A Special Package

My husband has been sick all week...really sick. Tonight he received this wonderful basket of "get well" goodies from the staff at the church office. It was totally awesome and absolutely wonderful! It included all the things we have been using this week to help him get better including the Lysol and hand sanitizers to keep the rest of us from getting sick. It even included a movie which he and the kids have already enjoyed.



They also included something for me...



an energy drink!



This was so very thoughtful and fun! Thanks everyone for your prayers and this wonderful gift!

The Excellent Wife - Chapter 1

Before the day ends I wanted to jump in and join Leslie at Lux Venit for the discussion on chapter 1 of the book The Excellent Wife. I have had this book on my shelf and have skimmed through it periodically but have never sat down to read through it from cover to cover.

I don't have any deep thoughts to share this time. I am tired tonight. My husband has been very sick this week and I think my three year old is now fighting the same bug. I don't know if I have ever seen this man this sick with the flu in our almost twenty two years of marriage. He has been home (in bed most of the time) all week.

I read the chapter earlier in the week and it just again confirmed my desire to read this book.

In the book on page 4, Martha shares the will of God for every wife. "God's will for every Christian wife is that her most important ministry be to her husband (Genesis 2:18). After a wife's own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing else should have greater priority. Her husband should be the primary benefactor of his wife's time and energy, not the recipient of what may be left over at the end of the day. Whether her husband is a faithful Christian man or an unbeliever, God wants every Christian woman to be a godly wife - an excellent wife."

Several years ago as the Lord began to speak these truths to me and show me in His word what He had purposed my role as a wife to be, I found such freedom in this truth and I still do!

I am excited to hear God whisper a deeper understanding of His truths to my heart over the next several weeks. I love my husband deeply. I am so thankful to God for allowing me to be his wife. For more excellent thoughts on this first chapter visit the Lux Venit Reading Group.

I'm at the Cafe today

An invitation to my new and old friends to join me . But grab your bible first and read Psalm 46:10. Meditate on this verse for a moment and then join me here.

Who are those women?

Thanks to each of you who left such sweet and fun comments about my new blog design.

I wanted a graphic of women sitting around a table. Who are these women you ask? They are you and me (well, not really). They are anyone who needs to come and talk and share with another about motherhood, being a wife, living a Godly life etc. etc. Unfortunately, there were no graphics of women sitting in their jeans or sweatpants. I couldn't find one with a women rocking a little one on her lap, or someone with a tear or two or even a bible spread open before them, because that is who I am.

And so this was the best we could find. So it left me to imagine myself all dressed up sitting in a cute coffee shop with a few of my favorite people, looking all sophisticated, while we sip on our chai tea.

But I guarantee you that most days when I sit here to talk with you, I am either in my warm and cozy pajamas or at best my favorite pair of sweats.

A New Design!

A big huge thank you to Jo-Lynne at DCR Design for the wonderful job she did on re-designing my blog. She was absolutely fabulous! She was quick and efficient and very pleasant to work with. She took my thoughts and words and ramblings about what I was looking for and listened!

If you are looking for a new blog makeover, I highly recommend you go visit her. Thank you, Thank you so much Jo-Lynne!

If anyone is in Christ....

So the cross not only brings Christ's life to an end, it ends also the first life, the old life, of every one of His true followers. It destroys the old pattern, the Adam pattern, in the believer's life, and brings it to an end. Then the God who raised Christ from the dead raises the believer and a new life begins.

A.W. Tozer

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Spring Reading Thing

Katrina at Callapidder Days is hosting a Spring Reading Thing. The purpose of the Spring Reading Thing 2008 is "simply an opportunity for you to set some reading goals, share them with the blogosphere, and work toward them this spring."

I love to read, but I am going to be completely realistic here in hopes of accomplishing what I have planned. I am good for about a book or two a month in addition to my studies and reading of the Word.

So, here goes my Spring list:

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
I am also going to join Leslie's Lux Venit's Reading Group for this book and hopefully participate in her discussion questions every Friday.

Age Of Opportunity by Paul Tripp
We are finishing up a class at church from the book Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. His brother has written this book and I have heard good things about it.

What Happens When Women say Yes to God by Lysa Terkeurst
I've read the first chapter and she shares an amazing story of what can happen when we say "yes" to God. I am looking forward to this book.

The Busy Mom's devotional by Lisa T. Bergren

I bought this book in the L.A. airport in January after I had devoured two books I had brought with me and had nothing left to read for the trip home. I can't even begin to remember the last time I read fiction. This story is interesting and well written and had me totally captivated. But I have only picked it up once since I have been home. I am hoping for some days at the park in the afternoon reading while my kids play.

Visit Katrina to read what others are reading this Spring!

Both are growing too fast!

Some days the difference in age between my oldest and youngest is difficult. A toddler and a teenager, need I say more. They both have very demanding needs, one physical, the other more mental.



But then there are those days, like today, and this day in the snow several weeks ago, that their age difference is a beautiful thing to behold. In the picture above my oldest followed my toddler around the yard and stopped at every point he did to look at whatever he wanted to. He led, she followed.



Today, she was home from school. He stayed with her for several hours while I was away. I came home to a plate of chocalate chip cookies that she helped him make (wink) and the two of them curled up on the couch, his legs tucked between hers asleep.

Both are growing too fast!

He Has Not Forgotten

Early in January before my father passed away and before the many trials and struggles that the last few months would hold, I was contacted by the National Women's Ministries Department of the Assemblies of God asking permission to reprint one of my devotions written for CWO back in November for their March issue of WTOnline.

Little did I know how my own words would come back to minister to my heart. I needed them again today, just as much as I did back in November 2007, when I first wrote this post.

So, would you bless my heart and go here to read the article, He Has Not Forgotten and while you are there, take a few moments and look around. Their theme for the month of March is "Waiting for a Miracle" and there are many encouraging articles.

And the winner is.....

The winner of the book Feminine Appeal is Sarah at Life in the Parsonage. (I used a free download of Random Number Generator and number 1 was chosen)



One of my favorite quotes in the book is this one from Charles Spurgeon:

He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature, and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it. (Charles Spurgeon)

When we see our husbands as sinners like ourselves-sinners in need of God's grace and mercy-it strips away any intolerant, critical, or demanding attitude we may be tempted to have.

pg. 39

Congratulations Sarah. I hope you enjoy the book. Email me your address at cometothetable@msn.com and I will get the book to you right away.

Praying for our Husbands - Day 13

Today I am praying that I would build-up my husband through my words, actions, and even in my thoughts.

I was having lunch with a friend the other day at our local fast food restaurant. While our two little tykes ran up and down the play area, we spent the majority of our conversation on the topic of our husband's love languages. We quickly discovered that both men had the same primary and secondary language. I think we spent the remainder of our visit laughing at all the similarities in the things that minister to our husbands and speak love to them.

It is important that I pray for my husband daily, but it is also important that I build him up (or speak his language). Proverbs 31:11-12 says, "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life."

I know that I am doing him good when I pray for him, but am I doing him harm in other ways?

This is the question that I often ask myself. As a result I came up with a short list of things "to do him good."

1. Send or email him a note, just because. Before the days of email, I would occasionally mail him a fun card to his office. He loved displaying them.

2. Listen to him without interrupting

3. Call him at his place of work just to say, “I love you!”

4. Let him know that you are proud of him. We are good at complimenting our husbands to others, but fail to tell them directly.

5. Tell him you are going to rub his back, or whatever…and then do it as planned

6. Buy his favorite snack, or drink and have it ready for him when he comes home. My husband loves a cold coffee drink. I don't buy them all the time, but occasionally I'll surprise him.

7. Do the one chore you always ask him to do for you without saying anything, maybe several times. Just because! For example: take the trash out, get the
car washed, or return the movies.

8. Provide a peaceful place of rest for him by encouraging him to relax and watch his favorite movie or provide a quiet place for him to finish a book.

9. Keep his trust. In other words, never say anything about him to others that would make him uncomfortable or embarrassed.

10. Build him up with your words. When he comes home, greet him! Thank him for all that he does for your family.

The Cafe

If you're looking for the blog party go here or just scroll down.

I posted this again over here today...even if you read it already...maybe you forgot to make the list. Join me today!

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to the Ultimate Blogging Party.

Thank you to 5 Minutes4Mom for making this party possible.

There are some really cool prizes to be won! My favorites are #1, #24, & #70.

I am glad you are here!

Don't you love it when someone shows up at your door for a visit?

I do!

Especially if it is planned. Unexpected visitors beware...who knows what you may find.

If you are an old friend, come on in, take your shoes off, and make yourself at home. If this is your first time, Welcome! Go ahead and look around and please introduce yourself. And of course if you have questions for me, go ahead and ask.


I hope to be a wonderful hostess over the next week and meet up with some old friends and make a few new ones. It should be fun!




And because I appreciate your visit, I am going to give away a copy of one of my favorite books, Feminine Appeal Seven Virtures of a Godly Wife and Mother by Carolyn Mahaney.




Just leave me a comment to this post and let me know if you would like to be in on the giveaway and on Friday the 14th I'll choose one winner. (I will ship to the US and Canada residents only)

Thanks for stopping by!

The Ultimate Blog Party!

I am ready for a party!

I really want to host a party at my home with a few friends, a pot of freshly made coffee, some of our favorite goodies and encouraging conversation.

But in the meantime, you're invited to join me here tomorrow and all next week for some blogging party fun. Bring along a cup of something warm and hopefully I'll have something fun or encouraging to post.

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting The Ultimate Blog Party!

Prayer is so simple...

Prayer is so simple;

It is like quietly opening a door

And slipping into the very presence of God,

There is the stillness

to listen to His voice;

Perhaps to petition,

Or only to listen:

It matters not.

Just to be there

In His presence

Is prayer

pg 37 A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George(Eleanor Doan, Speaker's Sourcebook)

My twelve year old daughter read this to me tonight from this book. I thought I would share.

Praying for our Husbands - Day 3

It is so easy to be blinded to the blessing we have in our husbands. I am easily bogged down at times with the little things, even when it comes to praying for him. I am tempted to look at only those areas which "I" want changed.

Many years ago I was confronted head on with this issue. One afternoon I was minding my own busines sitting quietly at my dining room table preparing for a bible study I was teaching when God revealed a deep issue in my own life. There were several things in my heart concerning my husband and as I sat there distracted by my thoughts, I asked the Lord to reveal to me how I should pray for him.

And this is the question (verse) God asked me that day.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Luke 6:41

Even as I write that verse out, the memory and the reality of that moment is still very fresh in my mind. I knew that I had spent too much time being irritated by the little specks in my husband's life, while I sat there with this HUGE log in my own eye.

It was a defining moment for me. A deep revelation of the condition of my own heart and life. God began to reveal to me all the things that I had held onto and all the places I had not allowed him to work through because I was too busy noticing all the little things in my husband's life.

Gary Thomas in his book, Sacred Influence shares a story that is a very visual reminder to us all that we should not let the little things that can irritate weigh us down, but instead be thankful for the husband God has blessed us with.

On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Lisa and I watched several interviews with women widowed as a result of those attacks. "What has changed most about your perspective in the past year?" one interviewer asked. The first widow to respond said, "The thing I can't stand is when I hear wives complain about their husbands." Every woman nodded her head,
and then another widow added, "It would make my day if I walked into the master bathroom and saw the toilet seat left up."

Their words have a profound ring. The little things we allow to annoy us seem trivial compared to the loss of blessings once taken for granted. In the face of their enormous loss, these women no longer cared about the little irritations; instead, they had to face the big, black hole of all that their husbands had done for them, suddenly sucked out of their lives forever. (pg. 49 Sacred Influence)

This morning as I prayed for my husband, I listed all those things that I am so thankful for. I want to focus my heart on these things. I made a list to remind myself. It is amazing how many good things there are if we only would choose to focus our thoughts there.

Praying for our Husbands - Day 1

I am so happy that March is here. I am not sure completely why, I just am. It may be because spring is just around the corner.


The last two months have been very hard. For one it is winter and cold. The kids have been in and out and then in and out of school. It makes for some very interesting weeks.


The loss of my biological dad in January still finds me asking many questions and I find tears surfacing at the strangest and most inconvenient times.


Our church is in the middle of 40 days of prayer and fasting. Today is the 20th day. Tonight we prayed together as a family for our community, our church, and our home. Our church family has filled a board with their names so that everyday some one is praying and fasting. It has been a sweet time of hearing testimonies of God's grace and power.


I too have enjoyed the time. But, I have also been extremely challenged by it as well. The flesh screams very loud for attention!


Over the next 20 days I am adding my husband to my list. Yes, I pray for him regularly, but the Lord has reminded me of a devotion I read recently that convicts my heart deeply. It is this devotion by Lisa Ryken in the book Devotions for Ministry Wives that reminds me of the privilege I have to pray for him faithfully. I pray you would join me in praying not only for your own husband, but also for your Pastor as well.


Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:19-20

One of the most challenging sermons I've ever heard was based on this text from Ephesians, urging believers to pray for their preachers. The apostle Paul was a brilliant preacher and a bold evangelist, yet he recognized that, in order for his ministry to be effective, he needed people to pray for him. Preaching the gospel is a solemn task. To proclaim the Word of God a
preacher needs words from God, so that he will depend on God's Word and not on his own skill. he needs the freedom and boldness to proclaim the gospel fearlessly, not telling people what they want to hear but what God wants them to hear. A preacher must proclaim the mystery of the gospel, not a carefully calculated plan for moral improvement. He must make sinners uncomfortable with their sin and point them to Jesus Christ. Finally, ministers need endurance in tribulation. They need to bear the burdens of their congregation as they stay tender to the pain of sin.

By the end of the sermon I was in tears. I realized how much I need to pray for my husband and how little I actually did pray for him. Even more than that, I felt the weight of his burden to preach the gospel. As his wife I must bear that burden with him and pray for him faithfully.

Lord, thank you for the faithful preachers who open your Word to us plainly. Thank you for my husband and his gift for proclaiming the gospel. Please give him boldness and endurance. Please forgive me for praying infrequently and weakly. Equip me to be his constant prayer warrior. Amen.