Family Man Ministries)




(Encouraging myself during the holidays works for me!)

To She Who Has Given Up

"I am giving up. I cannot go on any longer. Things cannot continue to go on like this. I can't take anymore. It is just better for us to be apart."

My heart was torn apart as I firmly replied:

"Do not give up. You have continue to fight. For your marriage and your children. Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy your marriage. You are the only one in your home who is holding the walls up because of God. Deep down inside you know this is what God wants you to do. He doesn't want you to leave. He hates divorce."

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore."

"No, you do know. You have to get focused and keep your eyes on God. You are in the midst of a storm right now and you must hold on to the Rock. That is what will keep you standing."

"I don't know. I can't."

"If you give up, just know that there is still someone fighting for your marriage. It's God. And I will be praying for you when you can't pray anymore. You are like a runner in a race--when they get close to the finish line they are weary, they feel they can't make it. Then someone runs in next to them and starts to yell 'You can do it! Don't give up! Your almost there! Don't stop now!' You cannot give up. There is total devastation when divorce occurs, not peace. That is a lie. God can make things change in a marriage right when we think there is no more hope."

Dear friends, if any one of my readers are going through something similar--this post is for you. Do not give up on yourself, your husband or your marriage. God can take the worst of marriages and redeem them and make them the most brilliant work in His tapestry.

You must stand and fight with all that it takes because so much is at stake. Your choices today will impact generations tomorrow. To believe the world's lies that things will be better on your own is a mistake. Don't buy into the lie. I have seem God do miracles in marriages because He has done that in my own life and it is all to his glory.

I will be quick to add that many marriages going through distress need wise and godly counseling--and just as importantly it takes God, time, patience, steadfastness, courage, humility, support, and faith. It takes knowing the word of God and willing to apply it even when the other party is not.

So stand firm, dear one, God has not forsaken you, He is with you every step of the way. For the scriptures declare:

"He is close to the broken-hearted and he binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3