Happy Father's Day Dad!

When I was six years old one of my favorite things to do was to pop my head into my dad's wood shop and sniff the air and ask him what he was doing.  This was the one place I remember my dad being peaceful and really where he seemed  most at home.  He would patiently teach me how to use a wood burner and then let me make crazy plaques (he still has the one I made for over the cat's food dish!).  He was always working on something and didn't mind my hanging around his shop.  I thought, and still do that he was the most talented man in the world when it came to wood.

As I grew I didn't spend as much time in my dad's shop but learned to really treasure his opinion.  He didn't ever have a lot to say, but what he did was always spot on in wisdom and intellect.  I must confess that as an adult women I treasure my dad's opinion more and  more.  I know that he doesn't care to spend time shooting the breeze with just anyone so when he does with me I always feel honored to be in conversation with him.  The times he's expressed pride in the choices I've made  have been like wind to my wings.

This father's day I am so enjoying counting the ways that I value my father.  It reminds me of how the man I have married is accumulating ways that his girls love him.  Neither of these men are perfect, I rather like them better for their imperfections.  Were they to be great perfect men I could not relate or enjoy them!  As Father's Day approaches I want to send a loving note to my Father and the Father of my children and thank them for the great men that they are.  In my eyes they excel far above any other men and I send up thanks to God for allowing me to be in the company of these two.  So Pete and Dad I love you, thank you for all of the wonderful ways you make fathering a blessing to me and to my little women!

Celebrating Marriage

(I can't find a picture of just Pete and I from the past year!!  A family pic will have to due.)

It's easy to remember to celebrate our marriages on holidays and anniversaries.  Given the state of marriage in our society it would seem prudent to celebrate and rejoice in our marriages more often.  This is the most important relationship outside of the relationship we have with God.  Do you we treat it as such on a daily basis?
Pete and I are in the process of planning a 10 year anniversary vacation.  As I plan I am wondering why I don't put more effort into celebrating each day?  It's so easy to let the ways of life get away from me and put my marriage on the back burner.  So I brain stormed a few ideas on how to celebrate my oneness with my man.

• Happy hour!  I love to surprise Pete with an appetizer and drinks (you could do tea or lemonade) when he gets home from work.
• If you can, have a bonfire after the children are in bed.  We have a second hand metal fire pit that serves the purpose.
• Have a movie night after the kids are in bed.
• Play some card games together.
• Listen to music and make a meal.
• Join your hubby in his work or a hobby he is doing.

There are so many ways we can take special time out to nurture the most important earthly relationship we have.  The time serves so many purposes.  We set an example of our heart's priorities to our families.  As women we have a time to refresh and step aside from our focus on serving in other areas.  Perhaps the most surprising benefit of taking time to enjoy my husband is the amount of refreshment I get from being with him.  That alone should spur me to set aside my daily duties and enjoy my man more!

With the crazy life I can be tempted to lead, it is so vitally important to make wise and well thought out decisions on how to spend the little bit of time I have on this earth.  I don't want to get to the end of my days and look back at the frazzled way I swung through life, but the special times I took to make certain God, marriage and family were were placed in proper priority.

Monotony

Life seems to be an endless cycle of monotony.  Each day I will get hungry and need to eat something then in about 4 hours I will be hungry again and need to eat and then get hungry again and need to eat.  I will sleep and then wake each day at about the same times for the rest of my life.  About every 24 hours I will require a shower.  I will pay bills once a month until I die.  Most of the things I spend my time doing are things that are cyclical and ever so monotonous!  Some of these things are enjoyable and others are a chore but, the truth is most of them are a part of my life I just need to come to content terms with them.  I caught myself saying to Pete tonight, "I have trained the children several times on how to take a shower, at what point have I trained enough that they remember to put the shower curtain in the shower!"  Training my children is so many times monotonous and it seems to be never ending.  What's a mama to do when these cycles begin to cause me to grow weary?  During these moments I realize I must, "vent vertically," as our Pastor, Mark Bowen would say.  I need to cry out to God to relieve my troubled heart of wrong attitudes and strengthen me, motivate me and comfort me.  The second thing that I need to do is find my head and follow it.  My head is my husband and God has blessed us married women with problem solvers.  When my perspective is skewed my husband is usually willing to help me adjust it and help me to fix my problems.  In the past when I've gone to my husband and spoken to him about feeling worn down from training he will often have me do something completely unexpected and what I would never think of.  The funny thing is that many times his ways, that seem so foreign to me, work!  One of the last things that I am reminded that I must do in this season of training and excess monotony is that I must stay encouraged.  Whether that be spending some time laughing with a girlfriend, reading an encouraging book, or simply refreshing with a fun movie.  Throwing something new, different, unscheduled and out of the ordinary into my routine often yields tremendous rewards.
Ahh....I feel so much better just remembering that my life is not completely monotonous and boring!   Maybe tomorrow we'll eat hot dogs for breakfast and play in the snow all day.

Practicing For Eternity

Submit: To surrender; to yield one's person to the power of another; to give up resistance. Websters 1828 Dictionary

Obey: To comply with the commands, orders, or instructions of a superior.

Websters 1828

Obedience: Doing what your told, when your told with a good attitude

Kim Doebler

On more than one occasion I have heard that we can think of this life as the training grounds for eternity. This has always sounded reasonable to me, but I have never really thought on it much, until today. As I was talking with a friend about submitting to our husbands the thought struck me that our submission in our earthly marriage is our training ground for our submission to our eternal husband. In addition it is one of our most obvious pictures of God's relationship played out in an earthly relationship.

As believers in Jesus Christ we have many opportunities to speak for him and to model his love in action. Perhaps the most striking models of His love and character will be in our marriages and parenting. On our own we can have his traits and show them, but in our relationship with others we truly reflect the relationship principles of the Lord. God is always working in triune relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In most relationships on earth their is a triune as well. If you have a healthy relationship under God it will reflect the beauty and freedom of living within a chain of command and triune.

Marriage is an excellent example of God's order. At the tip of the triune triangle is God, one corner is the husband and the other corner is women. Man and women both point toward and live under God, with women taking direction and submitting to God and man. When each component of this model is in the proper place amazing things happen. Men are free to be who they were created to be and are able to live up to God's commands. Women are protected and free to do what they were created to do without struggling to usurp power. God is honored and enjoyed!

Often times when we speak of submitting to another sinful human (our husbands) I hear the underlying attitude of, "how can I submit to HIM, HE can't do anything right and will surely lead me into ruin, my agenda will not be considered and things will just not work!" or perhaps there is the blatant statement I've heard as well, "well, he is just not the leading type, he just doesn't do anything, what am I suppose to do nothing?" I think it's interesting that God in his divine word does not put exceptions on women respecting and submitting. He doesn't tell us that we only have to submit to a natural born leader, or a decisive man. He simply tells us to respect and submit to the man He has joined us with. Our job is not to be judge of whether our husband's are capable of leading, it is simply to follow and obey no matter what the circumstance or situation save if we are asked to go against God's laws.

When we do get the courage and power from the Holy Spirit to submit to the sinful man He's joined us with how do we start? I clearly remember when I chose to start submitting to Pete no matter what the outcome would be. It was a trial for me to truly believe that things would work out for the best. In my heart I was not able to see how submission would work, but I chose to believe God's word and submit anyway. When a decision needed to be made I wouldn't make it. When something needed to be done I wouldn't nag I would try and sweetly as possible mention it and then I chose at every opportunity to believe that my husband would do well and to encourage. The results were astounding. My mild mannered, quiet go with the flow man suddenly turned into a vibrant, more confident man who got things accomplished. I don't recall the individual items that he did that didn't get done before or the specifics. I just recall how my attitude changed towards him. Where I had not had hope in him, now I did and where I thought he was "not the leading type" I realized he was!

After several years of growing in submission to my husband I can truly say that God's way works. I believe that God blessed my submission and Pete's willingness to lead. With great conviction I believe that God will take a poor decision made by a husband in his effort to lead and bless it. If his wife submits and is humble to the husbands leading, again I have seen the Lord blesses the situation. It is a true comfort and need of mothers and wives to have a man who will make the decisions and shoulder the responsibility. I can't count the times I have struggled with a parenting issue, teaching problem or relationship dilemma where Pete has been able to step in and shed light and wisdom on the situation. Guaranteed if I was to proceed on my own there would not be nearly as much success. I simply have too many emotions that lead me astray, my husband brings clarity!

I love the lessons that I have learned over the years in submitting to Pete. However, I know that I have only begun to see what a true heart of respect and obedience looks like. I have so far to go, yet I trust that God will continue to grow me in this area as I choose to obey and submit moment by moment.

Praying for our Husbands: His Fatherhood

Pray that your husband becomes a father in the image of his Father in heaven. Pray that he has the strength, wisdom, discernment, love and proper priorities to raise up children who love the Lord. Pray that god would be evident in the leading, training and disciplining of his children.

Verses to pray:

Psalm 103:13

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

Psalm 127:3-6

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Proverbs 23:24-26

The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise don delights in him. May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice! My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways.

Proverbs 4:1

Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.

Hebrews 12:10-11

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Malachi 4:6

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.

Ephesians 6:4

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Proverbs 13:24

He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

Proverbs 29:17

Correct your son, and he will give you rest; yes, he will give delight to your soul.

Praying for our Husbands: Future Generations

Recently I have been convicted of my need to pray God's word for my husband. As my husband is pulled in so many different directions and has to balance so many things, I see the need to really be praying for him during this season of life. Work, children, wife, church, friendships and responsibilities all vie for his time and attention. I know that lifting him up in prayer is powerful and able to encourage him to be in the Lord's will in each area of his life.

Isaiah 55:11 says, "So my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." In lifting up my husband to the Lord I know that powerful things will happen. We need to be praying what we know the Lord's will is, and we can tell his will by his word. In a spirit of wanting to obey the Lord I have found some verses to pray for my husband in regards to his future generations. I have listed them here if you would like to pray them as well. I will continue to post verses to pray in several areas of our husband's lives as I get them put together. I pray that this will spur and motivate wives to really invest in their husbands by taking each and every aspect of their lives to the Lord in prayer.

Pray for your husbands posterity. Pray that his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all future generations would have lives firmly rooted in the Lord. Pray that your husband's legacy would be one of great love for the Lord and that each successive generation would grow stronger in their faith for God's glory.

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.

Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

Psalm 103:17-18 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him; and his righteousness with their children's children---with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Proverbs 14:26 He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaves and inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.