10 years of wedded bliss- part 2

10 years of marriage and I can't hardly believe it. I thought a few pics would be fun to celebrate this occasion. Here we are in a quick pic that Jonathan put up with!

A hilarious story of our 10 years together is portrayed in a poor old recliner. We were blessed with some furniture from some friends when we were married. We still have the couch and lazy boy recliner and they are really comfy. But over the years the recliner has gotten more and more relaxed shall we say. It literally had bolts drop out of it and was almost able to lay horizontal. A few weeks ago one of the side brackets of the back sheared off the bolt and it leans severely to the right now. So Jonathan got creative to keep his chair around for a little while longer. It made me laugh so I had to share.

It just goes to show that creativity, laughter and ingenious ideas can make anything work! That is how our marriage has been with lots of laughter and God's glue. When you make a choice to love, God really blesses it!

So hopefully I will be able to show you pics of the new chair in the near future too!

10 Years of Wedded Bliss

I thought it would be fun to reflect on the top 10 memories of our 10 years of marriage today. Since it is our 10th year anniversary, it is always good to look back and dwell on the great times God has blessed us with.
Year 1- The simplicity of living together in a small apartment with little or no worries and the adventure of a new life together. It was very worry free and relaxed even though we worked and studied very hard.
Year 2- Moving to the big city for graduate school and embarking on the adventure of finding a new place to live, worship and make friendships in a place we had never been before. Connecting with a church where we made some of our lifelong friends was the biggest joy.
Year 3- Traveling to Arizona and getting to spend time exploring Phoenix, Sedona and the Grand Canyon was a great time together. It was our 1st major vacation after our honeymoon and holds some cherished memories.
Year 4- Enriching our marriage through our small group studies and groups and Jonathan starting a new business made this a busy yet exciting year. We really faced some of our first major opportunities to lean on each other and depend on God.
Year 6- We traveled to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate our anniversary. We learned many of the rules for beach volleyball in other languages and laughed at the funny nightly entertainment. We also bought our 1st home and were so blessed with how God provided it for us.
Year 5- We traveled to Mexico and climbed the tallest volcano with our best friends in a wild adventure of a lifetime. This was a fun marriage builder!
Year 7 -We traveled to the Dominican Republic and stayed on some of the most incredible beaches in the Caribbean. It was a restful and relaxing get away. We learned a lot about how we can encourage one another as business changes continued.
Year 8- We skied together for the 1st time and I was terrible! Don't know if I will do that again. :) We also got to go on our 1st cruise with some friends and visit some new locations in Mexico.
Year 9- We really grew in our dependence on each other for support through some tough times and challenging decisions in our businesses. It deepened our sense of commitment to each other and to the hard purpose of God. Reaching for the best even when it was hard strengthened us because we learned to work together!
Year 10- Patience... patience with work, our life stage, moving forward in God's time, trusting Him for His best and many more areas. But also the fun of making it 10 years and laughing a long the way ( I have cried some too). It has been a grand adventure with great, good, tough and rough patches but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Can't wait to write all about the next 10 years! I love you Sweetie!
Thanks God for your indescribable gift of our marriage.

Marriage leading to family- have I missed God's intent

I am taking a little survey of an article that I read and I am curious what you think. If you have time, first read the article below and then answer the following questions:
1) What was your 1st reaction to the article?
2) What was the hardest thing to agree with?
3) What was the easiest thing to agree with?
4) Do you think the authors are correct?
5) What does this challenge in you?
6) Would you read the book or recommend the article to others?

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=11712

Here are my answers:
1) What was your 1st reaction to the article? I was a little uncomfortable at first because I find myself in that category of getting married and being determined to enjoy married life but unsure about the kid question. We have been married for lots of years and I know that God has not laid the burden for children on Jonathan's heart or has the timing been good in the past but I am still wondering about my decisions and the motives of my heart.
2) What was the hardest thing to agree with? That I have been in the wrong and have been being selfish with my life and with my time. I see myself portrayed in this article and it is a ugly picture.
3) What was the easiest thing to agree with? God is working on all of us and He can give us the love and desire for children!
4) Do you think the authors are correct? I do agree with several of their points and will have to do some serious praying and seeking God about this topic now. I do think that we can easily get off balance about it and go towards legalism too!
5) What does this challenge in you? My own selfish nature and buying the lie that I have to have it all and children are a burden rather than a gift.
6) Would you read the book or recommend the article to others? I am intrigued to know more and make look into this book. I would love to have a discussion group about it with others.

Quote for Today

"You may have a fathead about Jesus but a skinny relationship with him."
~ Pastor Harold Bullock

I am mulling over this concept my pastor discussed yesterday. Knowledge without action means nothing. Do I walk out my faith in obedience to God or do I just love knowing about it? I do love studying God's word and learning more about him. But at some point, you have to shelve the books and put on the running shoes because God does not desire knowledge but obedience and service to him!
Where does the knowledge become transforming lifestyle? How does it? I have to plug into God's power so that He can do it in me. This takes self discipline and obedience- two of the hardest things for me to choose!

James 2:14-26

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

May 15th verse

Here is my verse for May 15th

Matthew 5:23-24 NIV

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Persecution- are you ready?

I was thinking and reading about persecution this morning and am almost timid to write about it. In my mind, I think of persecution looking like other countries that would kill you for your faith or put you in prison for sharing the gospel. Somehow persecution for God has always felt distant and separate from me here in the states. In fact I am surprised when I encounter persecution here. "Isn't this America, home of freedom (freedom of speech, faith and belief)? We shouldn't have persecution here, that is one of the founding principles of our nation" or so I think.
But I was mulling over it more this morning and something occurred to me. We have some active examples of persecution right now. Take the Miss USA debacle going on with Ms. Prejean (learn more at http://www.citizenlink.org/videofeatures/A000009996.cfm) or the hate crimes legislation that is before the senate to prosecute those who might take a stand against certain sins and moral wrongs. These are persecutions that we are confronted with here on the home front and we have the opportunity to rise to the occasion or to drop off God's band wagon.
Instead of being surprised or feeling put upon and astounded that we would be persecuted, God tells us that we should feel blessed because this means we are really one of his own. Especially as God's time line advances and the world progresses towards his grand conclusion, we will only see more persecution and confrontation.
So my honest feelings are a little dread and fear, "will I stand for him or fall for the world?" I am not looking for persecution but I don't want to run from it either. I don't want to stumble into self pity when it occurs either. I want to learn to praise and look for what I can do for God in the tough times, learn to make it about him and not about me!
Father, help me choose to stand for you and not give in to fear or a pity party for my woes. You have overcome and will help me live this out daily if I turn to you. May I learn to worship you in the hard stuff as well as give thanks for the restful times. Help me to love you more each day so that I can say like Paul...

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6:19-20

Saturday night update

Hello and long time no blogging... Sorry about that. It has been a little nutty the last few weeks but I wanted to catch you up on some fun and great blessings.
-Last week we had a benefit concert with Natalie Grant for the Mid Cities Pregnancy Center and God blessed it so that it went very smoothly. The whole event went over beautifully, mainly due to the wonderful volunteers we had for the event. We could never have done it without all of you and may God bless your time and service greatly!
-Thursday Hurst gave some employee awards and the wellness program won an award for excellence and team work for the employees. It is such a blessing to see that the employees are benefiting from the program and it is making a difference in their lives. That makes me know that God has me here for a plan and a purpose and that He is working in this program. It brought tears to my eyes because I know that they are the ones who do the work and take to heart what they are learning. Thanks for the encouragement!
-Yesterday we had employee giving day for the city and it was incredible to watch employees turn out at 4 homes in Hurst to transform them into something better than before. It was such a joy to serve the seniors who can't do the work for themselves anymore and to watch all of the employees bond together to work for others benefit. I was moved at the team work (and it was hard work) and generosity of each employee.
Each of these events brought to mind how blessed and awed I am to know each of you and to serve God in all that I do. It inspired me to work harder and to never give up. To make each encounter count and to enjoy all that God brings my way through life. Even the mundane is a gift we can give to someone else!

Psalm 144:15

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

May 1st Verse

Sorry I have been a little MIA- tonight is the Mid Cities Pregnancy Center's benefit concert with Natalie Grant. I have been a little busy with work on that for the last few weeks. We are pumped to see what God is going to do tonight for the centers and as we get to worship Him together with Natalie. I will update you on how it goes!

Here is my verse for May 1st:

Heb 3:13 NIV
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.