Just a quick thought on a scripture I read....

2 Samuel 14:14

All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

I have been in church ministry since I was 3.  I have been married 17 years (well in 4 days it will be). I have heard lots of people say they have fallen out of love, they just can't love that person anymore, maybe they never did....  All kinds of marital problems can occur.  Yet... when I was reading in my bible this verse jumped out at me.  God doesn't just sweep life away.... He devises ways to bring us back.  I started to think of how my life is to emulate God, to be Christ-like.  I thought of hurting people in my life that maybe I might have just swept away, I started to think of my marriage and some of the different seasons we have gone through....  

When we were first dating and I was falling in love with Rob, I wanted to not only just love him, I wanted to be his best friend and to me that meant knowing him, knowing things he is interested in.  He loves sports, but even more than sports he loves all the stats about sports.... So without him knowing I went and bought a book on that years current baseball statistics....  The first time I threw out a stat in order to engage him in conversation... I botched it.  Totally said it wrong... but it made him laugh and he knew I cared about him and cared what he cared about... even baseball stats.  

When I went through a phase where I felt like HE wasn't the person I thought I married and I deserved better, I was really hurt by HIM.... I pouted, I cried, and I turned to God.  I learned a good lesson that it wasn't about him, it was about me.... I learned how to be a better wife, to love him more in ways that meant love to him, to remember and focus on the good points about him, to pray for him in ways I never had.  To focus all my changing power on me.... and let him be dealt with by God.  

I was thinking about that verse... and how in my life, God has shown me ways to bring love back into our marriage, to bring life back into our friendship, to bring laughter and joy back into our home when only stress and anger and frustration is there... God devises ways to bring us back.  He gives us as women that same wisdom to devise ways to bring back life....  

A wise woman builds her home, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. - Proverbs 

The Big Giant Summer To Do List

Well the first day of summer vacation was yesterday.  We celebrated by sending Dad off for a 16 day trip in Israel.  Then we watched netflix, swam in the pool and mom BBQ'd since Dad was missing.  It was a simple chill day.

With the start of summer comes my Giant To Do List.... I make one every year.  I am so busy as a homeschool mom, full time women's ministry, pastor's wife, and all the other roles I take on that all my big projects, spring cleaning and such have to wait for summer.  This years list has a whopping 90 things on it, with a few spaces open to add other things.  Often as I am working on stuff I find other jobs I missed on my list and I do them, but I like to add them to my list so I can see all my accomplishments. There is everything on it.....  ranging from cleaning out closets to pulling weeds and making the backyard summer ready.  I am sure to put on a few things that I can't do, so that Rob will have to come to my rescue and do some of them.

On my list was to start blogging again... so I figured with the start of the list... I might as well blog about it.

I am trying to add a picture of it.... we will see how it works......