Five Fabulous Years

"This is my beloved and this is my friend..."
Song of Solomon 5:16

Five years ago today, I married this man:

It was a smart decision on my part.

He buys me chocolate! We don't do gifts, but this is one gift I'll gladly accept! {grin}

But truly, I love him for much more than the chocolate.

He loves me unconditionally. He has a servant heart. He rescues me from spiders and other creepy insects. He does yard work. He prays for me. He prays with me. He opened his heart to love my child (Kathryn) as his own when we got married. He opened his heart to make a stranger's child his own (Lindsey) when we adopted. He is quite handy at fixing things around the house. He is my own personal in-house Information Technology guy. He's fun to dance with. He makes me laugh, and he laughs at me. He makes life more fun, and his kisses can still make me weak in the knees.

I'm looking forward to many more years of doing life with my lover and friend.

Prioritizing Loving

Consider this quote:

"The marriage comes first. All other people and events come after the marriage. Children, parents, work, and play all benefit most by marital priority instead of marital sacrifice, because the marriage is the central unit to all other processes. If it is true that we reap what we sow, then marriages are in big trouble... If we put as much time in our working as we allow for our loving, we would end up unemployed or bankrupt."

Only in recent years did I truly begin to understand that I must prioritize my marriage over my children. I failed once before at marriage, so I can speak from both experience on both sides. Do you prioritize the time you put into loving, above the time you put into housework, or meal-planning, or working outside the home? Do you prioritize the time you put into loving, above the time you put into housework, or meal-planning, or working outside the home? For me -- and maybe for a lot of other moms -- that doesn't come naturally, but getting things in the wrong order just will not work in the long run.

I just finished reading a book called Intimate Issues. The title sounds like you must have "issues" in order to benefit from reading, and it does cover some heavy topics, but the main point of the book is to teach what God's word has to say about the gift of physical intimacy in the context of marriage.
             
[In case you haven't figured it out by now, this post is mostly about sex; just a warning if you're uncomfortable with the topic, though I promise not too go in depth! After all, my daughters often read my blog!]

Too many women (and men, probably!) don't realize the importance of sex in marriage: for bonding; for comfort in times of stress or grief; for protection from temptation; for procreation; and for just plain enjoyment! We've bought into what the world has to say about it, and we've allowed the world's ideas to taint what should be an amazing gift.

I want my kids to understand God's view of sex, too. Growing up, my mom made sure I knew the basics about sex. Church made it clear that I shouldn't have sex before marriage because it was a sin.  In sex-ed class (public school), I learned that if I had sex, I should be careful so I didn't get pregnant or catch an STD.  But NEVER, in all of this, did I learn the why of waiting 'til marriage; I never learned that it was a fantastic gift that God invented, and doing it outside of marriage meant missing out on amazing blessings, and throwing away what was intended to be a gift from me to my husband. I believed the world's lies and distortions of truth. I don't want my kids falling into that trap. Yesterday Lindsey heard something Ken and I said about the homework from a marriage retreat: to have sex with your spouse.  She said that was "too much information" because she didn't want to think about "old people 'doing it'" -- and she meant some friends our age! I told her sex is a good thing, and a big part of a happy marriage. Our marriage-enrichment-teaching friends say they have a goal of grossing out their kids out at least once a week with their shows of physical affection; even though the kids may gag and roll their eyes, they love seeing their parents in love, and it models what marriage should look like even after twenty-something years! This couple makes loving each other a priority in many ways, including scheduling a hotel date once a month for a romantic overnight rendezvous -- and I should mention that they are parents to five kids, ranging in age from two to seventeen! I love the example they set!

In general, I think Christians are beginning to do a better job of teaching purity, and the reasons behind it, but sometimes we focus so much on the don't-do-it aspects of sex that we neglect the flip-side: that in the proper context, it is good and meant to be enjoyed! We tend to be so uncomfortable discussing things like with our kids that they end up thinking that we have only "done it" often enough to equal the number of children we have! I'm still uncomfortable discussing this with the girls, but the more we talk about it, the less awkward it gets.

Life should be a continual learning process; I will never know all there is to know on any subject, so this is another area of life where I want to learn and grow. The fact is, any growth in this area will not only bless me, but will also bless my husband and strengthen my marriage, which is also always a benefit to my children!

My Heart -- in Pictures

Every time we shoot a wedding, I feel like I have a new baby to show off. Part of our heart is in every photo. It's also so wonderfully sweet to see a young couple starting out life together in such a worshipful marriage ceremony as theirs. It's the first wedding I've been to where they had a time for their parents to come up and give them a blessing. This couple incorporated such sincerity and such fun into their whole wedding day. A perfect way to start a marriage.

So, come see the new blog post about Alli and Michael's wedding on the Worley Arts blog.  (Just have to share one of my "babies"because it makes me smile...)

Praise from Botswana!

I have had the opportunity to correspond via email with a few of the people we met in Botswana. This is one of the times I love technology (because there are quite a few times I don't love technology!)!

Most of the people at the marriage conference came as couples, but there were a few individuals. who attended. One of those individuals was an Ethiopian gentleman at our table. Though he didn't specifically say that he and his wife were separated, we got that impression, and we knew that she and the children were here in the States for an undetermined amount of time.

A couple of months ago, I sent an email to this gentleman to let him know some specific things I was praying for him, and he responded saying,

"...I knew that GOD is responding fast as you are praying to me and my family. I trust GOD, every thing will be good as it is all His will but on His time and I will not be tired waiting for the time of GOD... AMEN!"

Today I received this email from the same gentlemen (keep in mind that English is not his first language, so forgive him for a little bit of odd wording):

"Praise GOD, our GOD is so close, Our prayer was heared and responce came, My family is all back home with peace and LOVE. The miracle of GOD that splited the meditranean has opened a way to bring my family back together. This is my witness on responce of heared prayer, which you participated in a lot.
Thank you
The friend you prayed for at Gaborone, Botswana
GOD is Great!"

God hears every one of our prayers, no matter where we are. Isn't great to realize that we can have an impact on the lives of people on the other side of the world? I feel rejuvenated about the power of prayer, and wanted to share this with you all! So keep on praying!

Our Anniversary

Four years ago today, Ken and I were married in a little gazebo on a gorgeous spring afternoon. We chose that time of year primarily because spring is a time of new beginnings. Only our very closest friends and relatives were with us. We wrote our own vows (in addition to the standard ones), and have them framed and hanging on a wall in our bedroom so we never forget the promises we made. After the ceremony, we played around on the fountain in the little town square, danced in the gazebo ("God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts), then had "full tea" at our favorite tea room.

I am even more in love with my husband today than I was then, although I don't think I show it well enough. I want him to know how blessed I am to have him as my husband, so I am sharing the vows I said to him that day.
(A recent photo of us; I think maybe we're improving with age.)

The road that led me to you was not smooth, but I believe it has made me appreciate you so much more. You have helped me to let go of the past and embrace the future. Thank you so much for loving me like you do.

I, Jamie, gladly take you, Ken, as my husband. I marry you today with my eyes wide open; not with fairy tale ideas, but with true love, respect, and friendship. I promise to love you each and every day for the rest of our lives. You worked so hard to earn my trust -- harder than I thought anyone ever would -- so now I promise always to trust you and honor you. I promise to keep Christ at the center of our marriage because I believe He was the one who brought us together. I promise to support all of your dreams and ideas. I promise to join you in overcoming every challenge we may face, so that our sorrows are halved, and our joys doubled.

As we begin our lives today as husband and wife, I give you my hand to hold and my heart to keep. I look forward to a lifetime of falling even more in love with you. I truly believe that, for us, the best is yet to come, and I look forward with great joy to having you by my side as we continue down the road of life together, potholes and all. These are my vows to you.

I am far from the perfect wife, and I'm still light years from being like that Proverbs 31 woman, but thank you, Honey, for asking me to marry you. I'm so happy to be your bride.

Sealed With A Kiss

As part of the S.W.A.K. carnival, a whole bunch of gals are sharing their love stories, and although there are some great prizes involved, mostly I just think it's a great way to remember why we fell in love with our husbands in the first place. I love hearing other peoples' love stories.

Back in my wandering days, I frequented a western dance club called Cowboys, and ended up on a line dancing team. We didn't compete, but did shows at various places and performed on "Club Dance", which was sort of just a televised dance club. One of the dancers on the team was a guy named Eric. I danced with him, got to know him a little, but never dated him. About that time, my childhood friend Lisa became single again. As she planned her move back into the state, I became determined to provide her with an instant new life: I arranged a part time job for her til she found something better, told her she could move into my house as a roommate, and proceeded to drag her out to all my social hot spots. (Lisa, by the way, would have been perfectly capable of all that on her own, but I've always been a "fixer.") Soon, she and Eric met, and when she wasn't sure how to respond when he asked her out, I urged her on with this single-girl wisdom: "Go on at least one date, because it's a free meal and we're broke!" She agreed to the date, he cooked her dinner, and they were an item from then on. That was back in 1994.

Lisa and Eric often hosted cook-outs, holiday parties, and such, so over the years I got to know many of their other friends. Several of those were guys that Eric had been friends with since high school, and among those was a guy named Ken. Ten or eleven years ago, several of the Cowboy's gang auditioned as dancers for a NBA commercial, and some of us were chosen among the hoard of swing dancers who would appear for about one-tenth of a second in the commercial with a great swing band called Big Bad Voodoo Daddies. Ken and I were both married back then, but not to each other, and not to our dance partners, either; I danced with a guy named Kenny (not to be confused with Ken), and Ken danced with a girl named Sonya. Other than doing that commercial, I can vaguely remember a few conversations with Ken at various cook-outs, and we were both in Lisa & Eric's wedding in 1998.Fast-forward several years, and Ken and I were both going through divorce. We commiserated, as people seem to love to do (just get a few moms in a room and ask about birthing stories, and you'll see what I mean!), and through that, we became friends. Ken walked through a very dark time with me, and helped me in a million big and small ways. At some point we realized we were more than friends, though neither of us can pinpoint when exactly that was. During that time, and even more since then, Ken has encouraged me so much, and we have both grown in our relationship with the Lord. We learned a lot of very difficult lessons through our failed marriages, as I've written about before, and will do more in the future.

Ken proposed on bended knee in a little gazebo in a small town park near here. Because I was wary of getting married again, Ken asked my mom, Lisa, and a couple of other select friends to write a letter of recommendation for him -- something we had joked about before -- and he had those in a file in the car, so when I hesitated after he popped the question, he told me about them and we both laughed. Then I said yes, and we both cried.

Several months later, we were married in that same little gazebo, with just a few of our closest friends and family, including Lisa and Eric. We danced a little right there in the gazebo, and then had a mini reception nearby at my favorite tea room.

I am so blessed to have this super man by my side in marriage, and in life.

Tomorrow is Valentine's day. No matter what your love story looks like, I hope you'll take a few moments to re-live the best parts, thank the Lord for your spouse, and go seal that love with a kiss!


A funny side-story: at Ken's step-brother's wedding, we learned that in the Vietnamese culture, whoever introduced the bride and groom get a special gift: the head of the wedding pig (given by the groom's family to the bride's family on the wedding day). We figured that meant Eric and Lisa were way overdue in giving me a pig's head, but Ken and I would owe them a pig's head, too, so we're happy that it's all worked out evenly now and no porcine parts need be exchanged at this point.

Pucker Up!

That living intentionally stuff? I am working hard on it, and constantly seeking to let the Lord show me other areas of my life where I need to be more intentional. And I'm being brave and telling y'all about it so I've got some major blogland accountability! Yikes! Good thing I know "God hasn't given [me] a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline," because I'm going to need ALL of those! (2 Timothy 1:7)

A quick update on how I'm doing so far:
• I am not getting up as early as I'd like. My goal is 6:30AM, but that "naturally" waking up thing just isn't happening. I have a strong animosity towards alarm clocks, but yesterday I realized that we're going to have to learn to get along. As of today I started using the alarm to wake me. In Day One of Jamie vs. Alarm Clock, I am not sure who won, but I still didn't get up on time.
• However, I have spent some time with the Lord every morning for about two weeks now. Not always the very first thing -- it depends on how early I do get up, and when Kathryn gets up and how hungry she is, but it's still in the morning. So, YAY!
• Regular exercise is not happening so far. It's a goal, but I don't really have a specific plan on that yet. I had thought we'd go for a walk on all but the the rainiest, coldest days, but it is SUPER cold this week. Ok, not Alaska-cold, but this is Georgia, y'all. And a high in the 30's or 40's in Georgia seems like Arctic temperatures. I really used to think I wanted to move somewhere like Vermont or Maine, but now this Georgia born-and-bred gal is thinking she's too much of a cold-weather wuss for that. Summers in Vermont, however, still sound quite lovely!
• We are getting back into the swing of things in our homeschool, but not being too rigid in our schedule. So this is going well.
• I received the loveliest note cards as a surprise gift from a friend (Thanks, Mari!) to encourage me in that part of my intentional living. She, of course, was the first recipient of one of those beautiful cards. I told her they are so pretty I want to hoard them for myself, but that doesn't really accomplish my goal, does it? I sent off another one to an old friend today.
• On the topic of modesty, or "intentional clothing" perhaps, Sarah Mae is hosting a Modesty Fashion Show this Thursday! She wants to show that modest does not equal frumpy. What a neat idea! If I have time to play model before then, I'll be playing along, too.

And now I've added a few more things. I'll call this Intentional Marriage, and I encourage you to join in the fun. It'll bless your man, and you, too! Jill is hosting the 1 Corinthians 7:5 Challenge (for married couples only!) and Kristen has given herself a Kiss Challenge, and will host a S.W.A.K Carnival on the three days leading up to Valentine's Day. Kissing burns calories, releases feel-good chemicals in your brain, and is dentist recommended (seriously)! And besides the fabulous marital benefits of the 1 Cor. 7:5 Challenge, there are many other perks, too! If you've made a new year's resolution for better health and fitness, consider these health benefits (from an article on WebMD):

1- relieves stress
2- boost immunity (great in cold & flu season!)
3- burns calories and it's great exercise!
4- improves cardiovascular health
5- boosts self-esteem
6- improves intimacy (may I say, "duh!" to that one?)
7- reduces pain (no more headache excuse!)
8- reduces the risk of prostate cancer for him
9- strengthens pelvic floor muscles for her
10- helps you sleep better because of the release of oxytocin


As part of my intentional living, I plan to show my guy how swell I think he is! ♥ I encourage you to show your husband/wife how swell you think he/she is, too!

Heart of the Matter - January Edition

The January edition of the Heart of the Matter is out now, in blog format, and in a super-cool new flipbook version! I am still working my way through reading it, but what I've read so far is great! Though it's a homeschool magazine, there are some great articles on marriage, and parenting in general, so you're sure to find something you'll enjoy. Please be sure to check out my article here or on page 23 in the flipbook version.

My Husband Rocks - Caricature

Last night we attended Ken's company Christmas party. The entertainment for the evening, besides conversation and yummy eats, was a caricature artist. I haven't had mine done since I was a kid at Six Flags, and Ken had never had one done! I think it came out cute, and I even told her to add a camera in Ken's hand. {grin} I was wearing a silver snowflake pin on my sweater, and her rendition of that, along with the rather pointyish shoulders she gave me, make me look like I'm wearing a Star Trek uniform. "Enterprise! Come in, Enterprise!" Hee hee!
Ken and I both loved Star Trek:The Next Generation (but not the original series, except to make fun of!), and for you non-Trekkies, I'll explain just a bit. Captain Picard, played by a fabulous stage actor with a beautifully deep Shakespearean voice and accent, had a First Officer named Commander Will Riker. They had a great working relationship and mutual respect. Captain Picard was a great leader, and Riker never questioned the Captain's authority. Because of this, the Captain often consulted Riker for advice. On the rare occasions when the Captain was unable to lead (due to illness or the Borg!), Riker stepped up and took care of things, and when Picard was once again able to lead, Riker willingly turned the authority back over to him. Captain Picard often called Riker by a sort of respectful nickname: "Number One." And his phrase when issuing a command was, "Make it so." Imagine it with that lovely Shakespearean accent I mentioned. (We bounce that phrase around here, too.)

Anyhow, all that background information is to explain why Ken sometimes calls me "Number One." (Except it's in a Southern drawl, instead of the Shakespearean one.) I don't remember exactly how that came about, but in a goofy, Trekkie way, it is an example of what true submission should look like. I used to balk at the idea of submitting to anyone, until I learned that it didn't mean being bossed around and never having any say in anything. One of the biggest reasons my husband rocks is that he is a wonderful leader in the true sense of the word: he is considerate; I know he is looking out for my well-being; he is not bossy; he values my opinions; he treats me with respect; and he sets a great example of being servant-hearted. (Refer to Ephesians 5 for more on that.)

Make it so!

Be sure to visit my husband rocks today!

Every Road

And I don’t regret the rain,
And the nights I felt the pain,
And the tears I had to cry some
of those times along the way.
Every road I had to take,
Every time my heart would break -
It was just something that
I had to get through
To get me to you…”

“To Get Me To You” [Hope Floats Soundtrack]

This quote is true of my relationship with Christ. I've explained that more in depth here, but basically, I never truly followed Christ until I'd been "broken." Before that, I believed, but I felt like I was doing an okay job with my life; I talked to God pretty often, but tried my best not to listen to Him. It was the pain and the tears and the broken heart that brought me finally to my knees and to Him. I made big mistakes, but He used them to bring me to Himself. And there are no words to thank Him enough for that.

But this quote also makes me think of my relationship with Ken. Our first dance was to "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. We chose that song because we both felt that God brought us together despite all the screw-ups in our lives. He used those things for good. Ken and I wrote our own vows. We did not collaborate on them, or read each other's before the ceremony, but both of us included something about our broken roads leading to each other, and how that made us appreciate each other so much more because of the potholes in the roads we'd traveled up to that time. We still feel that way, and it's that appreciation for what we have now--appreciation for what God has given us--that gets us through difficulties.


By the way, how d'ya like my swanky new blog design? I'm still tweaking it, but I think it suits me because I love the clothes & hairstyles, the dancing, the movies, the vocabulary, and especially the cheesy advertising of the 1940's & 50's!

My Husband Rocks - Priorities

It's time for another episode of my husband rocks!

One of the many things I love about Ken is that he's affectionate just because, and not only as a prelude to something more. Even though I'm somewhat delirious in the mornings (he gets up BEFORE 5AM, people!!!), he always gives me a good-morning kiss, and we always have a glad-to-see-you hug and kiss when he comes home from work. True, sometimes it's more enthusiastic than others--but that partly depends on whether we have an audience. {grin} We hold hands often. If I'm busy doing something and he walks by, he'll give me a little squeeze or kiss the top of my head if I'm sitting and reading. I really appreciate these little gestures of affection.

(Kathryn took this photo last weekend. She's our budding photographer.)
Recently Ken and I realized that we were allowing ourselves to become too busy on the evenings when we are both home. Whether it was editing pictures, or finishing household chores, etc., we just weren't making a big enough effort to have "face time" together. So lately we've been making sure that we finish whatever needs doing before Kathryn goes to bed, so that after she is in bed, we can just hang out: talk about our day, try to fill in a crossword puzzle, make plans for a weekend getaway sometime soon... it's these little things that help cement our bond, and show each other that we make our marriage a priority. If we don't do it in the little things, we're not very likely to do it in the big things.

So, how does your spouse rock?

Hop on over to Katy's blog to share your own my husband rocks post or to read others.

Built on the Rock

Recently I began participating in a fantastic meme called my husband rocks, which is a great chance to tell the world how and why you appreciate your husband. It’s also a great way to remind yourself why you love and appreciate him, and a wonderful way to encourage him! (Men, you can contribute a “my wife rocks” post, too!) One of my blog friends (one of the few men who read my blog, I think!) left a wonderful comment on my most recent my husband rocks post that really tied into some things I’ve been thinking lately, so thank you Kevin! I feel like this is something I need to expound upon (that’s a fun phrase that I just don’t get to use often enough!).

We tend to take marriage lightly. Many of us confuse lust with love, and think living together is good preparation for marriage. When we do enter into marriage, it’s usually with the caveat in the back of our minds that “if it doesn’t work out (or when the lust wears off), I can always get a divorce.” We know divorce isn’t easy, “But,” we think, “it’s certainly better than being stuck in an unhappy marriage.”

It breaks my heart that the statistics for the divorce rate among Christians is no better than the divorce rate among non-Christians. Why is that??? It's because we’ve bought into what the world says about marriage. The truth is, marriage is meant to be about glorifying Christ, living out an earthly version of Christ’s relationship with the church (which is all believers, not just one congregation or denomination!). We should seek God’s wisdom and guidance in choosing our spouse, we should keep our hearts and bodies pure to present to each other ONLY, and we should never expect our spouse to fulfill all our needs; only God can fill that God-shaped hole -- no other person or thing! But the good news is, if you're doing these things, you'll have the joy of an intimate relationship with Christ, which in turn will bless your marriage! A Godly marriage is full of true and lasting joy!

Kevin’s points were right-on: men do have differing needs than women, and I’m not referring to anything physical. We as women have a need to feel loved and cherished; men have a need to feel respected. I choose to encourage my husband and show him respect because God commands it. Ken really is a “super man” but he’s not perfect, and I’m not either, so sometimes we do butt heads. As a matter of fact, I was kinda irked at him (which in retrospect was entirely my own fault) when I began that most recent “my husband rocks” post, but I chose to obey Philippians 4:8: “...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” By the time I finished that post, I was back to swooning about Ken. You see, in everything that happens each and every day, I have a choice in whether I will think on good things or focus on the negative. If I choose the latter, I will never be satisfied with anyone (including myself) or anything. Often in marriage, we start focusing on the negative, and it begins a dangerous downward spiral. Don’t let that happen! Even if your spouse is getting on your last nerve, find at least ONE thing you appreciate or love about him or her, and think on that. Hold those bad thoughts captive and throw them far, far away!

I am no expert on marriage – I have a failed past marriage to prove it. The sad, sad thing is that we were both Christians, but neither of us knew anything about actually living out a Biblical marriage. Just being Christian parallel to your spouse is NOT enough! Find those verses that speak of marriage, and pray for understanding as you read them. And then, start living them! Most of us don’t know how to do this because we’ve never seen a truly Biblical marriage in real life. How sad that is! How can we expect marriage to thrive unless we are showing the world what God’s true intention was when he created marriage? Christians, if you are married, you have an obligation to model a Biblical marriage, so get your household in order and live that out for others to see!

This topic is near and dear to my heart, so this won’t be my last post about it. I've never written about it before because I'm not a bright and shiny example of marital longevity; I do however, have a lot of experience in what not to do, and now I've been blessed with a few years experience in doing it right. As I said, I’ve failed at marriage, and here's the very simple reason why – God was not at the center of that marriage. We kept God around the periphery, but our marriage was built on sand (Matthew 7:24-26). Because of that, I experienced a whole lot of brokenness and learned some very painful lessons. When I married Ken, we vowed to keep Christ at the very CENTER of our relationship. Our marriage is built upon that solid rock called Christ; it’s the only way marriage can work. Is your marriage "on the rocks"? Or is the foundation of your marriage built upon the Rock.

My Husband Rocks!

I don't remember how I stumbled upon this blog, but I love, love, love the meme she has started and I am joining in the fun! It's called "My Husband Rocks" and it's a chance to share how wonderful your spouse is--what a refreshingly fabulous idea for a meme! I hope you'll visit her and even join in yourself!

Now, I admit that I have an unfair advantage, because my husband really does rock! He loves to play around with our classic acoustic guitar, but mostly he plays bass guitar in the praise band at church -- we have some really great contemporary worship music at church!

If I told you all the fabulous things Ken ever does, this post would be w-a-y too long, and my thoughts would most likely jump all over the place, so I'll focus just on things that have made me have that swoony feeling about him this week. For instance, one day this weekend, I was barefoot (a frequent occurance) when we went outside, and it didn't take long for me to realize the concrete was entirely too hot! I was hanging out in any shady or grassy spots I could find. When we decided it was time to go in, Ken just swooped me up and carried me newlywed-style back to the front door. Now, isn't that sweet?

And there was the time this week when he made a special effort to spend a little extra time with a boy who doesn't have a father figure in his life. That boy just drank in Ken's attention.

Another day this week, I was having some self-doubts, not thinking very well of myself or my abilities. Those times aren't very frequent, but Ken is always encouraging without just telling me to "get over it," and that means so much to me. He is so patient, even when I'm being a pain in the neck.

We've been working hard, trying to get our fledgling photography business going and he has put in a great deal of thought and work into our planning, researching equipment and such, and in doing the technical stuff on our website. (We just updated it, so I'd love for you to check out the site!) Our ideas and styles are different but complementary, and working with him is such a pleasure. I love being able to say that about my husband!

[Here we are at our big party at home the month after our
very small wedding in March of 2005... aren't we cute?] Lately, I've been learning so much about being married--about what that really means. I am married to a wonderful man, but much of my love and enthusiasm about how great he is really comes from making a choice to appreciate him. I could sit around and dwell on a few little things that annoy me, and I could ignore all the fabulous things he does and the ways he helps me with things that aren't really his responsibility; if that's what I chose to do and how I chose to think, then our marriage wouldn't be nearly as wonderful. He chooses to appreciate and adore me, too, and he overlooks my quirkiness and my not-so-splendid moods. This is what makes us have a beautiful marriage, and it's only possible because we both love Christ and try to keep him at the center of our lives and our marriage. And that is why my husband rocks!

Stop in and visit my talented hubby at Ken's Place, his awesome photo blog!

Glorious Spring!

I love spring. Even though I get sneezy, I still love it. It's a time for everything to begin anew; everything feels fresh! I start inspecting all my little flowers & plants to see what's getting ready to bloom. My love for spring is also why Ken and I chose were married in the spring, just about three years ago. Our wedding was in a gazebo in a little town square near here on the Thursday before Easter in 2005. During our ceremony, we celebrated the Lord's supper together... it was our first act as husband and wife. That was extra special since Thursday was the day of the original Lord's supper when Jesus broke bread with disciples and explained to them about the signifigance of the bread (His body) and wine (His blood). Now every time we take the Lord's Supper, we are reminded not only of Christ's great love and sacrifice for us, but also of our commitment to and love for each other. It's a wonderful thing.

Another example of new life and spring's arrival:
We have a house finch nest on our front door wreath! Mama Finch finished laying her five beautiful light blue eggs in there last Friday, and we hear the little expectant birdie couple chattering to each other all the time. Our Stokes' bird guide book tells us that house finches lay 2-6 eggs, and they should hatch in 12-16 days, so we'll be on the look out and try to get pictures of the new babies when they hatch (without disturbing the family too much). This has turned into a lovely little nature study right on our front door!
Ever notice how often birds are mentioned in the Bible? It's obvious that God cares about the birds and every other living creature. And He loves us even more! Luke 12:24 says, "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest, they don't have storerooms or barns, but God feeds them. And you are worth much more than birds." If you're having one of those moments where you think maybe you (or us humans in general) aren't that great after all, consider this... God makes everything wonderful! The same God who made the mountains, the house finches, the amazing sunsets, the One who set the stars in the sky, who created apple trees, and yellow daffodils, and huge mountain ranges... that same God made you! I heard a Dave Crowder song the other day, about all the marvelous things God has made. Then there was a line in the song I had missed before. It said, "You make everything glorious... and You made me... so what does that make me?" Answer: GLORIOUS! So I'm glorious, and you're glorious, and it's a glorious day!