The Love Dare Challenge

Has anyone ever seen the movie Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron? My husband and I saw this movie a year or so ago, and I bought the book, The Love Dare. We don't many issues in our marriage, really at all. But I think there's always room for improvement AND no harm in trying something new! I never got to finish this book, because life got busy. I was curious if anyone would want to take this Love Dare Challenge with me? I will post the dares daily, and you can follow along! I'll have everyone post comments about what they did and we can all share, and maybe get some new ideas! If you are interested, please leave a comment below! Peace!

Erasing Hell

I found this video today from a blog I follow called Time-warp wife .The vidoe is called Erasing Hell, and you can find it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnrJVTSYLr8&feature=player_embedded#at=570 . I encourage you to watch it. It is really down to earth and raw. It's a little long (like 5 minutes or more - which for us mommies with little kiddos IS long to be watching anything!), but SO WORTH WATCHING. Also, if you get the chance, check out Time-warp wife, it's one of my very favorite blogs to read! Peace to you all, and hope you had a nice Memorial Day!

Blessings From God

I have been feeling somewhat ill lately. I have felt a little down because I was unable to do much for a few days. I know we all need breaks from time to time, but I am not an idle person. I like to be there for my kids. I like to have my house in order for my husband, when he comes home. I like having a good dinner prepared and ready for the family by 5 pm. And I was really not liking that I couldn't clean much, excersize much or play with the kids much. Yesterday I was feeling better, and today even better! I really thought that my kindergartener didn't have school today. I didn't send her in, only to get a phone call from the school saying she was abscent! Oops. Today I really had the urge to take my kiddos out, since I had not been feeling well. It's a hot sunny day and I just felt like we needed to be outside somewhere. So I took my kids to this big pond (they call it a lake). There is a sidewalk that goes around the whole pond, and there are always people walking along the path. Today we took our (little) dog, because I know he thinks the ducks are the weirdest things. He likes to chase them. I could only stay for an hour or two. I had so much work to catch up on. As it turned out, we had a DELIGHTFUL afternoon! We walked twice around the pond and played on a playground. On our second loop around the pond we saw 3 pairs of ducks with the TINIEST baby ducklings. Oh they were so sweet. We saw a HUGE water snake! My dog scared it out of the weeds and it swam into the water and hung out and watched us (as we watched it). Then as we walked a little further I found a bullfrog in some shallow water! I was so excited for my kids to get to see these animals (that you really don't see every day) all in one day! I felt that God really blessed us with the beauty and wonder of his creations today. I felt so grateful for that time together, checking out the pond and the animals. When we got home we looked up the animals to see all their statistics (turned it into a homeschool lesson!), and looked up pictures of bullfrogs and water snakes. Such a cool day! Thank you God for the simple beauty of nature, and please let us never take it for granted. Peace to you all!

Getting Our Hands Dirty

Yesterday my husband and I were talking about Mennonite women we encountered on Saturday. I was saying that they encompass the life I dream of. We went to a Mennonite farm that had a giant greenhouse on the property. There was a little ice cream machine outside and 2 ladies (with their 3 little boys) were selling soft serve. When the woman collected my money I noticed how BIG her hands were. And not like big ladies hands, like big MAN'S hands. And I was in awe. These women had big, strong hands to help them with all their hard work they did each and every day! The wonderful things they do every day with these hands. And it made me giggle at my little, girly hands.
 I  have been really trying to learn more about the wonderful Proverbs 31 woman. And the more I learn about her, the more I learn that she wasn't a trophy wife by any means. This man didn't marry her because she had manicured nails and wore runway style fashions. She is a solid rock for her husband. This woman strengthen her arms and is an industrial woman. She is not afraid to dig into hard labor and true grit. Hard working, loyal, strong, smart - all which made her beautiful!
There is a story of the godly wife of the well-known Jonathan Edwards. Sarah was such a beautiful help meet for this man. He would get so caught up in his studies. One time he realized that there was work he had not tended to in the field, only to discover Sarah had gone ahead and seen to it’s completion. This woman was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and yet she put a feminine ribbon in her hair before she came to the meal table.
We live in an age where we do not appreciate nor encourage femininity. We have “take your daughters to work day”, and generally encourage our little girls to think like their brothers about their lives. The high calling of motherhood is certainly rarely encouraged. But, on the flip side, it seems that in our haste to embrace femininity in our homes, we turn to some Victorian view of women where they sit in their frilly dress, sipping lemonade all day. True ladies would be afraid of spiders, faint easily and certainly wouldn’t get dirty. 
But this is not what the LORD, in Proverbs 31, called us to do. Not to sit around and look pretty. We as women, wives and mothers, are truly the backbone of the family. We think of our families before we think of ourselves, working hard day and night to make sure everyone under our roof is taken care of. Being a wife and mother is more than sitting around eating bon bons, or getting dolled up to be draped over our husbands arms. IT IS HARD WORK! And I am learning every day to embrace and love it more and more!
We started our (BIG) garden yesterday. Nine garden beds, flowers in pots, fruit bushed in the yard. I dug in and got my hands dirty (enlisted my 6 year old daughter too). And when I was done I felt so PROUD! Proud that I will be in charge of growing our food. Proud that I will learn how to properly freeze and can the harvest. To make jams from the fruit and pickles from the cucumbers. And PROUD that my husband has all his trust in me that I will take care of things like this.
Peace to all you women out there (no matter whether your work is in the house, or outside the home, you work hard!)!