Marriage - Keys to making it work

I've decided to write a weekly blog regarding the message at church for the week. It helps me share the Word, the message that Pastor Dean conveys, and helps me put to words what my thoughts and take is on the subject.

Last night the message was on marriage and the keys to making it work in a Christian household. Here are the 4 keys that were given:

1. Be a Jesus family, not a religious family. Religion will not hold your marriage together, Jesus will.

2. Have no deal breakers.

3. Agree that you both married an imperfect person.

4. Marriage is God's solution to you both becoming the person that God has destined you to be.

I needed this message, just like most people who are married. Marriage is one of the most challenging and difficult things that people go through. When you get married, it feels like "puppies & rainbows" to many of us, everything is wonderful and perfect. We are so disappointed when there is a storm or when rough times come. It is a lifelong commitment to constantly make the effort to understand each other better and be willing to change when need be. But, marriage is also such an amazing and rewarding experience. To know that you will never be alone, that someone will always be on your side no matter what, is a reward that tops any other.

Let's talk about the "keys". To commit to being a Jesus family is one of the greatest decisions that can be made in a marriage. It's not about following rituals, it is about giving all thanks to our Savior and allowing him to be the biggest presence in our marriage and family.

Having no deal breakers. Wow, does society tell us differently or what?! So many people think that people who stick by their spouse no matter what have no backbones. It can be quite the opposite. Isn't it harder to stick through hard times than to leave? Jesse and I are committed to staying together no matter what. I am so glad to know that we are on the same page with this and have the reassurance that we will make it work no matter how imperfect we both are. If he cheats, I will stay. If he become a drug addict, I will stay. If he becomes paralyzed, I will stay. In any situation, we will stay and we will pray.

Agree that you both married an imperfect person. This seems like a no-brainer, but how many times to we get caught up in our spouses imperfections and forget our own? It drives me nuts that Jesse doesn't make the bed and gets toothpaste all over the bathroom counter. He doesn't like that I don't always hang up my towel or that I set my alarm for three different times every morning. But....we are imperfect and we love eachother anyways.

Marriage is God's solution to making us the people that He wants us to be. How true is this? I have changed so much and so has Jesse, simply from being together. We need to trust that He knows what we need more than we know what we need.

It breaks my heart to see so many marriages failing around us. I pray that God's hand is revealed in all of our family and friend's marriages and that their hearts are opened to letting him be a part of their struggles.

Saturday Fun!

Hunter and I have had a very fun morning so far. He slept for 11 hours straight last night, slept in until 7:15am this morning, and got ready for The Little Gym. We had lots of fun at class today because our friends, Rachel and Cole, joined us today! Cole is just 3 days older than Hunter.

When we got back home, Hunter was content to play with his toys while I match Molasses Cookie dough. I still haven't made the cookies because the dough has to chill for at least 4 hours. Boo!

Here are some pictures from this afternoon.

Thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. The sunshine
2. My amazing parents who take such wonderful care of Hunter and I both.
3. My amazing husband who works so hard and makes many sacrifices to serve our country and provide for his family. I love that he is dedicated to staying in contact with me as much as he possibly can while he is away.
4. Having a secure job in this economic turmoil.

Now to more trivial things to be thankful for...

5. Coffee
6. Skinny Cow mint ice cream bars that only have 100 calories in them!

What are you thankful for this week?

More swimming

So we finally made it back to swim lessons this week after taking last week off because Jesse's mom was in town. We have been having so much fun in the water. Our friends Geoff and Tera and their kids, Allie and Adrian, are also taking lessons at the same time.

This class is pretty funny because it's mostly singing nursery rhymes with some variation to make them include lyrics about being in the pool. Here are a couple more swim pictures from this week.

A Life Well Lived

At church on Sunday night, Pastor Dean was speaking about preserving life while living in a “culture of death”. He was mainly speaking about euthanasia and abortion. I’m not trying to get into a political debate, but I thought that he made an amazing point through the story of Mother’s Teresa’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994 in front of all the big guys in Washington, including the Clinton’s.

Mother Teresa gave a speech about how abortion is the destroyer of peace today. It was very controversial and blamed a lot of the problems in the “West” on abortion. Check out the full speech, http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/Mother-Teresa-Speech/

When a reporter asked Bill Clinton how he felt about what Mother Teresa had to say on abortion, he responded by saying “How can anyone argue with a life so well-lived?”
Wow, what a powerful sentence. I sat and pondered on those words. How amazing would it be if we could all live our lives in such a way, that people regardless of differing backgrounds or opinions, would be able to speak those words over our lives as well. I want to love Jesus and humanity in such a way that people would be challenged and encouraged to emulate and live “A Life Well Lived”. It's a journey but an amazing adventure that I pray that I will strive to be thoughtful of.

Renee's Visit to Seattle

Last week, Jesse's mom came to town to visit us from Minnesota. We had lots of fun and she was so much help! We got to do lots of fun things with Hunter while she was in town.

We went to church twice, ate on the Tacoma waterfront, saw the Circus exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, shopped at Bellevue square, took Hunter to the barber for ANOTHER hair cut, and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Jesse and I even went out with our friend, Jamie at Emerald Downs and met up with our other friend Pete later that night. I also went out to Tacoma on Saturday night with some friends. It's been so long seen we've been able to go out at night without Hunter.

Here are some pictures from last week.

Spending Diet

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am an addict. My addiction is my son, Hunter's fault. I LOVE to by anything that has anything to do with him it, he can play with it, etc). So... don't worry, I know it's not really his fault. I also love to buy myself things and gifts for other people.

I am cutting back and am officially on a spending diet through the end of September. This means no purchases at Baby Gap, Stride Rite, Gymboree, Lululemon, Williams Sonoma, etc. The list can go on and on. I am staying away from the mall!!!

Looking forward through September, there are a few things that are not critical, but I will not give up:
1) Hair colored and cut
2) The Little Gym tuition for the Fall
3) Decorations, food, etc. for Hunter's 1st Birthday Party

Any suggestions on keeping myself on track with this goal?