Wordy Wednesday: Miss B Sings

Click HERE for the video from Sunday... 

So PROUD of my girl for sharing her heart before she sang... it's easy to hear it on the news, in passing, or read about it on the internet but when it's a little girl you have watched grow up before your very eyes and she shares how HARD her days are culturally.... it makes it reality. 

She brought people to tears because of her testimony and I could not have been MORE proud of her. 

The Bible Project

It was TIME...I have been putting it off for WAY too long... after a bottle of olive oil was spilled all over it I probably should have gotten a new one then.....but I dried it out and just kept patching it together.... I really do NOT like "new" Bibles... but when you have to grab multiple pieces to make up your ONE Bible...

It was time....

but... the history... the notes... the Bible studies....the colon cancer... the scripture memorization with my gals.... I wanted ALL of it in ALL the multi-colors in my NEW Bible...

So I purchased my favorite pen in multi-colors and set to work....

I went page by page....and used the same color pens for the same notes....

and it is FINISHED.... The Bible Project complete....

 

Wednesday's in the WORD ~ Last one!!

I can hear you all sighing in either a collective PHEW or is it an ALLLREEAADDYYY???? :) course at the lack of comments lately (Husband actually said "Comments have been kinda lame, like no one is commenting!!") so maybe I've driven you all away :) ah well.... :)

The last verse that I have here in my notes is James 1:19:
"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,"

Interesting that it was the last verse when really... if you applied this and perhaps only this to your marriage ladies how many uncomfortable, frustrating, upsetting, angry times could we avoid?? :)

The last three points Pastor made, and I feel like I am missing some verses here because I don't have any written down.... are the following;

Listen Carefully
Do you respect his position is the home so that you do things while he's not home?
Do you do what he asks even if it's not important to YOU?

The first one... ok. Gotcha. This is something that I really feel passionately about. I'm not getting all "OPRAH" on you :) but people want to be heard. Everyone has a story to tell and when someone listens intently to you... don't you feel like the MOST important person in the world right then? And don't you want to make people feel like that? Our Husband's especially, since for the most part, and I know this is probably a little stereotypical but they don't talk as much as US :) I have found that when Husband has something to say it is TYPICALLY something that I want/need/should hear so I try to listen carefully, not being concerned with what I'm going to say next or thinking about dinner. I find this MUCH more challenging with Minnie. She is a distraction no doubt :) but I know this is all temporary and she'll be the one chatting that I'll need to listen to very soon :) I need to keep my listening finely tuned :)

The next point has me a little confused. I can't remember what he said about it but if I am interpreting it right...maybe talking to those wives/mom's who stay home?? Do you make the best use of your time while he is at work? Meal prepping, house cleaning, food gathering, etc? so that when he comes home it is a sanctuary of peace and relaxation for him? For those working women how do YOU manage this time? You are stretched between being a wife, a mom, a cook, a cleaner, a shopper, a bill payer, etc? How do you do everything? I expect that at some point in the future I will be back into the work-force (BLECK!!!! :) so I will be coming to you women for time management pointers... just thinking about it overwhelms me!! :) But with my roll as it is right now I want to manage my time better so that when Husband is home... we are relaxed and enjoying time together. My friend Tracy does her housework on Fridays. That way the house is picked up and ready to head into a fun-filled weekend with her family. Makes sense to me.

The last one kinda goes along with the listening and making our guys feel like the most important person in our life...as they should be....right behind God. If he asks you to do something... do you make it a priority because it is to him? I think I could definitely do better in this area...paying more attention to what Husband asks me to do and working that into my time management of the day...time management could probably be a whole post in and of itself... could it not? :)

Thanks for coming along for the ride... those of you that actually took the time to read and especially those that responded. I hope there was just one little nugget you were able to take out to apply to your current marriage, your finance or your prayer life for the one God has picked out just for you but hasn't introduced you to yet :)

Wednesday... I mean THURSDAY in the WORD

Last week was camping, yesterday was my own LOVE so back at it today... Thursday this week...and it's a doozie of a week with much to chew on...

Do you bring up shortcomings/faults to others?? Inappropriately contradict him? Unfavorably compare him with other men?

The verses Pastor used with this point are Proverbs 31:23 "Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land." and Proverbs 31:12 "She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

TYPICALLY and I say TYPICALLY this is not a hard one for me. I think Husband is the BEST guy around. Really. His fantastic reputation does precede him and early on in our marriage that was somewhat of a stumbling block for me. I had him up on a REALLY REALLY high pedestal and that was a little unfair.

He IS a great guy, everyone DOES love him, he has a GREAT name in our community, in his profession and with his friends. It doesn't make him perfect but he has set a really high standard. :) He is unwavering in his morals and values and knows exactly what is right and wrong. It is up to me to do everything in my power not to taint that. To speak only GOOD of him, about him, whether in front of him or behind his back. That is not TYPICALLY hard for me. Do I fall sometimes and complain perhaps once in a while to a friend. Of course. Not right though ladies... not right.

Verse 12 is pretty specific "she brings him good, not harm" um... yeah. All.The.Time. :)

What sort of things do you have to tell your Husband, fiance or the man you are praying for in your future today? CountryMum says it is OUR job to build our Husband's up. They are NOT going to get it in the workplace they are not going to get it from their buds.

If you are not complimenting your Husband... who is? And if someone else IS... uh oh. It's your job dear ones, to respect this man, build him up, compliment him and love on him. Don't let it fall into someone else's hands. Think about his strengths, tell him and then tell your girlfriends.

Wednesdays in the WORD

"Do you try to manipulate your husband by crying, bully, or verbally attacking him??"

Proverbs 14
1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

To be honest... I mean why at this point would I be anything BUT right?? the paper of notes I am looking at is SO worn that I'm honestly not sure if there was a verse listed or if he talked about the entire chapter... after reading the chapter I'm pretty sure he must have refered to verse one...

My friend passed away this past week. The weekend was spent at her visiting hours and at her memorial service. I thought about that verse and how at her memorial service the Pastor preached on Proverbs 31... and how my friend Patty was a Proverbs 31 kinda gal... what a legacy to leave behind. I kinda chuckled because I thought how she STRIVED to be that kind of a woman but how embarassed and humbled she would have been by his selection of scripture and the truth that was spoken at her service. She WAS a wise woman she DID build her house and she strived NOT to be foolish...

Back to the point at hand... I don't doubt that perhaps in the early years and maybe some of the later tougher years perhaps she struggled with this. Patty was a realist to me. I know I struggled. Moreso in the early years but we really haven't had it "tough" I don't think... yet.

This is a good reminder that manipulation is sin anyway you look at it. Our men are here to "provide and protect" as Mrs. S just told me :) and how can they do that if we are CONSTANTLY dragging them down, crying, annoying them and attacking them??

Wednesdays in the WORD

um... I'm in mid-bathroom renovation... please forgive me from taking a week off from Wednesday...

Go snuggle your Husband's or pray for the one that is to BE your Husband and thank God for them even if you don't KNOW them yet...

*Hugs*

Wednesdays in the Word

Any comments on how things went when you processed and REALLY thought about the "proper" respect that your Husband deserves? Did you come along any times when perhaps you were treating him differently in private than you were in public?? Keep the comments and thoughts coming... we can all learn from each other...

This weeks point in the Word is: Do you show disrespect by facial and body language?

Uh.... yes. This is fairly black and white to me... I have ALWAYS been the girl who doesn't hide things very well and if you want to know what I think about something you typically only have to look at me. It flashes across my eyes and my "countenance" (A word I HATED to hear CountryMum bring up when I was a teenage girl) ALWAYS gave away my bad thoughts...such is also the case when Husband and I could perhaps be having a "moment" :) Not ok ladies... def. not ok.

The scripture that Pastor P used with this point was Genesis 4:6-7 "Then the Lord said to Cain, "why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

I found that this week... there was much stress and perhaps some hormone related things going on as we girls know... and I definately found myself using body language to show disrespect to Husband. The last part of that verse is something I should have been clinging to... "it desires to have you, but you must master it" we can ONLY do that with the Lord's help and I was having a REALLY hard time "mastering" it...

What sort of body language do you use to show disrespect to your Husband... or what sort of "look" do you give him that you KNOW portrays a message that only HE understands and it ISN'T a good one??

Wednesdays in the WORD

Thank you EVERYONE for your comments and private emails and messages to me regarding last weeks post. I hope you continue leaving messages, building up your Husband or tucking away this information for later on down the road...

Seriously... after this week of HEAT HEAT and humidity... God said it was better to live in a DESERT than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife? YIKES.

During the school year I joined a Mom's Bible Study. On one of the first weeks there we had to do a little "quiz" of sorts... ranking what WE THOUGHT was important to our Husbands and then have them fill it out to what really WAS important to them. One thing that caught me by surprise, high on Husband's list was for me to be "happy and rejoicing". It ranked above a spotless house and dinner on the table at 5PM sharp.

Sounds easy enough right? But is it? How often do we greet our men at the door? How often do we show them we are GENUINELY HAPPY that they are home. And if they get home before us... how often do we walk in with a smile and how was YOUR day BEFORE unloading on our listener/fixer guys?

Throughout a day/night I am often thinking those two words to myself... "happy and rejoicing"... I have much to be happy about shouldn't I rejoice about it? If I do, it will show all over my face and therefore making a happy home. One that Husband WANTS to come back to...

This week Pastor P's little nugget of the WORD: "Do you treat your husband in private with the same respect as you do your friends, pastor, family...etc. in public??"

What happens behind closed doors? Do you put the "fake" smile on for the world and when you are in your own home drag him down, get grouchy, make it a whole "act" that all is right with your family out and about but really...the truth is... hmmmm....

I Peter 2:17 Show *PROPER respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

"SEE" you next week...

*emphasis mine

UPDATED WITH SCRIPTURE: Wednesdays in THE WORD...

There have been some things swirling around in my mind... in my circle of friends, in my extended circle and the one after that...

Wives...how are you treating your Husbands? Do you respect him? Do you show that out and about? Do you show it in private when you are alone and the kids are screaming or you are running here and there?

How am I treating my OWN Husband?

I really think that God is laying on my heart sharing some wise insights from my BELOVED Pastor P who has since passed away...but he was my Pastor for 19 years that made it through my teen years and then married me to my best friend... I think he saw a LOT :)

Starting next week and I hope for the next few (8ish) weeks after that I'm going to share with you some notes I took during a sermon he preached LONG before Husband and I ever GOT together about ladies RESPECTING your Husbands... it now is a little skriddy piece of paper in Husband's Bible and I ran across it a couple of weeks ago right after witnessing some "newlyweds" not treating each other quite right...

Now do NOT mistake this for Country Mouse having it all together... that is BY FAR not the case... it is only just little nuggets of truth that I don't want to hold onto just for me and also a GREAT reminder for me... you also need to understand that I LOVE LOVE. Literally... anything that has ANYTHING to do in the Bible about me being a better wife I am ALL ABOUT IT... I love LOVE.... Ruth... yeah... pretty much one of my fav. stories... :) sad how she lost her first Hubby but COME ON... getting Boaz... he sounds fairly hot to me and what a sweet sweet romantic story :)

Let me know if this is striking a chord with you. Leave me a comment. Open yourself up and examine your own marriages. Those that are not married... tuck it away. Trust me. I did. You'll need it later. Those that were married in the past...and sadly are not anymore... leave a comment about what worked for you and what didn't. You still have MUCH to share with those of us who are in the thick of it right now with kids, homes, jobs, in laws, etc. Share. Let us learn from you.

Next Week: Do you speak to your husband in a condescending tone?

Proverbs 21:19 (NIV) Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

Let's discuss.