Sunday Musings....

Yesterday I attended the second gathering of ladies from our church who are Military Moms. It has just started forming and we are learning about each other and the sons (no daughters yet)that are serving in a branch of the Military of our USA. What an awesome opportunity to be able to get together with other Christian sisters and pray!! It is almost overwhelming to feel the hearts and emotions that are being spoken and offered up to the One we know can see each son we are praying for right at that moment.

Being a participant in such sacred moments of other people's lives gives me much blessing. It moves me into a humbled servant's position before a God who is indescribable in His love and concern. He cares about the cares of my heart, even as Peter spoke of in his encouragement to the early Christians.

I Peter 5:6-7 - " Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. "

Please remember the honorable and dedicated soldiers of our country. Please pray for them to have Christian fellowship where many times there is little or none. They need these moments of encouragement and fellowship with likeminded warriors of God to strengthen them to stay the course for Christ, to stand strong in their faith.... Thank you!

Kameron and Jonny played their first games of the season yesterday. This will be Jonny's last year to participate, as he turns 18. I spoke to a dad whose son is also on his last soccer team . He expressed a sadness that this period of his life was ending... It made me realize anew that there are times in our lives as parents where we are walking through the motions of days and weeks...months, not pondering that it may be a season that is phasing out. It is a good thing that our kids are growing.. maturing, becoming the man or woman God is shaping them into. And yet it is with a sentimental longing that only a parent can feel, that we would wish for it to stay...stay... just a little longer. The closer the time approaches for our children to fly, the sweeter the days become, and we yearn for more...a few more days, Lord, to spend with them. How precious life is with the best gifts from heaven that God can render to a man and woman who love each other. Do not let the days with your children pass away in obscurity! Spend time, make moments and memories with your hearts NOW. All too soon, you will wave goodbye, and this season will be gone... irretrievable.

Yesterday I ran up to BJ's Club to try and get a few snapshots of Katie and Jonny at work to send to Justin at Parris Island. Because he used to work there also, and because I know he loves to hear news from home, I thought some accompanying photos would deliver a smile. He wrote in his last letter that it is ALWAYS good to get news from home. :-) If he only knew... how much news from boot camp does "AWESOME good" for this mama's heart. ( and dad's, too) Wish I could get some snapshots from him. Patience.....





Today is Palm Sunday. It is a bittersweet day in the history of the Christian's faith. Today is the day that Christ rode into Jerusalem, with people shouting accolades and singing Hosannas to the One they thought would be their earthly king, the savior of their harsh and cruel life. They laid palm branches and cloaks on the ground before Him to show their support of His anticipated overthrow of the Roman government. When they were disappointed with the outcome, with his seeming powerless ability to confront the government leaders, they turned. Because He did not fulfill their expectations of what His purpose was in their lives, they betrayed their own Lord. They rebelled and served themselves.

This actually gives pain to my heart as I type the words for this post on my screen. How many times have I, ...have you....asked or presumed something of our Lord, and when it did not come about, our first response was not a holy one. How many times have we gone back to the throne, raising our hands up asking, " Lord, what did I not communicate right? Why are you not seeing the best for this situation? Why is this happening? What are you doing??? "

May the historical events of this day, Palm Sunday, be an ever present reminder to us, that God's ways are not our ways. His awesome and excellent plans will be executed according to His perspective of life eternal.

WE must trust in Him as HE sees the whole of life from beginning to end. He knows the perfect steps, the perfect routes, the perfect movements to take place in our lives and in the ones we love. He will carry out what He knows is for our best.

Lord, give us eyes to see this in our hearts. Thank you for not doing things our way, for not listening to our ignorant appeals for you to change things to fit our shortsighted visions.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 -" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

As I close for today,

I praise the Lord for all that He is that we cannot even fathom.

I thank Him for all that He does in the secret places that we are not even aware of.

I worship Christ the Son for all that He did many, many years ago, in our place, to give us a redemption so great, we cannot grasp its height or depth.

Blessings on this Palm Sunday to my readers. May the God of Heaven and all places in the universe be your peace and your comfort in the coming days as we look ahead to Easter.

Titus 2:13 - "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ..."

May your week not be so busy and so normal in routine, that you do not have moments of reflection on what Easter means to you. You are living in a broken world. It is doomed to die a death for eternity. Those who do not know the saving work and power of the One who came to break their chains from this death, will spend their days in an eternal darkness of doom and despair. THANK GOD!... you are freed from this eternal sentence. Ponder this truth.

In response....Praise The Lord!

Blessings!

Blessed Assurance...

One year ago, Kurt had just come off of his first night shift on his then new job. I know, because I was journaling at the time, and recorded all that was going through my mind the next day.

It is hard to fathom that a year has gone by. I cannot help but praise the Lord for all He has done in our lives over the last 12 months. The faith He gave us to hang on to as we travelled that path, and the faith that was compounded as weeks and months went by with His hand of grace and provision shown to us is overwhelming.

Today I give testimony to the love and mercy of an Awesome God. Blessed assurance, I know He is very real!

As we continued to walk our path of uncertainty and walked through some times of darkness, God constantly gave certainty, and small amounts of light that He was there and holding everything together.

God knows our needs before we are aware of them. He has everything in the works to happen right when it is supposed to, not a moment too soon, and never late.

We who kneel and lift our eyes up to seek the One Who is our Maker, we know...He is there.

He is listening. He is aware. He is comforting, even as we are showing discomfort in His lack of revelation concerning our circumstances. We know.....because He makes Himself known.

He is the calm that comes after the storm of tears. He is the peace that abides amidst the conflict of confusion. He is the grace that appears when we most need to be broken. He is the God who is.

In two weeks Kurt will be finished with this year of night shifts and working weekends. He will begin a new job at a new location near the end of April. It was our daily prayer. We yearned to have him back on a day job and to have weekends free to be with us in church every Sunday and to see the boys playing sports. God has granted our petition.

We are thankful for the hard times and the dark times where we were unsure of what the next week would hold. It was through those days that God drew us in and was forging us, making us anew to be ready to go out and stand in Him, speak for Him... and make much about Him.

I am married to an honorable man. He is worthy of the respect I have for him. I am so grateful for all he has gone through and battled within himself to stand strong and keep doing whatever God put before him to do. Most of the time throughout the last 3 years, God never placed multiple choices before Kurt. There was only one choice each time, and there were no other options. It was as if our Lord was being sure that Kurt knew that every step of the way was God's, and only God's, not Kurt's doing. God was saying "Here is the way...walk ye in it."

I have admired Kurt's patience and his discipline not to jump the gun and try to make things happen ahead of God's timing. I believe God has pressed this into him as he has been tried with fire and come out knowing that God was taking care of him. God allowed him to see the intricate working of even the smallest details in our lives, and more often than not, after the fact.

My sisters in Christ, I am here today to tell you that the God of the heavens and earth is lovingly and carefully carrying out every detail in your lives. He has foreordained your lives from before you were born. He knows the moment you will take your last breath on this earth. He will take care of all the seconds and minutes in between those two events. And what He does, He does well. He is who He is.

The more we trust and hope in our God, the more merciful and gracious He is with us, and the more He carries us when the going gets too tough, when we are in need of Divine love and assistance.

This God is our God.

Know Him so that you can share Him and make Him known.

Pursue Him so that you can feel the awe when you glimpse the impossible being made possible.

Trust Him so that you can grasp the meaning of believing when you are NOT seeing.

Love Him so that you can know the pleasure of the One who made you for His good will and purposes.

Worship Him so that you can give the joy you feel in your heart back to the One who gave it first.

Decide today to be who you were created to be. God sent His Son that we might have life, and that as we walk this path on earth, we might have it much more abundantly! God wants us to know Him, to delight in Him, to rest in Him.

We deserve none of what He bestows upon us. But it is His nature to do so. He is love, and He is who He is.

This is my story. I will tell it and praise my Savior ....ALL the day long.

"While I live, will I praise the Lord. I will sing praises to my God while I have any being." Psalm 146:2

Blessings!

God Bless Justin on his 20th Birthday, as we are missing him. Thank you for him!

Drilling His Heart Out

My oldest son, Justin, is presently on Parris Island in South Carolina, training to become a Marine. We got a letter from him Wednesday with news of the past week's events, training, and endeavors.

One of the "biggest" challenges there appears to be the drilling. These young men are required to march and drill and march and drill and march and drill... over and over. If there is any free time beyond the specific training on the Matrix schedule, it is spent drilling.

The goal is for all of these recruits to become one in their sounding off, their foot motions, their arm motions, every action. They are to "be as one." Their Senior Drill Sargeant does not want one single man in the platoon to be out of step. It is to be as if the entire body has become one soldier with exactness of mind, purpose and movement.

I refer to this as a challenge because in Justin's letters, this lofty goal is constantly in the works. What is being strived for has not been achieved. One can almost hear the frustration in his voice as he writes of the repeated attempts day after day, the resulting consequences for the entire platoon because of inadequacy, and the reduced free time as the whole exercise is started over.

I wrote in an earlier post about the mentality of the recruit being changed from "I, me, and mine" the moment the first steps are taken onto Parris Island. These young men are to lose the "self" mindset. They will incredibly become one mind, one body... pursuing one goal before they graduate. This training will be vital when they are a unit out on a mission to overcome the enemy. They will, they must.... all be on the same page in their movements, their instruction, and their will to accomplish well what is asked of them. This will be their means of victory.

And so, for today, the Drill Instructor mercilessly trains and retrains. He does not let them slip up. He does not let them give up. He will not allow attitudes that are uncommitted. He does not tolerate actions that are less than 100%. He knows that oneness is crucial for the goal to be reached. He also knows from personal experience that this oneness is what makes a scruffy, undisciplined, self-centered group of young men conform into a chiseled, disciplined, one-minded band of brothers willing to die for the sakes of others in order to accomplish what is asked.

I think this "coming together as many into one" occurs in many scenarios. Any team in the sports arena must consist of players who give their best in their particular position, or the plays will not be successful. And if too many players are ineffective, the game will be lost.
A troupe of dancers must all be in step with the others or the ballet will be botched, and the overall effect will appear clumsy at best.
A family must teach and practice the denial of self-service, and pursue the attitude of servanthood, looking out for the "best of others around me" or it will become dysfunctional with breakdowns in relationships, and grow in bitterness instead of love for each other.

God calls us to leave behind the "self-centered" life of following our own plans and to follow in His ways, which are for our best. He chooses to take a band of puny, insecure, less than committed, selfish children of His own and train us, disciple us, drill us until we finally begin to work together for His kingdom. He is relentless with those whom He has called. He knows that with Christ as our example, we will become one, we will conform into His image.

Oh what a patient God we have. How often do we get out of step with what is asked of us? How many times do we fail our Lord because of discouragement and mindsets of "What's the use?...Someone else is not giving their all, why should I even try?" We serve a God who desires that all of His children be of one mind for His glory and the advancement of His Kingdom

It is what we know and believe about our God that will define and shape us for the rest of our lives.

Pursuing knowledge from His Word will give us, as individuals, an edge not of this world, and the resulting wisdom will be a strong weapon in a body of believers that God has chosen for His soldiers. It will prevent us from slipping into an unthinking, undisciplined group of self-centered followers.

Thank GOD, HE is a merciful and gracious Instructor. He guides and shapes us patiently and spends a lifetime working in us. He peels back layer by layer any denial or shortcomings, and gently sends us back to drill again until we get it done...His way. He speaks to us over and over to make sure that we can identify His voice in an army of voices calling out to us.

I feel with and for Justin. It goes without saying that the path he is walking was not accepted lightly, nor taken without counting the cost up front. It is a difficult enough pursuit on his own without the added frustrations of those who would be less than committed. Yet even in the midst of those trials, he will grow, he will be stronger because of it. It is part of the bigger plan, the bigger picture that he cannot view in its entirety, but can trust God's vantage point of his life.

How about you? Are you listening and following the commands of the One who made you and knows you inside-out? Are you in step with the truth of God's Word and becoming one with a body of believers whose allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ? I hope so.

May you and I dare not be a part of those who would be self-serving and undisciplined, wanting to hear and follow only what pleases their ears, and not what God says. Let us be sure that we are putting forth our best efforts. When talking to our Lord every day, may it be our goal to feel His good pleasure and know that He has seen the intentions of our heart. May we attempt 100% every day...all day.

Today, right now, where you sit, acknowledge God afresh for Who He is in your life. Tell Him again that you have counted the cost. Let Him hear you recommit yourself 100% to His will for you. Delight Him with a heart that is resigned to do whatever it takes to be ready and able for His plans for you! Tell Him how very much you love Him. Then go out and practice....drill....until you get it right. He will go with you.

Feel yourself being defined once again. It is a good feeling. Don't lose it.

Blessings!

DAWGS IN THE GARDEN...

In the Beginning, there was God, a garden, man, and the animals. Today, there is quite a bit more added to the mix. Structures, concrete, steel, buildings, houses, roadways, signs, towers, pollution, and much more.

But still remaining....is God, man, animals, and gardens. Somehow, in raising my family, by including pets and gardening in the mix, I feel in touch with that long ago beginning. There is still a remnant of it around, even though this world is affected by the ravages of sin. By observing the wonders of our pets and backyard wildlife, I sense the vast immeasurability of God's mind. By working and planting a garden... watching the very seeds we plant turn into something beautiful (and some edible), it is akin to experiencing a faint vision of the miracle of that Eden experience that Adam and Eve knew.

It keeps me in tune with the reality that thousands of years ago, God decided to share a small measure of His Glory, His Power, His treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge of ALL things with someone special. US! Beings made in His own image. He wanted to give a taste of the majesty of His Home, Heaven , where He eternally abides, to others.... for His pleasure and their enjoyment.

I believe that those who choose the path of the world and the skylines of the manmade cities, who desire life in the fast lane... lose a sense of this wonder of the Original Landscape. It fades into the background of a life where noise and busy-ness, and "movers and shakers" push out the quiet and elegant beauty of what Eden has passed down.

I never want to lose sight of or get out-of-touch with this truth. God made us. He wants us to enjoy Him even while we still remain here. There is still much to be seen of God in His marvelous Creation. He is alive and well. We only need to look around! Nature gives testimony and praise to the existence and supremacy of God. I am glad to be a participant in this miracle. :-)

Just for my fun and your viewing....A Blog on The Dogs and Gardens of Woodberry.

I have a book in my living room titled Cats In The Garden. I don't doubt that there must be a twin book titled Dogs In The Garden, but I don't have it. Many a time I have just told myself I could put together my own book with all of the photos we have of our dogs in our yard and gardens. For now, I think I will just post. :-)

Blessings!

New Beginnings- Signs of Spring!

"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come..." (Song of Solomon 2:12)

I do believe that Spring has sprung. I think that Spring must be my favorite season of the year for the same reason that I love to watch a Sunrise. It bears witness to new life and second chances.

After the slow fade of Autumn and the appearance of total death on a naked landscape in Winter, the emerging signs of new life are uplifting! Out of the earth come all shades of green and riots of color as Mother Nature spreads across the barren gardens where only last week all seemed lost. With warmer temperatures and gentle rains, and a few sunny days, second glances allow second chances. Sure enough... patience has done its work.

Today, I know it is SPRING, because the first mowing has taken place and Kobe testifies that it is an awesome event. He goes and rolls in the clippings. I am convinced that we need to coincide this event on March 17th each year to let him wear the color Green well, in honor of St. Patrick's Day.















Hostas are absolutely one of my favorite "green" additions to have in the gardens and they are shade loving plants, so that is a plus for me! (we have lots of trees!) There are many different varieties I have added over 17 years, but this variety is always the first to pop through the ground. They will get to be 4 times this size by the time they are fully spread.















The Dogwood out back has lasted well through the Winter. Our yard was covered with these beautiful trees when we moved here 17 years ago, but time and disease has taken its toll on many, and we are grateful for any that are still standing and gracing our yard with such snowy beauty.















The azaleas are just beginning to pop open and will continue to do so through the end of April. It's fun to watch the different colors appear as the weeks pass. The pale lavender shade is always the last one to appear. Below is one of the very first!

This is an example of the Helleborus plant or as we know it in its more common name, the Lenten Rose. This one just happens to bloom pink, and the most common is a pale green tinted white. It is a beautiful flower mixed in an arrangement, and it comes back year after year, bigger each season!

This little flower is what I call a snowdrop. It is a hearty little plant and obviously grows in just about any nook or cranny. This one appeared this year growing up through an antique plow in our back yard. I sure didn't put it there, so I presume a little bird dropped a seed. Kurt liked its location, and wanted me to get a photo. :-)

Lamb's Ear is an old favorite of many, and truly feels as soft as a lamb's ear when you rub your fingers across the foliage. It makes an attractive filler between rocks and on slopes and adds an unusual shade of green to the mix.

Here is a really unique addition to our yard filled with the many wonders of God's creation. A little bird built her nest last Spring in our Ivy Trellis at the start of our front sidewalk. As she was nesting, she found silver strands of Christmas Tree icicles left in the yard from when we had dragged the tree for curbside pickup after the holidays. She obviously wanted to add some bling and personality to her house, and added quite a bit!! I don't think this little lady is a minimalist! It was so hilarious that I didn't remove it last summer, and there it still sits, waiting for that particular Robin to come back and repossess, or for a new female who likes some sparkle and uniqueness in her nest. :-)

Of course, I can't leave this post without revealing the sacred and precious little spot of earth in our backyard where all of the furry beasts that have been a part of our lives and left us are now buried. Most special to me obviously is my little Annie Grace, the Silky Terrier girl I had to let go of last June. She has a place of honor, being the first canine to enter these sacred grounds. There are chickens and a little dusty colored bunny. No kitties so far. (13 years old and counting...)

And I will end with this little signpost in our front flower bed where all who are brave enough to enter the gate (which warns "Beware of Dog") may see this wonderful little truth.

The garden is the Giver because it continues to give beauty and joy year after year,
reminding us of the fact that life is full of new beginnings and beauty if we will just look around and see. The garden is the Gift because it is a part of the original Creation Paradise that God formed with His own mind and heart for His most precious creature to enjoy. Us! And it is still returning each year, as every new Spring arrives, filled with the renewing hope of second chances and abundant blessings.

God is Good.

God is Awesome.

Blessings and Pleasures of Spring to you...

The Lights Are ON!!!

Yesterday I wrote about a marriage seminar my brother-in-law attended and as a result, bought the DVDs to share with others.
I shared about the new revelations that were revealed to me concerning being the kind of wife my husband needs. It is something I cannot leave behind yet. I feel compelled to share just one more post about what it meant to me in order to bring some closure and completion to my readers. Maybe a bit more inspiration or enlightenment to motivate any of my readers to look at the source.

I know that my heart has always pursued being the best wife I could be for Kurt. I have always believed that I was his "Eve;" that God had shaped and formed me in my upbringing in my particular family to be the one and only complimenter and completer for Kurt. I have always strived to read and learn as much as possible to be a godly Proverbs 31 woman and a wife that Kurt would value "far above rubies."

Yet I have always felt the lacking. I have not been able to attain that assurance that I was all that he needed me to be. I was clueless. The light bulbs were there.....I just could not turn them on. I felt like I was circling in a room where there were 6 light switches on the wall, and I had only ever been able to get 3 or 4 switched on all at once! There was always the need for that last measure of light to see the whole picture in understanding my husband, the "man," the masculine image of God.

The Love and Respect lessons met this need...or better said, God used the teachings to reveal to me those final missing elements. All six lights were suddenly on, blazing and giving illumination and understanding to what my feeble mind could not come up with on its own power.
I now understood why I had not really been respecting Kurt as he needed to be respected. I had not been giving him the confidence that he needed, even though I had been standing on the sidelines cheering with all that was in me for years! I was cheering through a "pink megaphone."

He did not hear. It was not in his language... sigh.....

As I was up in Justin's room working out, I realized all that had been unveiled before me in those videos in our family room this past weekend. I wept... With joy, for what the teachings would do to change me from here on out... With sadness and grief, that I did not know this for the past 27 years. I thanked God for His grace to cover a multitude of sins committed unintentionally, and for His mercy to empower us with new life to begin anew time and time again!

I do not want to start laying out all of the principles and exciting revelations that this dedicated couple is teaching, because they are the messengers being used by God. I am just being a relay runner. I only hope that my witness for what has spoken to me will be the spark to make you go and see if it will be the light switch being turned on for you for the first time ever.

My sisters, your marriage to your man is only for this life. That relationship will not be...in Heaven. You and your mate became brother and sister in the Lord, when you were saved and adopted into the family of God, and He became your eternal Father. The way you are treating and respecting this man who lives with you is actually how you are treating a son of God Almighty. God, his Father, is watching you as you support or tear down this man. HE is watching you as you love or despise this man. HE is watching as you inspire him to move closer to Christ, or influence and push him to move away from Christ.

Whether you have been married 1 year, or 5 years, or 20 years, or 50.... way back when, that man began his journey as an adult male. He looked out and sought a woman, the "female" whom he wanted to walk beside him in his journey on this earth. The one that he hoped and prayed would be there for better or worse, having confidence in him, not in his performance, but for his heart, a heart that was willing to die for you.

You are that one. He chose you. How have you risen up to fulfill his dreams? Are you feeling like you are in some darkness? Are his faults and imperfections starting to color your original commitment and vows to your Lord to give your best, no matter what???

Did your mate ever promise you that he would be perfect? Did he ever claim to understand the feminine mystique and boast of great wisdom to become the excellent husband? More than likely not. Most likely, he is like all other "good-willed" men with a heart that wants peace in his life and home. He just wants your respect, and he only wants to love you, if somehow he could figure out how.

Over time, that moment at the altar fades, and the wonderment of love and awe and cherishing dulls with disappointments in expectations, and failed responsibilities.

My sisters, we are not so righteous that we can take less than 50% of the blame!

Just because you are the "loving and nurturing" half of the relationship does not excuse one ounce of your failures and shortcomings to meet, halfway, that wonderful man God made for YOU .

And while I'm on a roll, consider the role you are playing out in your sons' lives, especially if they have moved beyond pre-teen years. Are you starting to see and treat them like men? (yes, they are young, but they are MEN, already in the making.) Are you respecting them for their manhood, or are you still treating them like a boy who needs a mama?...Something to ponder.

What about your daughters? How might they react and respond to their future husbands based on your words and actions with your husband displayed before their watching eyes?

Maybe your sons and daughters are already married and you are anxious about their current marriage relationship. This may be just the answer!

I know you do not have the full picture of what was taught in this seminar. You may be sitting there already disagreeing with me. You may be saying to yourself right now... Boy, this girl's had a "mountaintop experience", and she's got that campfire song, Pass It On, ringing in her head. Well I wouldn't blame you if you were feeling somewhat skeptical right now.

But, if you ARE disagreeing, I encourage you to go click on the link. That's all I'm asking. Who knows? You may just have a 6-light bulb moment in your life like me. You may be unbelievably changed in your understanding of the "mysteries" that God has put in the other half of His perfect couple in the Beginning. And think of how you might go out and impact and influence the marriages of others! You could begin to see the ripples from God's Hand working out His grace through the changed lives of men and women who were hungering for His righteousness in their lives.

Wouldn't that make it worth everything? If you are searching for some light in your marriage relationship, please...pray and listen to the following message:

If I didn't believe that it could be the answer for some of you... believe me, I wouldn't be writing this today.

God wants you to walk by faith, even when marriage just doesn't make sense, even when you simply cannot "see," because some of the lights are off. Will you trust Him with your marriage? You did many years ago at the altar. Won't you continue to do so today? God's grace covers all that you will give to Him, and His blessings are abundant!!

I am thankful to David for pursuing knowledge, and starting ripples that are spreading. I intend to keep them going. :-)

Courage!

A Revelation on Love and Respect

Kurt and I watched some excellent material about marriage on DVD this past weekend.
It was presented by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, including one session by his wife, Sarah.

The biblical principles they are teaching are based on the verse from Ephesians 5:33.

" However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

The greatest obstacle in this whole challenge is:

How can a woman respect a man who doesn't show love to her? (or at least she sure doesn't feel like it!)

AND

How can a man love a woman who doesn't show respect to him? (or at least he sure doesn't feel like it!)

And so the cycle begins, and that is why men and women are literally going crazy trying to figure out this whole love and marriage thing!

After viewing the series, I was deeply convicted and grieved to find out that I had been making some MAJOR mistakes in our marriage when trying to connect with Kurt. (A more realistic way of putting it would be>trying to CORRECT Kurt) I was doing what I knew to do... with information I had taken in through numerous books by excellent authors. I filtered it all through the computer in my "female" brain.

I always have been genuinely "good-willed" in my intentions, and passionate in my heart to try and either better, or restore our marriage. Knowing what I know now, (yes I do claim unmitigated ignorance in a large number of my tactics) I am persuaded my number one mistake was my approach. I, "female," was moving toward a revival and restoration with "male," armed with wife viewpoints, female mindset, and "pink" communication. As Dr. Eggerichs so bluntly puts it, I was not "speaking the mother-tongue" of my husband, and was doomed to fail Every Single Time! No wonder Kurt always retreated so quickly.

There's no quicker way to get to the heart of another person than to confess your wrongdoings (whether they were done willfully or in ignorance), humbly ask forgiveness, and commit to starting anew. Inspired with new and radical insights to start walking the path you have been travelling, but now in a new direction... can be quite exciting! :-)

If you are having troubles in your relationship, or think you have a pretty good marriage, but lack a closeness for some reasons you can't put your finger on, please consider listening to the training of this couple. Maybe you know of someone else who could use these new truths to work on. It will be an eye-opener, I promise!

I thought I had read it all, and heard it all, and tried it all.....NOT SO.

LADIES, IF EVERY WOMAN READING THIS POST WOULD GET HER HANDS ON THIS INFORMATION, PRAY, AND SIMPLY DO WHAT IS TAUGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE WHAT YOU DESIRE FROM YOUR MAN. I AM CONVINCED THAT IT IS THE WOMAN WHO NEEDS TO CHANGE FIRST, NOT THE MAN.

Please see the following link for sources.

http://www.loveandrespect.com/

I passionately believe that if revival is ever going to take place in this country, it's going to start in the homes. God works through families. He always has and He always will.
Please carefully read these selected words from Dennis and Barbara Rainey found in their book, Moments Together for Couples.

The Warning.

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Exodus 34:6-7

Did you know that what you grow and cultivate in your garden today could spread to your offspring? Did you know that a sin you now tolerate could still be tormenting your great-grandchildren in the year 2140? That's four generations from now....
Whether you like it or not, your children are becoming just like you. Their little eyes are watching to see how you relate to your mate, how you pray, how you walk with Christ on a daily basis. They hear your words and subconsciously mimic your attitudes, actions and even your mannerisms...
And as time goes by you'll find that they've "inherited" some of the same tendencies towards sin that you learned from your own parents. That's why so many children from broken homes, for example, grow up and fail in their own marriages... I think that God uses our kids to get our attentions. He wants to rule in our lives, but as long as we feel we can succeed in our own power, we won't listen to His Spirit...

Your kids will grow up to be like you. Is that a sobering thought, or an encouraging one?

We can stop the chain reaction by our repentance and confession. God in His grace stands ready to forgive us and grant us favor. You can, by faith, stop even the most tyrannical control of a sin that has beset your family for generations.

The good news is that God also gives us a wonderful promise: Your righteousness can still be influencing others a thousand generations from now. That's encouraging!
*****

To all my sisters (or brothers) reading today's post... Please if not for your sake, then for the sake of your children or grandchildren, decide today to do whatever it takes to change the areas in your own life that are affecting, if not destroying your marriage. Purpose to take a chance, step out in faith, and ask God for a revelation that might just radically change yourself, your partner, your marriage, your home, and ultimately the future of your most precious blessings in this world, your children, and their children!

Kurt and I humbly bow before God for what HE is doing in us. We kneel before an awesome God who desires to do AWESOME, even miraculous acts for us on behalf of His Son, Jesus Christ. Here sits one woman speaking for two people to say we are SO glad that HE does! :-)

Below are the four most important reasons in our lives that we prayed for God to change us, before it was TOO late!

I close with the motivating words of a highly acclaimed 4-star general.

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT YOU ALWAYS KNOW THE RIGHT THING TO DO.THE HARD PART IS DOING IT. <Norman Schwarzkopf>

The Blessing.

"As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments."- Psalm 103:13-18

COURAGE!