Why I Respect My Husband

I have been married almost 16 years to Kevin. We went to a marriage conference called "Love and Respect" recently that made me all the more thankful that he is my husband. The conference was 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 respect her husband." I respect now, more than I ever have, his masculinity. Kevin is my man in my life and I respect Kevin for so many reasons, but let me name a few:

- he is continually studying God's Word, whether by taking a class, listening to teachings, or doing his own personal studies

- he protects me both physically and emotionally

- he would be willing to die for me and the girls

- he is a hard worker at his job so he can provide for his family

- he is stronger than me, both physically and emotionally

- he is the leader of our household

- he is the one who will be accountable before God for our family (let me qualify that - I know I am responsible for my own actions, but as leader of our family, he will answer for more before the Lord, and I truly respect him for that)

- he is very good at fixing things around the house

- he is a AWESOME husband and a GREAT daddy

I am thankful that God created us male and female so both sexes can contribute our various gifts and abilities to a marriage, and I am thankful that I am married to such a wonderful man. God is good!

I couldn't find a picture of Kevin by himself, so I am using this one of him with his brother and sister. Kevin is that handsome man in the green shirt.

Future Craigslist Items?

One of my new favorite websites is Craigslist. It is a good place to both buy and sell things and I have sold quite a few things on there recently. Sometimes I will keep their free page up on my computer, refreshing it occasionally to see what might come up. Now I realize sometimes the items there are listed to be a blessing to someone else, although of course, there is a fair share of junk listed that I would be amazed if anyone wanted it. But I imagine most of the items are on the free list because they are just extra stuff that someone needs to get rid of to move or make room for new stuff.

Over the past few days I've seen on the DFW free page a pool table that is in good shape, a Nintendo wii, a hot tub that is in great condition (hot tubs are popular items in the free section I've noticed, but usually they are broken), lots of furniture that is in good shape, along with many other things.

Seeing all of this stuff listed has gotten me to thinking about how we Americans are with our possessions. We want something, we go buy it. We don't think to pray about it first, we just go buy it. To us it is just more stuff, although it may be a cool new item for a few weeks, or maybe months. And if that item breaks, gets old, or we just get tired of it, well, just throw it away, or list it on Craigslist and we can buy a different one. With this in mind, I've been questioning myself lately with what is really valuable to me.

Most things I could easily give up because it is just stuff. I'd keep some favorite books, a rocking chair that was my great-grandmothers, but pretty much most anything else I could part with because I don't think I appreciate it and I have too much of it. Maybe it is time for me to take a hiatus from buying "things" without really praying about it. Maybe I need to really consider if I need a certain item befor purchasing it. Then maybe that item will become a keepsake vs. something that appears on Craigslist someday.

Oh, the Places You'll Go with Weather.com

I just got back from a recent trip to Colorado. Now those of you who know me are thinking, she didn't go to Colorado! Well, I did, albeit virtually. You see, I have an addiction to weather.com. I really like to follow the weather and look at the radar when we have rain or other weather coming. One of the nifty semi-new features on weather.com's site is to let you be able to move to different parts of the country via radar to see the weather.

I like to go one step further and zoom in on different areas that I enjoy visiting, like my parents, my in-laws, my sister-in-law, although I have been unable to find her exact apartment building, New York City, and today, Estes Park. I have fond childhood memories of visiting my great aunt who lived off of Devil's Gulch road outside of Estes Park. We had several family reunions there and had fun sitting around a campfire and hiking on her property. When she sold her 10 acres a few years ago Kevin and I briefly considered looking into buying it until we saw it cost $600K - about $500K out of our price-range!!

I also have some great memories from visiting Estes Park as an adult. I have gone there with my family, staying in the above cabin, Meeker Peek, which is what I saw today via radar. Kevin and I went alone for a get-away last year when he had business in Boulder, staying in a cabin called Riversong, a quaint little place right by the St. Vrain River. Thanks to modern technology, and a good memory of roads leading to the Meeker Peek cabin, I got to revisit it via satellite today. An easy way to go to Colorado, although seeing the cabins and town from the air isn't nearly the same as being there. I hope to return to Estes Park soon - one of my favorite places to visit.

Missing the Obvious

I had another small revelation while reading Desiring God this week. In one chapter, he is talking about Scripture and has a segment of testimony from George Muller. Muller says, "...the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord." To me, that means I should go away from my quiet times with my soul satisfied in the Lord.
As I said in my last post, I am good at getting through the study, but I realized after reading the above that I am not really taking the time to be "full" in God. I lost the vision I need to take something away and have something to chew on during my day.
Well, that should be obvious, you might say. Yes, sad, isn't it? Going through the motions became one of those habits I suppose I slipped into over time, I guess. But, praise the Lord, He will be patient while we slooowwwllly change to be more like Him.

A Dried Up Peach

I am slowly making my way through John Piper's book Desiring God. I've been reading a chapter on worship and was struck by what I read this morning. "For many, Christianity has become the grinding out of general doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts. But childlike wonder and awe have died. The scenery and poetry and music of the majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach at the back of the refrigerator."

I think this quote unfortunately describes me quite well. I am great at cranking out the Bible studies, but I think my wonder and awe of God have waned over time. How often am I simply in awe of God, basking in His presence? How often do I take the time to "be still" and know that He is God? (Psalm 46:10) I am usually busy doing something, and if I am still, I am engaged in an activity that doesn't involve God. That is going to be my prayer - to have my childlike wonder and awe of God restored.

Kool-Aid Pickles - yummy treat? or not!

Recently I saw in our local paper a recipe for Kool-Aid pickles. I'm not a big fan of Kool-Aid, but I do like pickles, so I clipped it. Last weekend my parents were visiting so we decided to try them (my parents have also been experimenting with pickling recipes, so I guess this was sort of an extension of that).

Basically you drain a larger jar of whole pickles, cut them in half, then mix 2 packages of Kool-Aid (or the store brand stuff, if you're cheap like me) with 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. Then pour the Kool-Aid mixture over the pickles in the jar, put them in the refrigerator for 24 hours and voila! They are ready. But are they good?

None of my kids were excited about them, even my pickle lovers, but being the good mother that I am, I made them try them, much to their chagrin. Well, no one liked them. I thought they were ok - kind of a cross between bread and butter and dill pickles - surprise, surprise, but not worth keeping. So now they are no more. But my question is who thinks of this kind of stuff? Someone who apparently is far more creative with food than I ever will be.

How Much do Things Cost Me?

When I think of all the comforts I have in my life - my nice house, my bed, my books, my coffee, my occaisional chocolate, I think I have it pretty good. I have what most would call a pretty enjoyable life. I stay at home and homeschool my kids, I have time to pursue the things I enjoy for the most part, I am able to get 7-8 hours of sleep....yes, life is good.

This week I was challenged in the Beth Moore Bible study I am doing (Daniel) with living a sacrificial life. She said lots of great stuff, but I think the Lord brought one thing to my attention over the others, at least for the time being. "For something to seem priceless or expensive to us, it needs to cost something."

With that particular point, I am still mulling that over. I am looking at that point more from the perspective of what I need to sacrifice so I can make the Lord my first priority, sleep being the most obvious place to start, but what about during the day? What about as a long-term thing? I like my comforts! Yet how often do I really sacrifice any of my comforts for spiritual reasons, whether through fasting or other things? But honestly, I don't feel like I am sacrificing in that area, which may be why I don't have the type of relationship with the Lord that I desire.

And what about in other areas of my life? My weight has been an issue with me for years now and I do the typical thing - lose it, gain it, lose it, gain it. I DO want to lose weight - permanently, but am I willing to sacrifice to do it? Losing weight is a costly thing to me. I mean, look at the name of my blog - chocolate and books. I don't want to give up foods I like.

But pretty much anything in life worth doing or getting is going to cost something, whether personally, physically, emotionally, or monetarily. Am I willing to lose some comfort in my life in order to make progress in other areas? What, exactly, am I willing to give up?? What a challenge.

Chocolate vs. Global Warming

As I was adding another flavor of chocolate that I like (Baskin Robbin's Chocolate Mousse Royale ice-cream - ya gotta try it!), I was thinking, is this too shallow, to add stuff like yummy chocolate flavors? I mean there is serious stuff going on in the world that I could be putting on my blog.

But on the other hand, this IS my blog, so I guess I can do what I want, right? And enough people are already writing about global warming, so I guess that subject is about covered. Well, add flavors of chocolate tonight, cover more pressing issues some other time - maybe.

Keeping Up Appearances

I have been challenged this summer in a Bible study I've been attending about keeping up appearances. It is easy to do that, isn't it? We go to work and put on the appearance of being very professional, we go to church and put on the appearance of being very spiritual, and we homeschool and put on the appearance with our fellow homeschool friends of teaching our kids a wide variety of subjects, including Latin, all while they are sitting at the table quietly, with clean faces and their hair nicely combed.

I until very recently thought appearances were pretty important, especially when going to church. Except for Amy, who is now 13, and old enough to decide for herself, I required that my girls dress nicely for church - it didn't have to be in a dress, but certainly no jeans or t-shirts. And tennis shoes? Well, not unless it is raining!

But through conversation with the gals in my group, one in particular, I have been challenged in this area. If you asked me why I had my kids dress up for church, I would say it is to show respect to God. And I do believe our God is a holy God and certainly worthy of our respect, and that to dress up when we go to corporately worship Him is a very small sacrifice.

However, the Bible says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So even if my girls are dressed nicely for church to please mom, but their heart isn't pleasing him, what do I have? Just well-dressed young ladies. How much am I concerned with where their heart is on Sunday mornings, and every morning of the week?

After consideration, I think that I am not going to have nearly as much of a say with what my kids wear to church. I need to be first and foremost concerned with where their hearts are with the Lord. I still personally believe it is nice to dress up to go to church. I like to honor God in that small way. And I do hope that by my example, the girls will choose to dress a little nicer to go to church too.

But my goal is to have kids that are authentic for Christ, not little Pharisees that on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are like white washed tombs, full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (Mtt. 23:27) The older my girls get, the more I see that their heart, their heart is what matters, and that is the most important area to work on.

Why is Creationism Assumed to be Non-Scientific?

After reading in today's editorial section of the Dallas Morning News about how "intelligent design is a religious and not a scientific alternative to Darwinian evolution", I shake my head and sigh. I think evolutionists think we Christians just blindly believe that God created the earth without seeing any evidence for it. But that is the point - there is LOTS of evidence that God created the universe.

The more that is discovered by looking at the fossil record, geology formations made by catastrophic means (think Mt. St. Helen's), the more there is evidence that indeed God, and not chance formed the world. And it just makes so much more sense. There is still no evidence in a complete fossil record that plants and/or animals have slowly changed over the years from one kind to another either. I think evolution takes a lot more faith than creation.

Some resources I have enjoyed reading are Answers magazine, The Geology Book by Dr. John Morris, Footprints in the Ash by Morris and Austin, and It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence Richards.

The "cost" of generosity

This afternoon my 7 yo daughter wanted to go buy a gift for her hard-working daddy. The plus is that a new Wal-Mart opened just a couple of miles away from us. We didn't have any grocery stores within 5 miles of us until the Wal-Mart opened. Yes, I am one of those spoiled people that lives barely in the country, but still very close to suburbia.

The minus is that I already had some things going on and didn't really want to go. I had just gone grocery shopping, so there was nothing in it for me. Selfish me.

Well, I decide to go, just because I love my daughter. I tried to tell her that Daddy would be just as happy with a card, but she wanted to buy him gum. She is willing to spend some of her hard-earned money (she doesn't have much of an income) to please her father, even though it means she will have to wait a little longer to buy a Webkinz. So off we go. Since we were going, I went ahead and decided to pick up a couple of things to go with dinner.

Once in the store, we need to find the long packs of gum - you know, the Wrigley's gum that comes in a long wrapper with 10 to a package. I mentioned that Daddy would be fine with one big pack. Nope, gotta have the 10 pack. We found one with 5 packages of gum - wouldn't do. So we head to the candy aisle where we find the coveted 10 pack.

She wants to pay first, so she takes her thrice folded $10 bill out and gives it to the cashier, I buy my groceries, and we get home not 20 minutes after leaving. I am so glad I took that small amount of time out of my schedule so my little girl can honor her daddy's hard work. He now has a several week supply of Doublemint, thanks to my daughter's generosity. Why I don't seize opportunities like this, I don't know. It was such a little sacrifice, the cost of my time, but it meant so much to my daughter.

And generosity has its benefits - Rebecca asked her Daddy a little later if she could have a couple of pieces of gum. :-)