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My Escape

Well, I am a copy cat – what can I say. But I think this one was so cool, I just had to…I saw it at She Lives and HolyMama! this weekend and it is a great topic. Randi’s “Lets Get Real Monday” how to relax and re-energize.
Although not a busy mom (our son is turning 21 in June), I still stay busy around the house and working. My favorite thing to re-energize is this:

Moi in San CarlosChilling on the beach in San Carlos with my Sweetheart. There is nothing better to just leave the busy life in AZ behind. Although this is a resort, it is very inexpensive and doesn’t have much too offer. Except a great beach, blue water and not many visitors during the month of June. Too bad that we won’t be going down there this year (well at least not in June). This is truly a place to reflect on God’s creation…

But since this only happens once a year, I relax other ways.

I like to listen to Greg Laurie’s sermons and teachings. I think I would attend the church if we would live in Riverside, California. Okay, so it is not Lutheran, but his teachings are so relevant and always encouraging. Check out their site when you have some time. Also pray for their New Zealand Crusade this up-coming weekend (April 28-30).

I also like to find comfort in the Word when times get stressful. After last week’s LBY Bible session – Psalm 51 has really impacted me.

I enjoy learning new software – oh yeah. I am trying to learn more about photo-editing via the PC. I love taking photos, but sometimes they just don’t come out the way I like them to come out. You can find my on-line collection here (just haven’t posted in awhile). I enjoy blogging – not just writing posts myself, but reading as well (and leaving comments :grin:).

But my favorite relax/re-energize time is to spend time with my hubby. He makes me laugh when I am sad, he holds me when I need a hug, and he encourages me when I am down.

Please leave a comment to let me know if you participate in Randi’s Monday Challenge…

Other participants: Kate, Carol, Randi, Susie, Martha,
Have a blessed Monday.

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Laundry + Pride = Distaster

Reading the title of my post, you probably think I lost my mind. Don’t make a judgement until you finish reading my post ~ :win:.
As I have told you before, I love my husband very much. He is an incredible guy. He does anything for me if I ask him. He would even hang the moon in a different spot if I would ask him (but I won’t ~ :lol:)
This being said I have to tell you the story why laundry + pride = disaster. You see, I don’t like to iron. Actually, I will use a very harsh word here, I loathe ironing. To tell you the truth, I would rather cook a six course meal for twenty people, before I set up the ironing board. BTW – did you read Carol’s 13 post this week? ~ Very funny.
So after a very long Wednesday, including work, shopping (yes, I shop every day for groceries), cooking, run a load through the machine, blogging, cleaning the dishes, the thought of ironing my sweetheart a work-shirt never crossed my mind. But my Sweetheart needed one for the next day. Before I cleaned the dishes I mentioned that my back was hurting (honestly ~ it was). Well, my Sweetheart didn’t even wanted to bother asking if I could iron him a shirt for the next day. He got the ironing board, grabbed several shirts and the iron. My mouth just dropped open and I was offended. Can you believe it?
You see, sometimes my old sinful self breaks thru. ~ PRIDE!!!! As I mentioned before, I love him, and want to be the best wife a man can have. And instead of being thankful for his help, I felt insulted!!!! O, I can be such a handful sometimes (that is nicely put). I really put my foot in my mouth, saying things that were just wrong. It was pitiful to say the least! What the heck got into me? One word: Pride! Yikes!!!
Well, I sent him an email when I got to work the next morning, apologizing. And on my way home, I picked him up on of these…
I just hope that I have learned from this incident for the future, and put my pride aside next time my Sweetheart lends me a hand with household chores. Needless to say, tonight when I get home, the rest of his shirts will be ironed…

Living in His grace ~ Eph2810

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Valentine MeMe – Little Late

Last week Blair from Scribblings by Blair tagged me with a meme. It is called the Valentine meme …
The questions asked on this meme: “What’s one thing you have learned to do differently to make your marriage better? Or one thing you think is important to a good marriage?”.

Well, I will try to answer both of them. The one thing I have learned in almost 23 years of marriage I would do differently: Never, ever take my Sweetheart for granted!!! Don’t leave the house without saying goodbye and “I Love You”, because you never know if you will see your partner again that day/night. I have seen it plenty of times where a spouse left the house and didn’t return, due to a heart attack or to an accident. The sorrow was great in all cases I have seen. So, now I make sure that I don’t leave the house without a kiss, a hug and “I Love You”! Think about it before you leave the house; even when you are in a rush, turn around and make sure you give him a kiss…

The one thing that is important to a marriage? Mhm…I think there are several things, but most of them my blogging friends have already mentioned in their posts: communication, friendship, let it go, being thankful. One point Carol already touched on in her post is ‘submission’ – I call it respecting each other. Oh, I am not saying that I ever disrespect my husband, but it took me 22 years to realize that I can disrespect without words; with my actions. How I say things; what tone of voice I use.
But mostly I took my Sweetheart for granted. I knew he is there for me if I needed a shoulder to cry on, or just needed a hug. But, I never told him how much I needed him, because I thought that he knew anyway (and that men don’t like that kind of ‘muchy’ stuff – I stand corrected). With God’s guidance and the help of a couple books (Love & Respect and For Women Only) I have made some changes!
Another important key to a strong marriage is ‘us’ time. Hugging, kissing and …God made us to be together in a certain way. If we neglect that part in a relationship, bad things can happen; even to Christian marriages. I pray every day for our marriage in that area…

Not sure I have said anything new, but maybe it is new to you. Actually I like to tag this time, because all of us have a different approach and different insights on marriage/partnership. My tags: Amie, Blest, Lisa and Stormii. Hope you fine ladies are up to it (could have tagged more, but I wanted some for you to tag – lol)…

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My Precious Gem…

RespectNo, I am not talking about the ring I received for Christmas from my Sweetheart, I am talking about my Sweetheart…

For years and years I took him for granted. He was there to listen, to comfort, to help me out with things around the house. Did I ever thank him or told him how important he is to me…I don’t think so. Do you think that men don’t like to hear how much we appreciate them? How much we love them? To be honest with you, I thought that I didn’t have to say/show it, that he knew. I am not talking about getting all mushy, but I am saying that we can tell our man that we love them in different ways. One of them is to tell them how much we appreciate them, what they truly mean to us, their providence and their understanding!

I have read two great books last year about the relationship with our man, but this one opened my eyes: For Women Only! Maybe I am the only one who is ignorant to the needs of my man, but I didn’t know a lot of things. Did you know that men would like to have more respect than anything. Even more than intimate relations (although that ranks high too).
Listen to this:

While it may be totally foreign to most of us, the male need for respect and affirmation – especially from his woman – is so hardwired and so critical that most men would rather feel unloved than disrepected or inadequate. The survey indicated that three out of four men (that is 75% – Yikes!!!) would make that choice. (Quote from ‘For Women Only‘ by Shaunti Feldhahn)

After reading this book and Love & Respect, I am more in tune with the needs of my Sweetheart (at least I hope so). How do you show your Sweetie that you respect him? How do you react to him if you don’t agree with his point of view? Do you retreat? Do you get mad? I really would like to hear from you…
Although, I don’t want this to be a ‘contest’, I do want to give away one copy of the book (random drawing on Wednesday, February 18th) by Shaunti Feldhahn, because I believe it is the most important book a married/engaged woman can read – to see things from his point of view…Leave a comment if you are interested in receiving a copy. Please share how you show respect to your Sweetie…

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”~Ephesians 5:33