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What I learned this week…
Exodus 16 — God says, “‘In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.’…However, some of them paid no attention to Moses.” I learned that sometimes, in response to powerful revelation and provision, God asks me for menial obedience. And I don’t want to miss that.
I learned that my slow cooker is my bff.
I learned that if I leave my 5 yo alone with the wii for an hour, he will completely conquer MarioKart and I will get all the laundry folded and organized.
I learned that if I leave my 5 yo alone with the wii for an hour, I will feel an overly appropriate measure of MommyGuilt.
I learned that my 6 yo daughter has a TREMENDOUS sense of style and I truly *don’t* have to help her pick her clothes out anymore.
I learned that I shouldn’t feel sad that she’s growing up because our new little girl will be here so quickly and I’ll be picking out cutie outfits again for another 6 years.
I learned that the idea of “starting over” overwhelms me by the blessing it is, and for the responsibility it will require.
I learned that 2 well placed $.98 patches easily saved my favorite and unfortunately $48 jeans.
I learned that I’d already had a tetanus shot within the last 5 years so I didn’t have to get one for our mission trip; the thought had me laughing in delight!
I learned that cake batter, mixed to silk perfection in my BadBoy mixer, makes me VERY happy 
So what did you learn this week? Pop over to Musings of a Housewife and tell us!
but I’m being perfected.
From glory to glory, He is changing me.
And I’m so very, very good with that.
I LOVE IT when God does “small” things — salvation, Heaven, Jeremiah 29:11 kind of direction, and James 1 wisdom will ALWAYS humble me, but when the God of all creation chooses to intervene in the daily-ness of life, well, that just blows me away. And that is exactly what happened this week.
As Monday came to a close, I told Darren that I really wanted to look for some new Birkenstock sandals on ebay. My sweet aunt had bought me a new pair last August and they were in GREAT condition until the dog chewed through one of the straps. Near the buckle. Where it’s apparently very hard to repair.
For me, there is just *nothing* like Birks. Been wearing them since college (not the same pair, lest you think that’s why my aunt rescued me last summer) and it doesn’t seem to matter how long I’m on my feet or what I’m doing, my feet are never sore and my back never tired walking around. I’ve been wearing my Crocs, and they’re pretty great stuff, but more than halfway through this pregnancy, I’m missing the joy of really good footwear. If you’d told me years ago I’d be so partial to admittedly less attractive footwear, I’d have laughed. I’m ok with the paradigm shift. I love my Birks.
So, I looked some up on ebay and found I could probably get a good new pair on ebay with my next paycheck, told D, and went to bed. Thursday afternoon, my sweet aunt called me and said, “I just got a new catalog that has good deals on Birkenstocks and I know the dog chewed yours up, so stop what you’re doing right now and go look what size they are so I can order you some replacements.”
OH MY WORD! How VERY GOD of Him!
And how INCREDIBLY SWEET of her! I laughed and told her about our Monday evening discussion and thanked her profusely for being His hands and feet in our life once again.
How cool is that, ya’ll???????? Don’t you just LOVE that kind of blessing??????????
I can’t tell you how much that means to me, to know that He really does care about the number of hairs on my head and that His children are never without shoes. Really! He cares about that kind of little stuff, and I’m AMAZED!
Praying He amazes you in a mind-blowing way this week!
Yesterday, I learned that friends of ours who married 2 weeks before we did are splitting up because he “decided he didn’t want to be married anymore.”
Add this onto 3 other marriages around us that have been rocked by infidelity within the past 6 months.
What a load of crap. I’m sorry if that word offends you, but the whole business of “shaking off” a spouse like you would a nasty cold offends me.
I’m tired of women who belittle their husbands — sometimes to their faces — and can’t understand why their guys don’t want to listen anymore.
I’m tired of Daddies deciding that their own freedom and happiness are more important than their children’s well being.
I’m tired of Mommies, who’ve already walked their children down the painful road of divorce, saying they “deserve” a new relationship and need something for themselves at the expense of their children’s security.
I’m sick of men who decide that 2 or 3 kids in, they’re done with this now well-worn wife and need something different, newer, more exciting — with no responsibility.
I’m sick of women who see men lurking and invite their stares and attentions knowing full well they have husbands of their own.
I am disgusted by married people’s disregard for marriage. Forget the world or American culture or society’s ills, let’s just speak among our own. AT WHAT POINT DO WE PUT ON OUR BIG BOY SHORTS OR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND REALIZE THAT ANY RELATIONSHIP REQUIRES EFFORT — IT IS *NOT EVER* ALL ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL.
Getting along with your parents? Has ALWAYS required effort.
Staying close (or on speaking terms) with your siblings? Has ALWAYS required effort.
Being friends with even your best friend? Has ALWAYS required effort.
STAYING IN FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GOD WHO LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT MORONIC THING YOU DO? Has ALWAYS required effort.
Effort is time you often can’t afford to spend. It is listening when you’d rather regale. It is holding your tongue so you can hold your loved one. It is saying, “It’s ok, I can do it another time” and MEANING IT. It is doing something more than is expected with a great attitude. It is seeing that person’s potential instead of their liability. It is sacrifice. It is sometimes painful. It is occasionally offensive.
It is always honor.
Please know that I write all this — the tantrum in its entirety — not as the one boasting in some cheesy, pride affected drawl, “Oh I just could NEVER do anything like that! I would NEVER hurt my husband! My marriage is the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE!”
No, see, I come from a broken home. And because I know that a broken home CAN be potentially functional, I have *always* operated with an “escape clause” — I have always known that if D ever up and left — or worse, and it is *hard* to admit this, if he ever ticked me off so bad that I up and left — what I would do, how I would manage, how I could provide, and how to raise my kids.
Isn’t that disgusting?
And it’s only been in the past few months that I have *really* seen the cost of that selfish attitude. No, I would never cheat on my husband — NEVER (first of all, I love Jesus; second, I was raised in the REAL South and that is plain tacky — honey, I DON’T DO plain tacky). But I have been willing to withhold part of myself, my so-called “self-preservation”, so that if “if” ever came, I wouldn’t be destroyed.
The problem is, when I built that wall of protection, the natural consequence was to keep D out. Maybe not all the way around my heart, but certainly part of it.
And ISN’T THAT WHAT ALL THE SICK MORONS I JUST RANTED ABOUT HAVE DONE, TOO???? Albeit, their walls might have been built big enough to encompass plain tacky behavior, or even shut their spouses out altogether, but the mortar in between the bricks? The attitude holding all that “protection” together?
Yeah… it’s all the same thing.
So, folks, I’m DONE. I’m done with the places in my own bad attitude that have kept my heart from Darren; I’m done with EVER entertaining the “if” I KNOW we can control; and frankly, I’m done turning away when I see things that bother me in other relationships. Didja just call her best friend? Does she know about that? Didja just say that about your husband? Couldja never say that in public again?
I may not be the Morality Police, but for once, could we all STAND UP and be the Marriage Police? We’re so adamant that it be “one man and one woman” and no one else can have it –
BUT THE WAY WE’VE BEEN HANDLING IT, CHURCH, DOES ANYONE ELSE REALLY WANT IT??????
Yeah… it’s a load of crap.
And I’m done.
My last post found me wondering WHAT ON EARTH was happening and why I felt SO incredibly gross, and hoping God would reveal truth.
Weeeeeeeellllll…. He did.
The VERY NEXT DAY (you know, after my husband left), my children came down with fevers — good ones. Like 102. In the midst of the fevers, I suddenly felt as though something had rolled over me and then thrown itself in reverse, just to make sure, you know. We were such a sad mess that weekend, I couldn’t even get us to the Doctors office. We watched our church service life online (Greater things are still to come for this city!) and I prayed and felt peace to wait until Darren got home before heading to the after hours clinic.
Thanks to random snowstorms on the way home, Darren didn’t get home until nearly 10pm.
We did not make it to the after hours clinic.
But on Monday, we did begin our Pediatric Parade. As it turns out, LittleBit had an ear infection, I had bronchitis, and LittleMan had an ear infection (diagnosed in that order). Bless them and the LORD, my children have an incredibly high tolerance for pain. Neither has ever gone to the doctor BECAUSE we thought they had an ear infection, they’ve always been diagnosed as such during visits for other concerns (once, they BOTH had double ear infections that I knew *nothing* about until we went for their regular checkups; NICE). I was very glad to find out why they’d been less themselves and more lethargic than usual and where the fevers came.
And you might have noted in the middle that I had bronchitis.
Well, that explains a lot.
Within 48 hours of beginning antibiotics, I did feel MUCH more like myself. And thanks to the preggo-friendly cough medicine, I wasn’t coughing, so I wasn’t hitting my gag reflex and reliving the glorious (and not so long ago) days of morning (all day) sickness. Again, bless my children; before Darren got home, they took turns bringing me washcloths and wastebaskets.
Looking back, I can laugh now — it’s been a L-O-N-G time since I’ve had anything as exciting as ear infections and bronchitis under one roof. I am SO VERY GRATEFUL for God’s provision that weekend; He was so sweet to remind me that “the LORD your Maker is your Husband” in very sweet, tangible ways — each day I felt well enough to make good meals for the kids, no one threw up or lost large amounts of sleep, we didn’t have to cancel any plans or disrupt anyone else’s.
And, Darren came home. That is ALWAYS a HUGE blessing to us!!!!!!
So, thanks for praying with us and for us; we are all — gratefully! — all very well and happy!
And, in case you were wondering , the boxes DID make it to the attic! Hahahaaa!!!!!!
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