#261 - Part 1: Fueling a Marriage That Will LAST!

Proverbs 31:12 - She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm. 

In a recent conversation, my husband was telling me about a minister he was listening to. This minister said, "I love God more than I love my wife. But....... she also loves God more than she loves me!"

It is the key ingredient to a long & successful marriage. How would you respond if I posed the question to you? "Do you love God more than you love your spouse? Your children?"

Why is it so important to love God first? When you love God first and foremost, you will love your spouse how God would want you to love them, even on those days when they may be unbecoming, unattractive, frustrating. When you love God first and foremost, you will find ways to show love to your spouse, to make them feel special, to meet their needs.

THIS IS CRUCIAL! Sure, we can only control our own love for the Lord... we cannot control our spouse, and their commitment and time they spend with the Lord. BUT we can CONTROL ourself! When we LOVE the Lord first, it WILL spill off into all other relationships in our life. His love will overflow into our relationship with our spouse, our co-workers, our children. When we love God first, HE will give us wisdom HOW TO love! Maybe it's loving in a way that we would not have thought of on our own. Maybe, unbeknownst to us, our spouse is really feeling like he/she needs a break. He/she would feel loved just by having a weekend getaway to recoup. Fishing. Chilling. Sleeping. In a mountain cabin. Alone or with you. SO... because we love the LORD first, the Holy Spirit leads us to send them on a little 1, 2, 3 day getaway to refresh (no kids allowed!). Maybe it's something as simple as, our spouse would feel loved by having some of their favorite fresh baked cookies when they get home from a long day at work. Maybe it's the new "technology" piece they were eye-balling at BestBuy, or a new shirt? Maybe it's just walking in the house to a wife with make-up on, her hair done & in clothes other than sweatpants & a T-shirt?

FUELING your marriage is IMPORTANT! You cannot get a return on investment if you do not invest!! That could mean a regular weekly, or monthly date night. A husband/wife retreat to getaway without kids... once or twice a year. It doesn't have to be too fancy, but investing in the babysitter, the lodging, the meals could REAP GREAT DIVIDENDS into a long, healthy and happy marriage!!!

Some days it's about the little things. The little things DO matter. Saving the curly chips for them, because those are their favorites. Pulling the covers up and tucking them in when it's time for bed, because they like their covers tight. Filling up their coffee cup for a refill so they don't have to get out of their comfy seat. Peeling their tomato that you put on their sandwich, because it shows you went the extra step - and it's just how grandma did for them! Loving them. Saying kind words. Not nagging. Serving their favorite foods. Showing love how THEY receive love the best! If you need help in this area, a great book to read and RE-read is, "The Five Love Languages." ----- And friend, let me remind you of the principle of sowing and reaping. When you SOW these good seeds into your spouse, you WILL REAP a harvest in return! Don't fret! If you feel like you are doing all the giving and sowing, continue sowing with a good attitude, GOD SEE'S! Your good deeds will not go unnoticed!

Finally, the Proverbs 31 woman girds herself with spiritual strength. FRIEND, YOU need to be renewed and refreshed! YOU need to have YOUR batteries recharged too. This may mean TAKING SOME THINGS OFF YOUR PLATE, OFF YOUR CALENDAR! Her physical fitness strength gives her the extra energy she needs to keep up, to keep her metabolism high and give her those endorphins (the happy chemical her body makes!)! Her mental strength keeps her sharp, because she invests time into reading books to help her grow mentally versus wasting countless hours watching TV, on Facebook or playing mindless games on her iPhone. She finds ways to STAY SHARP, stay mentally strong, to be an iron-sharpener to her husband.

It's OUR job to get OURSELF right. Let's begin today. What are some ways we can FUEL our marriage today??? I'd love to hear ONE way that YOU fuel your marriage? Feel free to share! :)

xoxo!
Have a blessed day!

#115 - Remember Me?

Good morning.... actually, Good afternoon! I pray you are having a great day so far! We are officially 15 days from Christmas! WOW! How exciting!! A wonderful time to enjoy with family & friends. A wonderful time to really spend time being thankful.

Psalm 40:1-3a - I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.    ²He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.
    ³And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Proverbs 31:20 - She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].

Psalm 40 made me think about how much we have to be thankful for during this Holiday Season. The hustle and bustle can cause us to be focused more on the gift getting and gift giving than on the true reason of why we celebrate Christmas to begin with. Now, let me say, I am equally guilty.... sometimes maybe even MORE guilty than most. A book that I would HIGHLY recommend.... actually would even be a great present for the stocking for husband and wife, "Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. Well, in the book as you read through the love languages.... the 5 are this: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Quality Time & Gifts. Everyone has a love language that they just really feel loved when done... my #1 love language sometimes seems the most "vain"... but it is what it is, GIFTS! I LOVE GETTING GIFTS! I can't help it. I just light up when I get a gift... so for me, Christmas & birthdays are awesome! I even have told Tyler, "Wrap up a pair of Nike socks! I don't care! Part of the fun for someone like me is just opening many wrapped packages." For Tyler I know he would tend to want to put everything in one box for me to open... but for the "Gifts" love language person, that is not as fun! But, one love language is not better or worse than the other. Some are just more evident to point out. Tyler on the other hand is "Acts of Service." When I get him something to drink or make him a meal or pull the covers up over him when he is taking a nap, he feels most loved then.... I'm still waiting for him to use the really cool electronic highlighter that I got him for Christmas last year! :-/ Argh. 


But... the main point is really this... even without the presents, the lights, the trees, the wreaths, the food.... we have SOOOOO much to be thankful for! Even if we took all of that away! We have so much to be thankful for! He drew YOU & ME up out of a horrible pit of destruction, out of the froth and slime, and set OUR feet upon a rock, steadying OUR steps and establishing OUR goings. And He has put a new song in OUR mouths! 


The Almighty God, GAVE US LIFE! Because God sent Jesus, we are able to live with HOPE! We are able to live with JOY! We are able to live free from FEAR because He has put ANGELS all around us to guard us (Ps 91)! Because God gave His son Jesus, we are able to experience a love greater than any person could ever give us. 


If gifts are stressing you out, don't do them. If you feel like things are out of control, do what the famous Napoleon Hill said, "Take your eyes off yourself and go help and serve someone else." Go to the hospital and bring gifts to children who wouldn't otherwise get gifts. An orphanage, a nursing home, an Alzheimer's unit. At the end of the day does Jesus say to you, "Do you Remember Me?" 


At the end of the day what is the FOCUS? May the focus go from self to Jesus. May the actions, attitude and atmosphere in your life and family be on Jesus. And at the end of the day, you don't hear the question, "Do you Remember Me?" BUT, you hear the comment, "Thank you for remembering me!" 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25: 37-40

#101 - Accompanied by Angels!

Good morning! It has been a blessed morning so far. I feel like I have done a lot and it's still early. It is great to feel productive! Did anyone notice what was in today's reading? Did you see? We talked about it yesterday! :) Abiding under the "SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY!" And there it was, in our reading for today, Psalm 91:1. Isn't it good that I don't make this stuff up?!


Well, let's get started: 

Proverbs 11:31a - Behold, the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be recompensed on earth... 

Psalm 11:7 - For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright. 

Psalm 91:11-12 - For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Proverbs: 31:29 - Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all. 

Today, this may be a bank-shot for you. It may just be review or a good reminder and something you practice and confess daily already. Nonetheless, I'm going to share about it anyways. 


Psalm 91. The Protection chapter in the Bible. What a neat chapter! This chapter is talking about the Lord (seems pretty obvious) and it begins in verse 1 talking about dwelling in the secret place of the most High. It says to remain stable & fixed under the shadow of the Almighty - WHOSE POWER NO ONE CAN WITHSTAND. So we are talking about the Invincible! The Indestructible! Victorious before the battle even starts, the LORD will ALWAYS win. No question. No doubt. Well, as you get down further to verses 11-12, check out what the LORD does for US, His children! He is giving HIS angels SPECIAL charge over us. He is having HIS angels ACCOMPANY us- so go everywhere that we go, he's having them DEFEND us and even PRESERVE us. In the Hebrew it breaks it down into even more responsibilities of the angels as this: to guard, to watch for, to protect, to save life, to be one's guard, to keep. Now, you tell me, how exciting is that? To grasp the revelation that you have BIG 9, 10, 15 foot ANGELS keeping watch over you. Standing as your BODY GUARD! Like I could imagine maybe Julia Roberts having, or the President. YOU have BIG INVINCIBLE Body Guards too! Isn't that cool??!? 


Now... here's the kicker... check out what it says next...these angels are going to protect, guard, perserve you in ALL your ways of .....drum roll.... of what? Of OBEDIENCE & SERVICE! So... you tell me... how important is it that you are OBEDIENT & SERVING the LORD? Pretty important. Our angels are standing guard to protect us, but we need to be walking in obedience to the Lord! It takes it even further.... it says that they will even bear us up in their hands. Or the Hebrew describes it as being in the PALM of their hands. So, you KNOW if they are holding us in the PALM of their hands to protect us from even hitting our foot against a stone, they must be pretty big! 


Tyler & I put God and our angels in REMEMBRANCE of this scripture OFTEN, if not daily. It is now so 2nd hand nature. When Tyler leaves the house, or when I leave, it's almost as natural as saying "Good-bye" or kissing good-bye. We accompany our "Good-bye" with "Angels all around you! You're blessed and highly favored!" We remind the angels of their positions AROUND US! When we are driving, especially on long road trips, we verbally position them at ever corner of our vehicle, including the top, bottom & sides. When Tyler Jr. is going to bed at night, I take comfort in the angels I have positioned around his bed. At the door to his balcony, at the windows, and standing guard outside his room. The boy is like royalty! Mama has put angels ALL around him as his body guards! I'm not doing it in fear, but I'm doing it as HIS guardian. I'm doing it as HIS earthly parent and protector. As Tyler Sr says, "I'm the BOSS of the boy!" He's my responsibility, and by golly, those angels are going to be ON THE CLOCK at ALL TIMES! 


The Lord is RIGIDLY righteous and He loves righteous deeds. The Lord loves us, his Children to walk in obedience. He loves us to not be whiners to him. He loves us to follow His commands and instructions. He loves us to listen to that still small Voice and be obedient to it. The Lord loves when we are walking out our life in pure, constant obedience. 


A friend the other day was telling me about an experience she had recently. She recently potty trained her little girl. Well... typically once they are potty trained, as a mama, you don't normally bring extra clothes along. Well, this day she thought she heard, "Grab some extra clothes for her." Unusual for her to do this, but she grabbed a change of clothes for her little girl. Then she heard, "Grab the socks too." Well, she brushed it off and said, "I don't need the socks." Later that day, she was in a shoe store trying on shoes. Her little girl was trying on adult shoes and having fun. All the sudden, for the first time in about 3 weeks, she looked over at her little girl and saw she was standing in a puddle of pee. Her clothes & socks soaked. Thankfully, she was happy she had listened and grabbed an extra set of clothes, but she was just shy of some socks. Man! So, her little girl went sock-less with her dry shoes. 


It's awesome to begin that process of listening. Learning to hear and then seeing later WHY you heard what you did. That really the Holy Spirit is letting guiding us, wanting to make life easier for us. Wanting us to live more in the complete blessing. 


But again... it all boils down to obedience. Obedience & Service. Obeying the Voice of the Holy Spirit, and the DIRECTION & CALLING God has laid out on your life, and ultimately SERVING HIM with your life and daily actions. 


The benefit of OBEDIENCE & SERVICE? We can be confident that we are accompanied by angels! We walk around with big body guards all about us. We are under-cover famous! :) hehe! 

~ be blessed today my under-cover famous friend! 

                                            Amy J.          

#91 - Are you RISING while it's yet night?

Good morning! I pray that today finds you SUPER blessed! :) Well... I will be excited to show you pictures of the boy's play room soon. It is definitely cutie! He is BLESSED!!! Yesterday he got a BALL PIT! Yes, a ball pit! It is huge! It's super fun though! He really just got introduced to it yesterday, so today will really be the day he gets to play in it. I'm sure it will be very entertaining to watch! Blessed and HIGHLY Favored!! Praise the Lord!!! :) 

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks 

Psalm 56:4 - By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear.

Psalm 86:1a - INCLINE YOUR ear, O Lord, and answer me... 

Psalm 116:1 - I LOVE the Lord, because He has heard [and now hears] my voice and my supplications. 

Well... today's word comes as a bit of that .... hum... what do you call it... constant reminder of what you NEED to be doing, but maybe aren't doing. Have you ever had something like that come up in your life? The word that is RINGING in your ears, that thing that you know you NEED to do but you keep avoiding it. Well, for me, that is today's devotion. We'll see if it is something that rings in your ear too... maybe like me, this will be something that you have known you need to do but until now have not commited to the action of DOING it. 

She rises while it is yet night. The Proverbs 31 woman is rising to get food for her household. She is included in her household, she is also getting food for herself. What kind of food? We can talk specifically about two kinds of food. 1) Spiritual Food, 2) Physical Food. Not only is she spiritually spending time with the Lord and getting filled up spiritually, but she is also preparing the food for her household for that day. Both are areas that I can improve on! 

Have you ever had someone in your life that was not accountable? Someone that you could not rely on? I recently was reminded of that from someone in my life. I was reminded that the person had good intentions and they were a good person, but I could not count on them to follow through with what they said that they would do. Most likely, this person is stretched too thin and overcommited. Well, to RELY on, LEAN on and CONFIDENTLY put your trust in someone, it first is going to take you KNOWING that person. Right? If you do not know then, you automatically are not going to have confidence in them. Psalm 56 talks about having CONFIDENCE and RELYING on the Lord. Like the Proverbs 31 woman, it is going to take SPENDING TIME with Him to get to know Him. Specifically, I would anticipate that the Proverbs 31 woman rose while it was still night, earlier than everyone else in her household because it was still quiet. The busyiness of the day had not begun. The hussle and bussle had not started, and she could have some quiet time, just her and the Lord to get direction for her day. 


I have been around "stay-at-home" mom's or mom's in general and everything seems to always be a world of chaos. Everything is either an emergency, chaotic, stressful. It's like you can feel it in the air, like a spirit of stress. It almost makes your heart tighten just to be in the environment. One mom, I asked her specifically how things were going with her Quiet Time and her time with the Lord. She told me the answer that I expected, she was not having a quiet time. Things had gotten so busy, that she had not been "fitting it in". And, it was evident in the constant state of stress that she appeared to be in. Lack of peace. 


To have CONFIDENCE in YOUR FATHER, for us to have confidence in OUR FATHER, we need to spend time getting to know him. Before the kids are up, before the spouse is awake, before the obligations of the day begin. The Psalmist in 116 says, I LOVE the Lord, because He has heard. Don't YOU want the Lord to HEAR YOU!? Don't you want to KNOW that you have been HEARD?! I know I do. 


The second aspect. Physical food. I have DEFINITELY not been the poster child for this one. Waking up and "fixing breakfast" for my husband? Wow! I know this is something that he would LOVE, but it is definitely something I have not done. But... why haven't I? It says it in the Bible. It says that's what the Proverbs 31 woman does, so why haven't I done it? One easy answer, sleep. I sleep in later than Tyler. Granted, I still get up at a decent time.. usually between 7:30-8:30, but he is always up before me. What a suprise it would be for him to wake up and I was up, had already spent time in the Word and had BREAKFAST for him!!! WHOA! One of my NEW goals. It allows another way for me to serve and love my husband. Not in a demeaning way, "wife being the dormat" way, but in a way that Jesus would do. Serve. What is the verse that talks about that says, the least among you are the greatest.... and it's through serving! 


One final thought... what about the maids? In Proverbs 31:15 it talks about she assigns the maids their tasks. Well.... I believe her SPENDING TIME with the Lord is a key to having maids. Sure their are wealthy, non-believers who have maids but, if you are a Christian and don't have them.... then maybe in your time with the Lord, he will reveal to you how you will have them. Imagine not ever having to do a load of laundry again, or scrub a toilet. Could you find something more fun to do with your time than that? Well.... I believe it is there for you if you want it. And... it begins with that commited time with the Lord. 


OK.... I'm going to do it. I'm going to work on getting up earlier and EVEN making breakfast for my husband. If you see me... you can check up on me... ask me how I'm doing! I can definitely use the accountability! 


XOXO. Have a blessed day!


Amy J