New Computer: The Better to Blog With!

I now have a new computer. Yay!!!! Colby got me a new laptop for our wedding anniversary that is coming up. Our anniversary is August 16, 2003 and yep that means that this year we will be married for 7 years. That is why I changed out picture on the blog to a pic of us when we got married. I don't hardly feel like it has been that long. We have been through a lot together and still love each other more everyday. Marriage is definitely something that you have to work at in the bad times as well as the good times. I hardly feel old enough to have been married for 7 years now. It's easy to quit in the hard times and give up on a relationship but think about the greatest feeling when you do the hard work and persevere through the hardest of times and come out stronger in your relationship and also having honored your vows you made before God. Lately, I have been reading 'A Women after God's Own Heart and Colby and I have been doing nightly devotional time together. Two things have really stood out to me that I have learned during this time.

First, to have a marriage that lasts for years to come a person must know Jesus as their personal Savior. They must have Jesus ruling in their entire life because we are all sinners and when our focus is not on Jesus and our life is not focused on Him then we are focused on ourselves. This leads to a selfish attitude and life that is no longer pleasing to God and we have distanced ourselves from God. When all of this happens, it is reflected into our marriage and is often not a pretty sight! (Therefore whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them. Matthew 7:12) If you are married or have been married you could most likely think back and realize that most arguments and issues that have come about in the relationship are due to our own selfishness. When we are in turmoil with our spouse this becomes unconfessed sin in our lives and separates us from God which is just what Satan wants! Just this week I experienced this in my own life. Colby and I had a disagreement and it happened at the end of the night right before we did our devotion and prayer time. My feelings of being slightly mad actually made it hard to pray together with my husband because my heart was not right. It literally felt like I was separated from God for that period of time until I confessed that sin. The ultimate forgiveness experience in marriage comes when you and your spouse ask each other for forgiveness for the wrongs committed against each other and then actually pray together and confess those sins before God. (He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13) In our lives the priority should be God first, relationship with your spouse second and children third.

Secondly, I have realized that God created me to be a helper to my husband.( I will make him a helper suitable for him. Genesis 2:18) God must have wanted to really teach me this one the last couple of weeks because I read about it in my book and also in the devotional book my husband and I are doing together. You see, in this day and time women are made to think that we are to have the power, no man is to rule over me and tell me what to do. So here goes the infamous verse that I am willing to take some slack over. Jesus said it in the bible and I'm sure he caught slack over it back then. (Wives, submit (or subject) yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22) So if you really think about...if it's easy to submit to the Lord then this is what Jesus is asking us to do to our husbands. It means being a blessing to your husband instead of being recentful and nagging. It means putting your husband first instead of yourself. Now there may be someone who reads this and says ' How can I continue to be submissive, respectful and think of my husband when he doesn't think of me/not respectful of me?' Well first of all pray, pray and pray some more for your husband that God will change his heart because you certainly can't do that on your own. Also, in this situation I am reminded of a great verse in the Bible. (Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands to that even if they do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 1Peter 3:1-2) I shared this with a friend that was going through a hard time in her marriage at one point. She was about to give up. They had a lot of stress in their lives and I told her pray for you husband and I read this verse to her. Now obviously that didn't make things into roses and butterflies but it did remind her of Jesus' teachings and gave her hope to persevere through that tough time. Just think about the fact that if a person's husband is to be won without a word by the conduct of their wife (ehhhmmm, nagging) the wife's life has to be godly, her focus on God and her life right with God. I leave you with a few questions...... Is God the number one priority in your life? Are you taking the role as helper to your husband seriously and are you honored to have that God-given job? Are you submissive to your husband as to the Lord? Sorry if any guys are reading this as it was geared toward women mostly but if you pay close attention you too can learn from some aspects of this post.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Julie