Celebrating 17 Years

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ...

17 Years ago we drove to Las Vegas and got married, just the two of us, we rented a trailer the next day, hauled it back to Irvine, California and loaded our things from two dorm rooms and moved to Texas. 17 Years ago today we became one another's helpers, we became one in flesh, we became on in God. I am so thankful the Lord decided I was to be his Helper in life.

 This is how we started off 2010- as a family, we had a fried night and played games and it was very very cold! It is my favorite thing about our family- Our Close togetherness. As a family unit we really have had our fair share of obstacles to overcome but I believe they have made us all that much stronger, caring, and loving in life and towards others.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  Ephesians 5:31

 We had a few goals for 2011. We wanted to find a new church to call our home. We wanted to date more. We wanted to spend more quality time with our children. We wanted to put work into our home by putting in windows and doing some other necessary repairs. We wanted my quilting business to grow and for Paul to put in time with two side jobs he does. We wanted to continue to grow together in the Lord.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:33

I feel like we had a great start in 2010 with becoming more on track with the Lord's plan for our marriage and family life. We spent more time even with Paul's family and had an opportunity in 2011 to spend time with my cousin's family here in Texas and then with my grandmother. It was a nice year to celebrate one another's likenesses and differences. It was a nice year to compromise and not be divided.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Ephesians 5:25

Our search for a church proved difficult this year. We knew that we needed to move on from a church home that we loved. There was is so much great about our old church that has been with us most of our marriage but we needed something that fit our needs more and was closer to home. We did try out a new church and enjoyed it, but it still was not enough of a perfect fit. The Lord did open the doors to a youth group for the younger two and this church has been in the process of building a new church building instead of a temporary meeting place. I am praying that this is our fit for 2012. I look forward to seeing the blessings the Lord has in store for us and it truly is close to home. I admit I had difficulty this year respecting the Lord's wishes on surrendering to my husband in regards to where we were going to worship. I am thankful though that the Lord constantly speaks to my heart and that I am learning more and more every day that submitting to my husband is submitting to the Lord's plan for us and that HE truly needs to be in the driver's seat of our lives, it makes for a much better marriage and family life.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Ephesians 5:22-24

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 3:7

I  am truly thankful this year that the Lord felt it best suited for us for me to remain a stay at home mom. I am thankful for the job that my husband has that allows for many vacation days, time where he can leave early to be at our children's school functions and that we can talk throughout the day while he is at work. I am thankful that even though he does work some side jobs and that I do work from our home making quilts that we find time to connect as a family through dinners and other meals, that we have time to play games, watch tons of movies and shows and work together on our home to create a real family unit.I am thankful that our children are truly the most important aspect of our lives and that we are a united front always where they are concerned. I am ever so grateful that Paul has always been a wonderful dad, I realize how much I should treasure that!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 127:3

 

I found in our years of marriage that the most important thing we can do for each other outside of praying for one another is to truly take time out to have some quality time together. Whether that is night's out, which we had a few or simply just plugging in a movie, making jam or salsa, doing some repairs. Its so important to touch base so that we do not grow apart. In our earlier years we focused so much on the children that we lost sight of dating.   

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 We have also learned that even taking the kids along is not a bad thing, or having friends from work etc. I am so thankful for the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us this year. I am thankful that we are healthy, that we are more in love than ever, that we continue to grow in one another and that we continue to learn how to make one another happy. It truly is a growing process. As we spend years together it is so difficult to not get caught up in the world, in others and outside of one another. I truly look forward to 2012 and all that it will bring for us as a couple and parents.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Jeremiah 29:11

 So here we are in 2012, our first picture of the year. This is something new for us, we made sure there were many pictures of us in 2011. I found looking back at my parents photos and grandparents photos etc that was something they did not have, I do not want my children to have that same fate later in life, so this is a new tradition I am happy to have. I want to show that we celebrate one another, our love and our lives together. I hope you have been inspired in 2011 by what you have read. I hope there are days that the Lord speaks to your spirit, that it might at times pull you out of the merk and mire. I pray that I can always be an instrument He uses to reach others. I pray that our marriage, though we have had definite times of difficult, prove that with the Lord all things are possible and that prayer is the best answer for every situation.

I am excited to be celebrating 17 years with this wonderful man of mine, through his strengths and weaknesses, through his compassion and frustration, through his love and generosity.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  

Matthew 22:37-39