Monthly Archives: February 2014

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30 Days of Encouraging my Hubby Man

I have hesitated on writing this out… because I am so very NOT perfect at all!  But then, none of us are.  We are all imperfect, lacking, speak before we think, etc…  Thank you Jesus that through You, we can see perfection and know who to strive towards, we can lack nothing because everything we need is found solely in YOU, and YOU can give us our words and purify our thoughts.

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(This pic has NOTHING to do with my post today… but it brings me joy, so I had to share!  Love my Hayden!)

So… I started 30 days of “encouraging my man”.  I am not following anything; book, or movement (not sure if there is one!).  I just felt God impress upon my heart to do this the very day before we found out that we would be looking for a new job.  Isn’t His timing crazy sometimes?!  So, three weeks ago Tuesday, this journey began.  Talk about a crazy time to be only encouraging and not nagging, annoyed, stressed, or flat out mean at times… it has been such a sweet time of simply loving on Cory, encouraging him to be all that God alone has called him to be, listening to him,, walking beside him, praying with him, hashing all kinds of scenarios around with him, and most importantly of all; speaking only positive and uplifting words to and about him!  It is something that I always try to do anyways… but I am flawed and even in these last weeks I know of at least one time that speaking to Cory was not done well.  It was not done in love.  I felt horrible, and was so very thankful for the forgiveness.

I love to talk about the people that I hold the dearest to my heart, share their triumphs and rejoice in their joys!  This is all easy when things are going great.  So many wonderful things to share… let the bragging begin, right?  But I have found that even being full of honest compliments in times of trial, counting your blessings as they are vast even in the not-so-awesome-times, and simply holding your loved one up in encouragement to him and others is sooooo important.  It keeps thankfulness, and joy on the tip of your tongue.  It helps to keep all things in perspective and realize that the little things that are not worth the stressing over are simply that… LITTLE things (let them go!)!

This is proving to be a constant reminder to remain in God’s word, keep praises on my tongue, laugh much, LOVE more, and truly live in every moment!

I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your cares upon Him, for He takes care of you.”

Honestly… when I really apply this verse to my every day, I know that His shoulders are ready for the burdens of my day, week, year, and life.  But honestly, when was the last time I actually; without holding anything back, gave it all to Him?

I am going to continue to do this 30 days of encouraging my hubs… now and hopefully forever!  I choose to cast all my cares to Jesus, likely every minute as the stressful thoughts creep up over and over.  But being an encourager feels so much better than a stressed out, anxious wife and mommy any day!

Sincerely,  dani

 

How to play “catch-up”…

The mere thought of trying to play catch up is daunting and one that has paralyzed me from logging into my blog and even saying a quick “hi”, “I’m still here”, “The holidays didn’t actually kill me”, or a simple “HELP ME…”!  I know it sounds ridiculous… but with the amount of new things to write about, along with the speed in which they have been hopping on life’s train;  my head is spinning and my stomach was in knots!  A little too dramatic for everyone?  I’ll admit it sounds like it… but here is a brief summary of life since I last signed on:

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Christmas 2013 was one we shared with family and friends.  Our railing was lined with 25 stockings, and don’t forget Jake, Sammy Sosa, Chance, and Rudy’s too… the pet ones of course!  The richest blessings in our lives are these zany people that we are somehow related to.  Starting with “Happy Birthday Jesus”, paper shredding, 7 littles running around in pure excitement, a soccer game in the field (almost 60 on Christmas Day), yummy dinner bursting with lively conversations, our huge family photo shoot of the year, and more family coming and going for the next 10-ish days!  It was a wonderful time of really celebrating how blessed we are.  God is so good!

Bringing Lucy home to teach her is one of the best things we ever could have done.  She is re-gaining her self-confidence, beginning to enjoy reading again, believing that she is great at math, and enjoying that her history, science, and reading are Bible based and founded on truths!  I have known that God would ask me to school our kiddos at home for sometime now… all I can say is; He is so very Good and His ways are perfect.  Now, if I want to pull my hair out tomorrow and throw in the “teacher” towel… let me blow off some stream and re-gain my composure.  But I assure you, He is always good!

We found out that the kiddos have a water born parasite in their gut.   Our poor little ladies were really uncomfortable for two whole weeks.  Now the boys have this plague, though we are beginning to see light at the end (we think!)  I had mentioned to hubby man that buying stock in 3 year old undies would have been a wonderful idea as I could not keep up on the laundry… I have never seen anything like it.  But again, with two weeks of poop up to my elbows and sleepless nights on end;  I can confidently say that our God is always incredibly good!

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This last week let down the hammer…  Cory woke me up Wednesday morning after a work call and relayed that the Corporate office that he has worked in for these last 6 plus years was closing and he would be without a job soon.  Out of the blue.  No warning.  Not something we had even really considered.  For a job… this was the bomb-digity… we hadn’t imagined life without it… didn’t really want to try.  All I knew to do was pray.  The kind of prayer where it was raw, half empty of words, and yet a prayer of thanksgiving.  Thankful for the job, thankful for the adventure ahead, and thankful that my best friend, myself, and God were there together in that moment.  We are still wading through the questions, the possibilities, the opportunities, but are resting in the arms of the One writing the words of this novel.  A story that one day we will see beauty in, chapters that lead to life abundantly in Him!  While using the brains he has given us, we are also resting in His promises, waiting on His timing, seeking His direction, and knowing that He has “plans to prosper us, and not to harm us.  Plans to give us hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11  He is good time after time.

I feel God saying; “There is much beauty in this mess.”  And I choose to trust Him for He is good!

-Sincerely, dani

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