As part of the www.lincolncitychurchwomen.blogspot.com read-through-the-Bible-this-year plan, today i read Malachi and was impressed upon by some principles relating to marriage that God spoke to His prophet Malachi for His people - and for me today!

From the Message Bible, scattered throughout Malachi 2:13-16 ---

-- "His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage."
This morning while doing my mad dash version of making the bed, i stumbled upon one of my sweet husband's size 10 1/2, thick-soled dress shoes. God has been teaching me throughout the 7 years we've been married that how i respond to something, what attitude i decide to take up or throw down EVEN in the privacy of my own space and thoughts, has the power to either sweeten or sour my relationship with my husband. So instead of taking up a sour attidue and moping along with my tingling toe, i decided to pick up the shoes and put them in the closet. God reminded me that when my husband wearily dropped those shoes from his feet to a place beside the bed, he was worn out - perhaps more than in body - from the overtime put in for his company, from the commitments fulfilled in helping others, from the care given to me, our toddler and unborn baby. And i should be ever so grateful to have a husband so dedicated and loving as he is. And i am.

-- "And what does He want from marriage? Children of God, that's what."
The first thing that popped into my mind was natural children - perhaps because there's one growing in my abdomen right now, pressing on my bladder and therefore my mind - children who are raised to serve God. But then through the pregnancy clouds that seem to derail my coherent train of thought, came the realization that a husband and wife should be a source of growth and encouragement to each other THROUGH their marriage relationship to become strong, mature children of God.

And finally...

-- "So guard the spirit of marriage within you."
The concept of guarding something sounds like "work" to me, which can sometimes be so quickly tossed aside once the marriage train passes the honeymoon, star-struck stage and slows down into Reality City Depot. I love my husband dearly but i know that our marriage isn't based on feeling love; this was a good reminder to me to keep working on building our marriage every day - not being perfect, but working to protect it! The spirit of marriage seems to me to be something that is breathed into a marriage and its partners by the very Spirit of God. And i need to guard that like i guard everything else God-breathed in my life.

I was tagged by www.walkingonhighhills.blogspot.com

Attached or Single? Attached. for 7 yrs. now!

Best Friend? Jesus and Dustin (my attachee)

Cake or Pie? Pie

Essential Item? right now - ice chips and a snackfood

Flavour of Ice Cream? anything chocolate

Indulgences? quiet time alone to read

January or July? January (ask me again in January)

Kids? Yes - a 2 1/2 yr old and one on the way

Middle Name? Nicole

Oranges or Apples? Apples. as in Pie.

Phobia or Fear? I like Tabitha's answer: Tests

Reason to Smile? a new day!

Season? Autumn

Unknown Fact About Me? don't really know how to swim

Vegeterian or Oppressor of Animals? neither

Worst Habit? i DO squeeze the toothpase from the neck of the tube. actually, sarcastic humor.

Xrays or Ultrasounds? have had both. prefer ultrasounds - have one in 3 weeks!

Kids go through multiple seasons in their lives - sometimes 2 or 3 or 10 a day, it seems! My 2 1/2 year old keeps me remembering the seasons that are so important in life. Today we were in the season of first introductions to knowing Jesus and finding we need Him...

Tessa likes to pretend and make up conversations and experiences. This afternoon after naptime, Tessa began to roll a new phrase around in her mouth(meaning she repeats it over and over) ... the phrase was, "someone help me." So i told her that Jesus could help her.

Within a few minutes she decided to go pick out a movie to watch (one of her latest I'm-two-and-i-can-do-it-myself daily actvities). She dragged her footstool to the closet and began to search through the dvd's.

She began again to talk about someone helping her, and then she started to say "Jesus" and "Jesus help me." Before long she yelled out, "Jesus!" Now, I know she doesn't fully grasp all of Who He is - although we talked about Him again during this time - but hearing the Name Jesus shouted from even an unknowing 2-yr old's lips is powerful! I just about cried! She continued to stand there and say "I want Jesus." So we talked about Him some more.

Then she informed me that Jesus was in our living room, and she went out there calling for Him.

THEN she went to the front door and knocked on it and said, "Jesus, come into my house! Come in, Jesus!"

These 10 precious minutes today were seasoned with desire for Jesus' help and with tender teachable moments. I am loving this season of her young life - and I think God is too, as He's teaching me things right along with her!

Salt’n’Peppa … no, it’s not a reference to a ‘90’s pop band, nor is it a reference to two seasoning staples perched on cupboard shelves throughout the country – ones that I relied on with blind trust during the first year of Newlywed Cuisine Adventures. I wish it were that simple or even those days again – although they are a scant seven years past.

Shockingly to our “I’m-still-as-young-as-college-days” mindsets, it’s the emerging state of my husband’s and my hair.

The other night upon returning home from work and giving me my hello hug, my husband tilted his head back and pointed his finger to his chin. Standing just under chin level and squinting into the ‘70’s kitchen lighting of our rented duplex, I didn’t notice them amidst the stubble at first. But there they were. White chin hairs. Plural. When my husband lowered his chin, I could see the light of incredulous disbelief flickering in his eyes. Which didn’t cast a favorable glow on the white hairs standing stubbornly upright amid the slightly teased crown of my ponytailed head. It was as though at the very moment I had became pregnant with our second child, three more grey hairs had popped out and stood at wiry attention as though it was their job to bring me such exciting news. This happened with the first child. Hair became an issue. Hair of the wrong color. Hair in the wrong places. Hair falling out of good places, like my head, leaving ample room for grey hairs to sneak in.

So there my husband and I stood in the kitchen, a tiresome and queasy thirteen weeks after the grey hairs made their follicle announcement, gazing at each other and realizing we were no longer playing out the acts of life on the same stage that we felt we had been center on for so long. The invincible stage. The forever-young stage. The lower stress stage.

It’s a new season. Not a bad one, just a different one. One with many new joys, loves and fulfillment. One we would never trade.

God’s been reminding me throughout the past years of having a toddler and seeing that new life birthed and tending to that life that I’m not the same person I was years earlier. That I’m not the child or the teen or the college student anymore. That right now, I’m the wife and mother. A new season. As Solomon said, To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecc. 3:1 NKJV).

And it’s good to enjoy the season I’m in – not to mourn over the passing of the previous seasons or strain my gaze toward those yet to come. The grey hairs I’ve accumulated in my pregnancies are a reminder of the precious gifts of His beautiful children He’s put on loan to me. For this season. So I will enjoy it all. …there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life… make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift (Ecc.3:13 Message).

God is seasoning me. He is seasoning my husband. We feel God growing and stretching us. I pray that we are found faithful and changed on the inside – not just follicly salt’n’peppa’d. It’s a new season. And God is in each one.

This afternoon i was doing some soul seaching, some spirit searching ... needing a rhema Word from God about who i am, more details on the real ME. Sometimes knowing something in your head isn't enough; the spoken, alive Word is really needed. And i believe God knows that, He knows that my humanity longs for communication with Him - after all, that's why He created His kids.

So this afternoon, I met God on our two-way street and did some communicating back to Him - because that's also why He shared His breath on the sixth day of creation. As He revealed a Scripture to me, I began pouring out my heart to Him, asking for a fresh washing, a new outpouring of His Spirit. He's so faithful, so loving, kind, generous and merciful. Here's the Scripture - I love it:

"But whoever did want Him, who believed He was who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten." (John 1:12-13, Message)

So no matter what I feel that I fail to do in a day, no matter how low i let my attitude slip, no matter whatever .... if i confess it and bring it to Lord, He forgives. I am His. I am God-begotten. And He has already made me to be my true self which is a child-of-God self. Not a failure, but a person of faith who has tugged securely over her mind the helmet of salvation and strapped tightly over her heart the breastplate of righteousness.

All because of Jesus.

So the first time I tried to “fry” chicken resulted in a skillet full of blackened chicken with a strong resemblance to those decorative rocks that people put in their gardens. Did this smokin’ failure signal the end of my ink-still-wet-on-the-license marriage, or at least my cooking career? Of course not! It just led me to try a different kitchen appliance (microwaves turn meat into charcoal briquettes in half the time), and it reassured me that my husband didn’t marry me for my cooking skills, as I watched him literally saw and tenaciously chew his way through that first briquette of chicken wordlessly – he married me in spite of them!

Perhaps I would have fared better with the Israelites where my failed burnt meals could have passed as a burnt offering! The Israelites certainly experienced many failures in their relationship with God, one being to demand a king. But even though they failed time and time again, God showed that He loved them in SPITE of those failures and was willing and able to use the resulting circumstances, just as He worked through King Saul to bring victories and freedom. If we allow it, failure can be a daunting obstacle on the path we walk with God, threatening to trip us up (or throw us out of the smokey kitchen!) But God encourages us to press in closer to Him, as Samuel told the people: “It’s true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don’t turn your back on God. Worship and serve Him heart and soul!” (12:20, Message)

When things in life don’t go down the path God marked on our life’s map, we should keep hold of that towel – don’t throw it in – and turn TO God wholeheartedly. Too many times in my life when I’ve tripped … weeks and weeks when I didn’t read my Bible or times when I was gearing up to throw a pity party or when I allowed thoughts into my mind and heart that were not true or lovely … instead of turning immediately to God and giving those things to Him, I turned, tucked them deeper within myself and left my Bible lying on the desk, threw the pity party (alone. Mom was right, no one else comes) and verbalized completely misinformed thoughts into hurtful words. But in the midst of my sinful state, as I cleaned up the pity party and turned, there was God waiting for me with open arms. And as I began to worship Him heart and soul, I was reassured of His unfailing love for me.Now when I trip, I am learning to turn to God right away, catch His strong right arm and keep going forward. I’m also learning to disconnect the smoke alarm when I use the stovetop. Wow, that thing is sensitive!

God Shops at Super Saver

Well, maybe He doesn't, but I saw evidence that He was there before I arrived last Friday. Every item that I really needed to buy, was on sale! No kidding! I literally went from one item to the next, and there was a red tag, waving at me from the shelf! God's blessings are everywhere, and I am SO grateful for His provision! Even in the midst of the aisles decked out with huge price tags and bustling with people pushing carts full of food they're burdened to pay for, my God made a way! No one came up and shoved a wad of $100 bills in my hand, but God placed MANY blessings in my cart that day, and I'm thanking Him for it!

This year, I want to be a good steward of all that God has given to me. I want my "books" at the end of the year to be pleasing to Him. He's spelled out His financial principles very clearly in the Bible - and just in case i wasn't remembering them, He managed to work through the writing staff of one of my magazines in a money article: "Let your spending reflect your beliefs." If the world is adopting that mantra, how much more should I as a child of God continue to give of my finances in line with what I believe!?! I believe in God Who owns it all and Who meets all my needs! I believe in tithing and giving to spread God's Word!

Thank You, Lord, for Your many blessings! Use me as a conduit of blessing! And thanks for meeting me at Super Saver - You're the REAL Saver!