I really can't tell how it happened or when it started to happen because it's been going on for years. I don't even know what I did to make it happen in the first place. All I know is that it happens and I love it! There are these random words of expression that comes from the mouth of my dear husband. These words cause me to melt like a popsicle on the sidewalk in the middle of January.
He tells me all the time that he reads about me in the Bible. Then he'll proceed to read the Scripture to me and explain why it's talking about me. As I sit there like a school girl blushing gazing into his eyes, I can't help but to wonder what did I do to deserve this.....
Society tells me that I'm not what a man wants in a woman because I'm overweight. That theory was blown out of the water when my husband said the reason why he loves my stomach and can't stop touching it is because I carried his children in it.
Even today the children are still amused when their dad comes into the kitchen and loves on me. They may say things like, "Ewww get a room." Or, "That's gross. Don't be kissing mom while she's cooking." All the while they are beaming at the sight of their dad loving their mom.
Did I tap into something that caused him to openly express his love and affection for me that so many women desire? I'm not sure. I've tried answering this question so many times. I'm a simple girl living a life of simplicity. I dress simple. There's nothing extravagant about my hair. My makeup is little to none. My nails are.....well, let's not go there.
What could I have done to cause him to follow me around the house just because he "wants to" be in my presence? What caused him to put me so high on the pedestal? I often tell him that I'm not perfect and I'll fall off. His response is that he'll catch me and put me back up there.
Could it be that just maybe following Scripture and totally abandoning myself to God's will and not my own cause such a reaction? Have I tapped into something in the Word of God and embraced it with every fiber of my being? I don't know, but whatever I've tapped into works so I'll keep doing it.
Ephesians 5:22 - Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
My Invisible Brake
After over a year of being chauffeured around by my 18 year old son I should be used to it, right?! Wrong! Last night while riding home from church I realized why I'm so tensed whenever I came home. I can feel it all over my body. My neck is so stiff. I move as if I'm wearing a neck brace. I don't think the best masseuse can loosen the knot that's growing in my shoulders. Just thinking about my legs and how they're so sore upon the exit of his vehicle makes them hurt as I'm writing this. Why so much drama?! Not with my son, but his with momma. I figured it out last night. It's the brake pedal that's on the passenger's side. My side!
This brake pedal wasn't put in the car by the manufacture. Neither my son nor my husband install it. Who installed the brake pedal that I've used for over a year now and has cause such harm to my body? Some may say it's a figment of my imagination. But how can something that's so real or at least seems so real be my imagination. Could my imagination be running away with me? Of course not. It's real. I use it. Maybe my husband uses it too, but just don't want to admit it.
Admission.....hmmm.....
Maybe I just don't want to admit that my son is a young adult now and he knows how to drive. Maybe I won't admit that it's hard for me, a mom, too see him as a man developing into his own identity. After all, he did tell me when I address him and his brothers by trying to get there attention not to used the word "boys" But they are my boys. Ooops! There I go again not admitting that my son is a young man. Since I am admitting some things, maybe it's time I admit that I installed the invisible brake pedal.
"I installed my invisible brake pedal."
This brake pedal wasn't put in the car by the manufacture. Neither my son nor my husband install it. Who installed the brake pedal that I've used for over a year now and has cause such harm to my body? Some may say it's a figment of my imagination. But how can something that's so real or at least seems so real be my imagination. Could my imagination be running away with me? Of course not. It's real. I use it. Maybe my husband uses it too, but just don't want to admit it.
Admission.....hmmm.....
Maybe I just don't want to admit that my son is a young adult now and he knows how to drive. Maybe I won't admit that it's hard for me, a mom, too see him as a man developing into his own identity. After all, he did tell me when I address him and his brothers by trying to get there attention not to used the word "boys" But they are my boys. Ooops! There I go again not admitting that my son is a young man. Since I am admitting some things, maybe it's time I admit that I installed the invisible brake pedal.
"I installed my invisible brake pedal."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Commitment
New Year's Day has come and gone. People are talking about their resolutions: go on a diet, walk two miles a day, get organized, clean out the hall closet, spend more time with the family, give more attention to devotions and prayer.
Promises, promises.
Talk, as the old adage says, is cheap. It's now two weeks into the new year, and most of those resolutions have already gone into the recycling bin. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh just can't seem to keep up. We mean well, we really do. We fully intend to keep those promises, this time. But before long "this time" becomes like all the other times. We slip back into our old comfortable patterns.
Why is it so difficult for us to keep the commitments we make? Perhaps because the changes we seek are external rather than internal. We can make vows to God and to others until Jesus comes, but unless true commitment is rooted deep in our hearts, we are bound to fail, to disappoint our loved ones and ourselves.
We live in a society where lack of commitment is the norm. If the road to marital bliss gets a little rocky, bail out and start over with someone new. If a job's tougher than you planned, turn it over to someone else-or just abdicate it altogether. If you're always late for appointments-hey, no big deal. They'll wait.
No wonder we have trouble keeping our word. No wonder our zeal flags and our determination fades. Commitment, in the modern world, simply isn't a very high priority.
To God, however, commitment is the very bedrock of faith. And it begins, not with our external efforts to change our outward patterns, but with a profound inward conviction that draws us into a commitment to Someone greater than ourselves.
"How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?" the Psalmist ask. "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people." (Ps. 116:12-14)
When we commit our lives to God, something happens deep within us. Our priorities begin to changes. We begin to see the spiritual truth keeping our word is not just a matter of making a good impression, but a matter of being true to the One who created us and redeemed us, the One in whose image we have been reborn.
Commitment is not an outward effect, but an inner transformation.
It's not a New Year's resolution; it's the gift of grace.
*Taken from the book "Simple Words of Wisdom 52 Virtues For Every Woman" by: Penelope J. Stokes
Promises, promises.
Talk, as the old adage says, is cheap. It's now two weeks into the new year, and most of those resolutions have already gone into the recycling bin. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh just can't seem to keep up. We mean well, we really do. We fully intend to keep those promises, this time. But before long "this time" becomes like all the other times. We slip back into our old comfortable patterns.
Why is it so difficult for us to keep the commitments we make? Perhaps because the changes we seek are external rather than internal. We can make vows to God and to others until Jesus comes, but unless true commitment is rooted deep in our hearts, we are bound to fail, to disappoint our loved ones and ourselves.
We live in a society where lack of commitment is the norm. If the road to marital bliss gets a little rocky, bail out and start over with someone new. If a job's tougher than you planned, turn it over to someone else-or just abdicate it altogether. If you're always late for appointments-hey, no big deal. They'll wait.
No wonder we have trouble keeping our word. No wonder our zeal flags and our determination fades. Commitment, in the modern world, simply isn't a very high priority.
To God, however, commitment is the very bedrock of faith. And it begins, not with our external efforts to change our outward patterns, but with a profound inward conviction that draws us into a commitment to Someone greater than ourselves.
"How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?" the Psalmist ask. "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people." (Ps. 116:12-14)
When we commit our lives to God, something happens deep within us. Our priorities begin to changes. We begin to see the spiritual truth keeping our word is not just a matter of making a good impression, but a matter of being true to the One who created us and redeemed us, the One in whose image we have been reborn.
Commitment is not an outward effect, but an inner transformation.
It's not a New Year's resolution; it's the gift of grace.
*Taken from the book "Simple Words of Wisdom 52 Virtues For Every Woman" by: Penelope J. Stokes
