Bloggy Love and Marriage Musings

I have been following a blog for a while that has really been an encouragement to me. I thought, what better way to honor her and her blog than to make a post about it!

She goes by the name "Lovin' Life" and her blog is called Konnichiwa. She started her blog last September. She has a variety of things she posts about including recipes, scripture, her family and her faith. Her blog title "Konnichiwa" means hello in Japanese. I love the verse she has underneath her title, Titus 2:4-5 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands and I see her living this out as I've been reading the posts on her blog. A few of the posts that have really impacted me the most:
About Motherhood
About Honoring Husbands (this one I actually printed out and leave on my kitchen table!)
About Complaining (I'm guilty too!)
About The Persecuted Church

I hope you are blessed by this blog too.

When I read her post "Honoring Husbands" in January, it was very timely as the Lord had been convicting me a lot about who I was being in my marriage. I was and continue to struggle with focusing on the petty stuff and making mountains out of things that just don't matter. Lately, the Lord has been having me slow down, step back and "listen" to myself in how I am being toward my husband (L). I had a moment where I was reviewing in my mind a conversation L and I had and I said to myself, "Did I actually say that? Did I say "How dare you ...blah blah blah" to my husband?" And I had! I was shocking myself with what I was seeing come out of me. I noticed I have much more patience and compassion in how I relate to my almost 3-year-old son than I do with L. When I took time to stop and pray about it, it was convicting to see how often I am complaining, nagging or starting arguments when something isn't going my way. This has been a humbling thing to acknowledge, yet I feel it's honoring to the Lord and a good place to start. I find the Lord is empowering me to bite my tongue before the complaint/anger comes out. I ask, "Is this a battle I want to fight, or would it be more honoring to the Lord to let it go?" I'm finding strength to let it go. I'm also finding a new joy in my heart in truly serving my husband. Even little things like doing some extra organizing and cleaning because I know how much it blesses him; and less grumbling in the daily chores I do and not looking for acknowledgment, just doing it from a heart of love. I'm also finding things to do that I'll do simply because it's one less thing my husband has to do. These are signs of the Holy Spirit at work in me, because I know this isn't natural for me! The Lord is showing me what a treasure my husband is, a man who has a passion for following Him and who works so hard so that I can be at home raising our son. I'm discovering new things every day about just what a blessing being married to him is.

As I've opened my heart to the Lord by confessing about this and praying for a changed heart, it is amazing the things he's putting in front of me and the door's he's opening. It's like he's pouring out himself to me in what I'm finding to read and listen to. Here's what I mean:

• I found a broadcast this week at Focus on the Family titled "Who Am I As a Wife?" that is just incredible. The things talked about are so pertinent for retraining myself in being a godly wife. I'm only part-way through Part 1 and there is a Part 2 also. Lovin' Life posted this week about complaining (see link above) and this was after she listened to part 2 of this same broadcast.
  
• I found a giveaway on The New Living Translation bible blog for a devotional bible called In His Image. I ended up winning it!
  
• I found a book called What's It Like Being Married to Me and Other Dangerous Questions by Linda Dillow on the Internet Cafe and entered a giveaway by Erica at The Write Web and I actually won the book!
  
• I also found a book called Winning Him Without Words through the Internet Cafe and entered a giveaway at Rachel @ Beautiful Daughters and (no joking) I won that too! This book is actually written for women married to men who don't know the Lord, but they shared how it would edify any marriage.
  
• I found an audio book through our library called Were It Not for Grace; Stories from Women After God's Own Heart. In the intro it talks about these women as those who love the Lord with all their hearts. These women found intimacy with the Lord not without a cost. I am looking forward to listening to this book.

So I'm not sharing all this to toot my horn about the things I've won, but I want to share it as a praise for the Lord who is showering me with the means to pursue this desire, to honor my husband. I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back as my old habits die hard. Yet I am confident and in agreement with his word, Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I know the Lord has his hand upon me as I seek to bring him glory in every area of my life, especially my marriage. I also know I will be surrendering this area of my life to him again and again as it is a constant struggle for me. Yet I find that so much of LIFE, (depth, passion, vitality) is found within the struggle. It means I'm growing; the ever-imperfect flower in God's garden.