I love this!

Marcy got me started blogging---and she knew me well enough to know that if I got started, I'd be hooked! The thing I like most about it is that I can just put down my thoughts with no pressure for anyone else to read it. It's here if they want to read it, but they don't have to if they don't want to. Awesome! I just wish it had a "notice" to tell me when my friends had put up a new blog. But then I guess that would be "pressure" for some.

This photo is just of me and Livie (Olivia)--taken by my good friend Kara Piehl. You need to check out her photography!

Day 2 of 30 Days of Praise

I woke up this morning ready to praise God and move into fulfilling my husband's dream. But God quickly showed me that I still had some more "letting go" to do. But I will encourage you first with what my prayer partner emailed me:

What has been on my heart today is:

Praise God for our leadership in our husbands---they are so unique. God has not messed up in putting them over us! In fact, He knows just what we need!! So even as awkward as it was, I patted my husband and said, "Thank you for the leadership you give over this home!" And he said, "What? What are you talking about?" Lol! He wanted more!

And another thing: Don't compare!!!!----That's judgment in our heart too!! Who are we??? Do we want them to compare us? NO WAY! And I don't want to be judged in his heart. I want him to accept me where I am!! We've got to sow these seeds so we can reap the great harvest!!

1st day of freedom---no striving, let be what will be, TRUST GOD! It's a continuing, a constant, telling my flesh, I have let go!!! PRAISE GOD!

PRESS ON SISTERS!!

That was from my good friend. If you don't have another woman to pray with who will encourage you when things are hard, begin praying for one! We are each other's sounding board and we bring equilibrium to one another.
Now...what God began reminding me of this morning was Adam & Eve. Do you realize Adam had his dream job before Eve existed? It was perfect. And then God gave Eve to Adam to fulfill him---to be his helper. And then when they sinned, listen to what God told Adam in Genesis 3:17, "And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life."
BECAUSE YOU HAVE LISTENED AND GIVEN HEED TO THE VOICE OF YOUR WIFE!!! Ooooh Man! How condemning. We have got to be so careful with our mouths. If we haven't "let go," we are going to be manipulating and controlling our husbands.
Do you realize what the curse was that was placed on Adam & Eve? Adam had to work by the sweat of his brow and listen to this: "To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." This isn't a sexual desire. Oh no. It's a desire to RULE OVER YOUR HUSBAND! The New Living Translation says it this way: "Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."
But...praise God! These curses were broken at the cross of Jesus. So that means that we no longer have to have pain in childbirth!! (Why any woman wants to experience that is beyond me!) And...man no longer has to work by the sweat of his brow. This is where I first began understanding that I wanted my husband's dreams fulfilled. I want my husband to wake up every morning full of joy and eager to go to work. That curse is broken! Do you know that even tractors now have air conditioners? And, the ultimate...we can now give up controlling our husbands! The curse is broken!!

Father, thank you for all You did when Jesus died on the cross. Thank you for paying for my sins. Thank you for breaking the curses. I love you and I want to get this right. Just this morning, I was reminded again how short life is when a friend died. Father, I want to face you knowing that I was an overcomer. I want to encourage Andy's dreams to be fulfilled here and not have to wait til he gets to heaven. Make us the helpmeets that help fulfill dreams. Redeem and restore what you intended us to be as wives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

7 Beautiful Grandkids

Let me introduce you to my beautiful grandchildren. We'll start with David & Lindsey's 2 kids, Ryan & Addie Belle. Next are Jay & Amy's three kids, Isaac, Josiah & Olivia. The last picture is of Caitlin & Alexis, Matt & Lisa's girls. Aren't they all CUTE??? I am one blessed Guh, Gee, Gran! No, I'm not confused over who I am....each set calls me a different name and I love it! (It sure makes it easy when they call---I immediately know which set I'm talking to!

Day 1 of 30 Days of Praise

For Married Women
Current mood: nervous

My prayer partners & I are facing a new challenge. We've been discussing our husband's dreams. Do we know what they are? Are we facilitating them or hindering them? I think of Sarah in the Bible. When God called Abram to go to a land he didn't know, she could have gotten in the way...but she didn't. I Peter 3: 6 (Amp) says that Sarah didn't give way to hysterical fears. Now I know that women were "less than" men in the Bible and in the culture of that day, but don't tell me they didn't know how to manipulate to get their way!! Look at Rebekah and how she manipulated to change the course of history with her son, Jacob, not to mention Isaac's dreams.
I encouraged Amy to let Jay follow his dream. I'm so proud of her---she did that very thing even as hard as it was to let go and move to Florida. But after her move, God met me face to face. His question to me is one I give you: "Are you encouraging your husband to fulfill his dreams?" Encouraging---not just allowing!
This morning, I met with my prayer partners again after meditating on this for a week. Talk about HARD!!! We realized how much we love control. We realized our hearts were full of pride---even spiritual pride. We've made ourselves the spiritual leaders of our home. What we say goes. (I'm cringing even as I write this---how ugly, how full of pride!) We recognize we're at a crossroads of our lives. Let me tell you, after 30 years of marriage, lots of bad patterns have been established. They're pretty hard to crack! So you have a much easier chance at this, being younger. And we all FEAR what our husbands' dreams are! We know it's going to change our lives---it's going to take us to an insecure place. We know we're going to be challenged. We know we have to "LET GO!"
So this morning, we agreed to have 30 Days of Praise. We're going to approach this with praise---whatever God wants to teach us, we'll praise Him for. Wherever He wants to take us, we'll praise Him. However he wants to change us, we'll give Him praise. And whatever He wants to do in our husbands, we'll praise Him. We know it takes about 30 days to create a new habit, so we're approaching that reality with praise. So this is my first day of praise and this is what God has revealed to me:
I want to start our 30 days out with PRAISE! And the verse that comes to mind is this: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10...or I like the Amplified version: "Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!" Let be....and be still. It could probably be said, "Let go and be still." WOW! What a way to start out! One of my prayer partners has already led the way with letting go. She wrote what she "grips" on a balloon filled with helium and let it go as a symbol that she was giving everything to God. She said it was amazing to watch that balloon float into the air. What she "grips" got smaller and smaller as heaven (God) got bigger and bigger.
Or "let be" could also mean "let it alone (or let him--your husband--alone!)." So, I want to let go and let my husband alone. And I want to acknowledge that God is GOD! Isn't it interesting that you have to let go before any true worship comes? Before I'd always interpreted this verse to mean that I needed to GET STILL. I've never seen this before---that I need to LET BE. Take your hands off and know that I am God. It gives this verse a whole new meaning!! When we take our hands off, then He can show off. He can prove that He is God---worthy of our trust. But He won't until we get still---until we let be.
I know this verse or Truth can be applied to things other than your husband and his dreams. But this is where my prayer partners & I are camped right now. Let God apply it to YOUR life!
Father, I praise You for the truth of Your Word. I praise You that it won't return void. I praise You that there are such layers---such depth of new understanding in each Word You breathed into existence. I praise You that as I let go.....I will have a new understanding of who You are. And because of that revelation, You will be exalted among the nations---in fact, over the whole earth! Wow. Help me, Father, to let go today. Give me Your grace. And give me new understanding of WHO YOU ARE! Be exalted, Father, over the whole earth. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Jay & Amy moving....

Everyone keeps asking me how I feel about Jay & Amy moving to Florida. I love my kids and, of course, I'm going to miss them....but you can't help but be excited for them when you see God moving so obviously in their lives. I think it's pretty much the same way I felt when Matt & Amy went off to college the first year. My friends expected me to have a melt-down, but I didn't. Matt & Amy were so excited, so eager for their independence, that it was easy to let them go. I was just as excited as they were. Plus, we'd seen God provide in some miraculous ways! It feels so good when you see God opening doors with such finesse.
Plus...I'm so proud of Amy, it hurts! You see, I was in pretty much the same situation at her age. In fact, I may have been 3 years older than she is. But Andy was given an opportunity to move to Winter Park, Florida (too close, it hurts!) at the same time that Borger wanted him. Andy really wanted to go to Florida to at least check it out, but I just couldn't. I wanted my kids growing up knowing their grandparents. So instead of letting Andy pursue his dreams, I stifled them, I think. Either direction was probably ok with God, but I helped us choose Borger.
I'm so proud that Amy is encouraging Jay to pursue his dream. And in the process, I believe God will meet Amy's dreams!
So...I am excited to see what is ahead for my kids and I'm working on a way to collect miles as I make purchases...to pay for all those trips to Florida!

How does it feel to be the mom of a 30-year-old?

WOW! I can hardly believe my first-born is 30 today. Where was I when I was 30? I had 4 children with my oldest being 8. My youngest was 1 year old. I was living in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and my husband was a youth minister to 600 kids! I was hardly involved with his youth ministry since I was raising our own little youth group. And now my son is 30 and has a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old. It's de-ja-vu!
I don't feel so "old" as I just feel "seasoned." I purposed when Matt was born that I was going to enjoy every stage of my kids' lives. That worked so well, that as they began leaving home, I purposed I was going to enjoy every stage of my own life. And I am.
It's so awesome being 52 and healthy! I love being around my kids and grandkids----and miss them like crazy when I don't get to see them often enough! But...God always has a way.
Tonight, that 9-year-old is spending the night with me. She's pretty hysterical. She has a great tan and is sporting her Hannah Montana blonde wig. She wanted to try on make-up, so we did. She also got to drink Coke and eat a cookie, which she doesn't do often. It's great being a grandma!
So....it's made me pretty sentimental tonight thinking about my baby being 30 while spending time with his first-born. I think I'm liking 52.

I'm here, Marfaye!

Marcy insisted I give blogging a try. So I'm gonna try. I love writing. So maybe my musings will become the devotional Rachel's asked for. Maybe I need to tour around and see what everyone else does on blogspot. Here goes!