Inspiration

He gives more grace when the burdens grow greater.
He sends more strength when the labors increase,
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed 'ere the day is half done;
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure.
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth and giveth again.

~Annie Flint~

One more quote that inspires me...

"One can not tell what passes through the heart of a man by the look on his face."
~Japanese Proverb~

Patience, grace and mercy with others,
we just don't know what our Brothers and Sisters might be going through.

Have a wonderful LORD's Day worshiping Him.

Love you dear friends,
~m

My Wednesday walk/run ramblings...

Hello Dear Friends,
I love writing to you all.
I'm not good at writing letters with pen and paper. I have good intentions, but we all know how that goes, so blogging is the perfect way for me to keep in touch with so many that I love.

Just a few random thoughts that I started writing down Wednesday,
that somehow spilled over into Thursday...
that may spill over yet again if I don't get with the program and finish this post.

First my goofy move of the day, well Tuesday.
I knew that I was officially back into the swing of exercising when I was on my way to a doctor's appointment yesterday and I just barely caught myself before I squeezed my water bottle over my head in the still hot car. Yep. I do that regularly running on hot summertime roads and trails. But NOT on the way to the doctor. Not my brightest moment of the day. But funny.

My normally~at~home~still~kiddos have been gone to Bible camp this week. I had all of these ideas of getting a LOT done...ahem...Not so much. I haven't painted one little ol' piece of furniture. I haven't worked on one single itty bitty household project...and believe me there are still plenty to chose from. And while I have done a tiny bit of mending, I haven't even sewed much to speak of. I have done my normal housework: laundry, a wee bit of cooking, dishes. Nothing to write home about.

Friends have said, "Boy, I bet you are really missing your kids!" and, not even feeling guilty, I said, "I am really enjoying a quiet house and time alone with hubby." I love my kiddos. I shore do. But after so many hard months of high stress, chaos and anxiety, I am not minding a slower pace. I am not minding not doing much at all. I am not minding solitude and pondering time. I am NOT ready for my kiddos to be gone yet. But a little down time has been nice. And they are having a wonderful time at Bible camp.

I have used my quiet free time to go on a lot of long walk/runs, to spend a LOT of time in prayer, to do some extra Bible study, and to try and do some extra nice things for hubby and other friends and family here and there. I joked since my kiddos were gone, I was working on my wifey/sister skills. :) I picked up ice cream a few times this week and met hubby for a quick ice cream in his office date. Alas...there was not much smooching involved...
Hubby has windows in his office...sigh...
But in the evenings...
Yep, we watch the Tour de France...

What did you think I was going to say?
wiggles eyebrows mischievously
;)

I spend most of my time in prayer while running and walking.
Deep meditative prayers, that are often disrupted by,
well, sort of,
Attention Deficit Disorder Prayers.
Prayers of overwhelming thankfulness that often interrupt my prior thought.
A lot of thanking God for whatever bird or wild flower has just come into my line of vision, for the sheltering arms of a huge Oak tree that gives me a few moments respite from the hot sun as I run under it's cool branches and feel the most delicious breeze wash over me and refresh me for just a moment before I am out of the shadow, and under the hot summer sun again.
I thank God for trees a lot.
For the varying shades of greenness of each one. For the different varieties he has given us.
For the wonderful shade they create. For the idea of sheltering beneath them which draws me to God, and makes me remember that He shelters me in His arms at all times.
For the bliss of a moment in the shade and the cooling breeze that always accompanies my brief respite there.
Tress always make me thank God and ponder His infinite mercy for making something as lovely and magnificent as trees, just for our enjoyment. Just because of His infinite love and care for us.

Anyway.
I may be deep in prayer for someone's marriage, when this lovely little pair of Mr. and Mrs. Bluebirds just flit right over head, and I interrupt one thought of prayer to say thank you Dear Heavenly Father for those husband and wife bluebirds, I mean, bluebird mates. Because my prayer is spilling out right then as I run and breathe, and I catch myself praying, I don't mean to sound flippant...of course bluebirds are not married, but thank you Father for these beautiful bluebird mates. For the brightness of their wings, for creating so much just for us to see and enjoy. Thank you for blessing me with so much...
I'm not kidding.
My prayers are often interrupted and rambly.
Go figure.

But I know that God knows my heart.
He knows how thankful I am for every beautiful sight he allows me to see, every beautiful morning songbird he allows me to hear.
He knows I am trying.
Oh, I am trying with all my might to please Him.

I know I fail.

Of course HE knows I fail.

And I am so thankful,
so thankful above all else for His infinite mercy and grace for me.
For His infinite patience with me as I long so much to be more like Him,
to be more pleasing in His sight.

Yep, I have a long way to go. We all do. Aren't you so glad, along with me,
for God's unchanging nature?

Spending time in prayer being thankful is so good for you.
The more thankful you are,
the happier you are.
Not to mention it truly helps you to keep a humble, content outlook and focus.

But, onto some ramblings.
Two more odd little tidbits.
Two fortuitous little bits of information that have helped make my running more...
well bearable,
since I can't quite call it fun yet.
:)

I squirt myself with my perfume every morning when I get dressed out of sheer habit.
Hubby really likes my perfume, and I like that.
(No comments from the Jensens, my kiddos or Kara about aforementioned perfume.)
Ahem...
A girls gotta have some secrets.

Anyway, so, just out of habit, the other day before I ran, I squirted my perfume on my running clothes. NOT on purpose, because, let me tell you, no amount of perfume is going to cover up the funk you work up running.
Nuf' said.
However, I did, and that day when I ran, the horseflies that torment my running existence, left me alone.
I made up a little ditty as I ran, something like:

What's good for hubby and puts a smile on his face,
The horse flies don't like the way it tastes...

Yes, sometimes I am beyond lame.

But now I spray that perfume on every day before I run.

Tidbit number two.
Every morning before I run I was washing my face with Dove soap, like I do every day.
Well, it is hotter than a fire cracker right now.
It's been in the upper eighties when I start, and ending in the nineties by the time I finish and that is early~ish in the morning.
Sweat is pouring off of me.
Not a pretty picture, I know, but you have to have the details for this story.
So, as the sweat starts to seriously run down my face, it has been burning my skin like nobody's business.
I started to wonder if I had acid sweat.
Hubby was sure it was from too much salt.
Hubby likes to blame a lot of things on my salt intake.
He mostly just likes to harass me.
That hubby of mine.
:)
But I got to thinking, hmm...I wonder if it is some kind of reaction with the dove soap and sweat.
So, today, I did NOT wash my face before I ran,
and
TA DA!!!
No burning/acid feeling on my face!
Hooray!

Just passing these tidbits on,
in case any of you gals need some running/walking in the super hot sun tips..
or just a good laugh on my behalf.
:)

A few confessions now.

I love the idea of getting up early, but I'm not great at it.
Barf.
I would love to get up every day at 5:30 and run.
Every night, I think it sounds like a wonderful plan.
But almost every morning I have to fight going back to bed after hubby leaves.
The alarm goes off at 6:30 and hubby hits the snooze until 7:00 and we get up.
Pit-i-ful.
I know.
But it's how we roll.

I am not "naturally" submissive.
I have to work at it.
Hard.
I'm getting better.

I make up goofy songs all the time.
All. The. Time.
See aforementioned horse fly tune.
The grandblessings love it.
Hubby?
Eh, not so much.
One of our family favorites,
o.k., one of my favorites, is

"Here's the scoop,
eating oatmeal helps ya poop."

Yep. They're not always pretty. Just little ditties all day long.
But I also sing a lot of church songs too.
Singing, even silly songs, is just good for you I think.

Well, that's all for now.
I'm sure I should be doing something productive.
:)

Hubby will be home soon.
I need to go put some perfume on.
wink wink

Love you all!
I hope your night is wonderful!
Love
~m.

Lessons learned...and being learned in marriage...

At the end of the day when I lay my head down on my pillow,
my mind is often spinning with words.

Words of prayers for so many mixed up and hurting friends,
torn up families and splintering marriages.

Words of comfort,

encouragement,

hope...

and sometimes even rebuke
that I feel almost pressed upon to share with others...

Not because I am "all that",
but because I...we,
have been through some of the same struggles,
battled some of the same battles,
had the same fights and fears,
went about things the same wrong way...
and needed help,
love,
patience,
encouragement,
and hope
to get to where we needed to be.

Marriage is hard work.

AND,

every now and then

Marriage is easy.

When it is good and right and we are following His blueprint,
it is Heaven on earth.
Things just seem to roll smoothly.
When wedded life is good, the world is just a better place.
The birds are singing.
The sun shines brighter.
Most days
:)
We find it much easier to count our blessings.
We really can tackle any of life's troubles because we stand side by side and arm in arm
with His word guiding us.
We are united and we are strong.
There are hard times.
(more than you might expect)
Really rough, knock the breath out of you times...
But, nothing TOO hard that we can't handle, TOGETHER.

When it is bad, and we really are NOT doing it God's way,
it feels like a living Hell.
I don't say that lightly or flippantly.
I've seen illness, death, depression, cancer decimating bodies, abuse.
But nothing is worse than a failing marriage.
(except, perhaps in my estimation, a failing marriage with alcoholism involved)

I believe that God created marriage to be the closest thing to Heaven on earth.
Doesn't it make sense to say a failing marriage is as miserable emotionally and spiritually as we can become? We are ostracized from our spouses, and often from our Father as well.
We are discouraged, weak, angry, afraid.
Despairing we may spend a life time living miserably in constant turmoil.
We wonder how it got this way because we are Christians after all!
Then pile hard times on top of that, and we are knocked down.
Maybe for the count.
We wonder if any other Christian marriages struggle like ours?
How do we fix it,
or if it's that bad...
it just can't be fixed.

And then some give up.
They walk away.
They walk out.
They give up
or they give in.
And Satan gleefully watches another Christian home go down in flames...literally.

Our Holy Father is the designer, planner and promoter of marriage.
He wants and expects us to do it His way.
As in any other Biblical matter, His way is good, right, pure, light and full of joy.

When we deviate from His way, it brings heart ache, on ourselves and on others.
When we are prideful, immature, fleshly, selfish,
when we throw agape love out the window,
and we throw our intended roles out the window
it is not,
and it will never be,
pretty, or easy, happy or peaceful.

Too often of late we have found that a lot of "apparently" good marriages are really falling apart.
Too many men proclaiming to be Christians are involved in sexual sins
from pornography to adultery.
Too many wives are discontent and unhappy,
seeming to think they are missing out on something, perhaps keeping their gaze on the world, rather than the world.
Longing for...what...
Romance?
Fulfillment?

Too much selfishness.
Too little Agape love.
Too much immaturity.

Too much entering into marriage allegedly prepared,
but really without clear ideas of what AGAPE love in marriage means or what God's roles for husbands and wives really are.

Whatever the reason, the troubles, struggles and sins hurting both husbands and wives are real.

If you are married, you may be struggling yourself.
If not, you may know someone who is.
If you're not married yet, likely some day you will be.

I know there is no easy answer.
Well, maybe I am saying that wrong.
The answer is easy.
It's the application, the laying aside bad habits, that is so hard.
But we just have to. Too much is at stake. And Satan is just sooo good at deceiving.
My prayer is that we will all look within first,
but also I hope we can reach out to others with love and patience and gently help guide them into a better way...God's way.
I pray we can unmask lies that Satan has fed us concerning marriage.
Maybe to ourself.
Maybe to a friend or loved one.
NOT with a holier than thou attitude.
But for LOVE'S sake.

We will study a few points and ponder a few ideas that if applied to humble hearts,
can better our marriages.
How do I know?
Because God never lies, and these ideas aren't mine.

They're HIS.

The points we will cover:

1) You need to be the perfect help meet for your husband, NO MATTER what anyone else says.
I did not say PERFECT person, but perfectly suited for your fella in particular.

2) You can't change anyone, but you can influence them. And you should be influencing your dear hubby for the good...not for your good.

3) If you are busy serving, you don't have time to worry about if you are being served. Self explanatory, but we will dig deeper.

4) Eternity is real, and no matter how bad you think your life is, it's a drop in the bucket compared to where you will some day take up permanent residency.

5) You are NOT the only one having struggles! Seeking Godly advice has saved many a marriage. However ONLY seek godly advice!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Points to follow soon!

So many of you have encouraged us in our marital walk,
and we are so grateful!
I continue to pray for all of us to have humble hearts as we strive to please our LORD and truly have the marriages God intends for us to have.

Much love dear friends!
~m

Sage Advice

Finally, be ye all of one mind,
having compassion one of another,
love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
Not rendering evil for evil,
or railing for railing:
but contrariwise blessing;
knowing that ye are thereunto called,
that ye should inherit a blessing.
For he that will love life,
and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil,
and his lips that they speak no guile;
Let him eschew evil, and do good;
let him seek peace, and ensue it;
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous,
and His ears are open unto their prayers;
but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
1 Peter 3:8~12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another one of my favorite passages.
:)
~~~~~~~~
Have a wonderful day sweet friends!
I'm off for a mammogram.
Barf.
But then the zoo with my kiddos.
Woot!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

I think that's it's fun to learn more about other people.
I'm a question asker.
I don't call it nosy, because it's not.
I just care.
I love to know more about other people;
about what makes them tick.
How did they become who they are,
and why.

I love those "twenty things no one knows about me posts".
I don't think they're vain.
I think they are great,
because I get to learn more about people I love, or am just getting to know,
and I didn't even have to ask to find out!

I plan on getting back to some Bible study articles soon.
My sweet kiddos will be on a stateside door knocking campaign next week
and then a week of camp,
so I will have plenty of quiet time.
(maybe too much...eek)
The great thing about NOT having insomnia, is, I SLEEP!
The down side to sleeping is I am not up in the wee hours in a quiet house, writing. :)

Anyway, on to a randomly silly, fun to write post.

My favorite song of all time is Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby.
I could listen to it every day.
Oddly enough, he is definitely not my favorite singer.
I don't really think his voice is that great.
But the song is amazing.

One of my favorite Bible verses right now is Romans 9:20
"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"
It speaks to me as applied to marriage and our roles, as it was pointed out in a wonderful article by a friend, and it speaks to me in being content with who I am, while striving to be better.

That brings me to a favorite thought of mine.
Being comfortable in my own skin.
I love that I am finally old enough and slightly wise enough to be just that.
Happy, thankful, thoughtful, grateful, aware of who I am and that God created me.
I am a conglomeration of my past, God's word, my genetics, my husbands influence,
providence, my peers, prayer and my upbringing.
And that's o.k.
Content to know that I am not perfect but that I am working always on being the child of God, wife of my dear hubby, and momma to my sweet children that God would have me to be.
Always room for improvement,
but grace and love for myself to know that it's o.k. to not be perfect.
That no one is.
I don't need a perfect body, the perfect words, perfect habits all the time.
I'm not giving myself room to sin.
I'm giving myself a little grace to fail, pick myself up and keep going.
Keep a wholly, HOLY repentant attitude, and God will do the rest.
I just need to keep striving, and God is pleased with that.
What a comforting thought that is to me.

I love salt.
More than the average bear.
I am a saltoholic.
What, you didn't know that was a word?
Now you do.
I salt my pizza.
Really.
I have been given a salt lick as a gag gift.
I thought it was very thoughtful.
:)


One of my favorite people that ever lived
(that I knew)
was my Grandma.
Her name was Naida.
As a child her friends and cousins called her "Naida Potata",
then her favorite cousin shortened her nickname to "Spud".
Yep.
She wasn't perfect, but she was mine, and I loved her very much.
She was not a Christian, but she was an amazing woman.
She gave short sage advice like,
"He won't buy the cow if he can get the milk for free."
and "Nobody likes a brat."
She once bought a T-shirt that said "I finally got it all together, but I forgot where I put it." Slightly scatterbrained at times, seemingly a family trait.
She was funny and loving, caring and kind.
And I loved her.

I love to paint antique, or any, wooden furniture white.
Not. A. News. Flash.

I always wanted five children.
For whatever reason five also happens to be my favorite number.
Hmm...
glad it wasn't twelve.
:)

I love traveling, but HATE riding in the car.
Hubby is very good to me and makes frequent stops to let me stretch my legs.
I love that guy.

I love taking long walks.
But taking long walks on a wooded trail next to a river with my hubby is my FAVORITE.

I love watching the Tour de France with my family.
(and I am so glad I got to wash some of my hubby's cycling clothes this weekend, because hubby's leg is better enough that he got to ride on his trainer downstairs!!!)
Hooray for progress and healing!

Christmas is my favorite holiday.
Hands down.
Aforementioned Grandma was the Christmas Guru.
Now, hubby says I am the Christmas Guru.
But let me tell you, that hubby of mine is a purdy good Santa himself.
Thanksgiving is a close second.
Just the holiday time of year makes me have a HUGE smile on my face.
Crisp weather, holiday songs and decorating the house.
A slower pace all cozied up inside.
I LOVE IT!!!
I pretty much love every holiday,
because it means our family is all together.

I adore wearing cowgirl boots with skirts...or dresses...jeans...
Hmm...I might even try my pjs.
Nah...just kidding there.
But I do like my boots.
Hubby got them for me for out 20th wedding anniversary.
Did I mention I love that guy?

I love dressing girly.
Feminine is fantastic.
I love how the virtuous woman is talked about as clothing her house in purple.
I don' think that gal was a slacker or sloucher in her dress.
I believe she was modest, lovely and wore beautiful clothing.
Not ostentatious.
But it's o.k. to stand out a bit, if the reason you are standing out, is just because you have taken the time to look purdy in a modest, lovely manner!
And I do like to do that to.
Bring on the purdy things!
Hubby doesn't mind a bit.
:)

I love to sew, run, garden, read, talk to friends, study my Bible, cook, have folks over, cuddle with my hubby, play board games, and play hide and seek in the house with my kiddos, grandkiddos, nieces and nephews.
That sums up a few of my favorite past times/ things.

Oh, and my favorite ice cream EVER is coffee lovers only from Coldstone with extra caramel and extra heath. You can pretty much never have too much extra goodies is my motto.
It's hubby's favorite too, so we always share the biggest size.

I hope you all have a super day.
Count your blessings.
Say your prayers.
Spend time studying God's word THIS day and every day.
And if you have a minute, tell me some of your favorite things!

Love to you all,
~m