Praying For Our Husbands

My husband Josh just graduated with his masters degree in hopes of going into administration. Our family is so proud of him. He is hopeful that a job opportunity will become available for him. In the meantime, I am praying for God's will in my husbands life. He knows my husband more than I do, he knows our future, he knows where He can put Josh that will bring Him glory. I actually emailed Josh today and told him that I want us to pray together tonight about this... then an awesom email pops up. It is a beautiful step by step for praying for our husbands. I love it and wanted to share it here.

http://reneeswope.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PrayingForMyHusband.Head2Toe.pdf

I pray that this will bless you and in turn bless your husbands.

A Child of God

The David study has touched my heart very much this week. The virtues that David possessed our some of the many virtues that Jesus Christ possesses as well.
1. He has shown me kindness
2. He has initiated a relationship with me.
3. He has accepted me completely.
4. He has shown me His calming Spirit.
5. He delights in my restoration.
6. He DESIRES for ME to be His DAUGHTER! Wow, me?
That is just so hard to comprehend, that God seeks you out in a crowd, yells your name and says, " Yes, you!!!! I desire for YOU to be my daughter."

This challenges me to also seek a heart like His. A heart that shows kindness, is an initiator of meaningful relationships, accepts others completely, shows a calming spirit, delights in the restoration of others and above alllllll else, desires a relationship with my Father in Heaven that calls me HIS.

I hope that you are blessed today by the video below. During this Thanksgiving holiday, I pray that you give thanks to the one that calls you "daugther".

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

I am getting so excited for Thanksgiving. For those of you that know me, you know how much I love to cook. It is a part of me. My mom and grandma are the same way... my sis just likes to look at cooking magazines and have someone else make the recipe:) Below are some great recipes for your family for Thanksgiving dinner. I would so appreciate if you would leave a comment telling me your favorite must have dish at Thanksgiving. Also, do you plan on making anything new this year???

Italian sausage stuffing

corn casserole

hashbrown casserole with crushed cornflake topping

Stuffed mushrooms

Paula Deen Green Bean Casserole

Paula Deen creamy mac and cheese

A Life That Will Inspire You

I am sitting here in front of my computer with tears pouring down my face. You will soon see why. This morning I received a message from one of my beautiful friends, Meredith Murrey. She shared with me a story and a message from a woman named Denai Vaughn. She was a women very close to my age that had a heart for God. She was a woman who lived out generosity. You can find more of her story on Meredith's blog, http://www.murrayfive.blogspot.com/

This woman lost her life yesterday instantly in a car accident. A year ago, to the day of her death, she left a video message about Outliving Your Life. She had lost many friends that day to death and her message was a message of hope. She reminded all of us to share our life with our families and our friends TODAY! Not waiting for a wedding or a funeral to share how much we love them. She challenged everyone to live today with the goal and passion of leaving a legacy. This woman and this video has touched me in a way that I don't know that I can describe with words. If you do anything today, take the time to watch this video.

 To all of you that are reading this, I LOVE YOU! I am blessed beyond measure for the relationships in my life. To my children Sawyer and Ava, thank you for giving me more joy than I will ever deserve, thank you for teaching me lessons and for loving your mama even when I am not too pretty. To my husband Josh, thank you for sharing this life with me. I am grateful that God gave me a husband who I love, who embraces me and who I can say is and forever will be my best friend. To my mom, dad, step-parents, brother, sister, Kayt, Mitch and Greyson... I LOVE YOU! Let this be a lesson to us to spend more time together. To stop and take the moments to appreciate eachother in our lives. To Mops, Pops, Jason, Trina, Kaitlyn, Kelsey, Wesley, and Breck... thank you for loving me, thank you for being in my life and I want you to know how much I love you. You are my family too. To my friends, thank you for loving me through the good and the bad. Thank you for celebrating the joy in my life and thank you for wiping the tears through the broken times. And to my loving God, thank you for never leaving me, for giving Your Son as an example. I want to leave a legacy that makes you proud. I want to walk into Your gates and hear you say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Generosity

Our church is currently doing a series, "Practicing Extravagant Generosity". I have really enjoyed it. Pastor Mike talked about a scripture from Matthew that I want to put on my mirror to read first thing in the morning as a reminder of why I am really here.

" Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

The more I thought about that verse, the more I thought about my children. I don't want Ava and Sawyer to grow up thinking that they live in a "me" world. I want them to grow up knowing that God has called them to help others. God uses us to meet the needs of His people. What a responsibility but also what an honor!!! Over the weekend, my beautiful friend Nikki led our children in an awesome project. She bought all of this food and created a mock grocery store in her living room. The kids had a grocery list and went around shopping for our items. They put these items in a box that would be taken to a mission for families that need it. It was beautiful to watch. Nikki, thank you for creating a fire within me and reminding me that my children need to show generousity, and their mother does as well. We can be generous with our time, with our finances, with our forgiveness, with our compassion and with our love. Below I have included a few ideas to do with our kids over the season... I found these ideas on http://www.blissfullydomestic.com/



1. Prepare and deliver a meal to someone in need. Your local church could help identify a recipient if you don’t know someone already.
2. Prepare a care package for an overseas soldier. These men and women are often especially homesick during the holiday season. A care package is a sweet pick-me-up for them.
3. Gather some of your old books that are in great condition and deliver them to a local children’s hospital.
4. Sort through old toys for items that can be taken to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
5. Make some Thanksgiving crafts to deliver to a senior center or veteran’s home.

Thanksgiving Printables

I am starting to get excited for thanksgiving so started looking around the web for some fun things. I found a few prints that would be fun to put around the house. They are from Honey Bear Lane. Just click on the image and you can print off and put in a frame.

Also, here are some conversation starters for the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day from Skiptomylou.org. I think these would be fun to pass around the table and take turns asking the family. You can print these off after clicking on the link below.

http://www.skiptomylou.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ThanksgivingDinnerConversationStarters.pdf

The 2 Words that Can Destroy Your Marriage

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about marriage, my marriage in particular. I can tell you that in the past, I was queen of the "if onlys". When I married my husband, I had no idea that it would follow 9 1/2 years of being alone on the weekends. I married a teacher... didn't know that a career in acting would follow. I use to resent my husband for this work, and I promise you, it didn't lead us to a good place. People have asked me recently how Josh and I are so good. My first answer is, grace and mercy. Only by the power of Jesus Christ do we have a good marriage. But I also follow that up by saying, "respect and honor". Both have been built over time in our marriage, not given with a ceremony and a ring. I read this article on www.refineus.org. I am attaching it below. If you journal, I would encourage you today to make a list of the blessings your spouse brings... not the "if only's".

There are so many things that your marriage can survive. You marriage can survive miscommunication. Your marriage can survive busy schedules. Your marriage can overcome conflict with your in-laws. Your marriage can get through sexual brokenness and unforgiveness. But, there are two words that will eventually bring an end to your marriage…if not legally then definitely emotionally.
The two words are…
…IF ONLY…

If only my wife had sex with me more often
If only my husband looked at me like my boss does
If only we had kids
If only we made more money
If only we lived in a bigger house
If only we would have dated longer
If only she took care of herself like the lady at the gym
If only my high school boyfriend and I would have stayed together
If only we hadn’t had kids so young
If only she understood me
If only he listened to me
If only I knew we were soul mates
If only she cooked more or better
If only he could do things around the house
If only causes you to focus on what isn’t rather than on what is. If only allows your mind to fantasize about someone that isn’t your spouse. If only believes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. If only paralyzes us in the pursuit of our spouse and convinces us that a perfect marriage is competently up to the other person. If only will slowly destroy intimacy and leave you in a place of resentment. If only will trick you into believing that the best days of your marriage are behind you and and not ahead of you.
The best thing you can do for your marriage today is remove “if only” from your mind and heart.
You can’t change the past, but you can prevent the past from destroying your future.