Great Friends

I wish I had time to write a tribute to all of the great friends in my life. Just this week, one godly woman ministered to me in an incredible way. She is like a second mother to me; I have known her for over half my life. I wish I could quantify what she means to me, but it's just not possible. Thank you, Sharon, for reminding me what it means to be a godly wife and woman.

Another friend e-mailed, and it was a God thing. That's all I can say. She has been through a lot, a LOT in her nine years of marriage. What an encouragement and a support she is.

Other friends have been so loving and caring in the past few months, and some are going through their own hard times. To all my girlfriends, far and near: I love you. I can't imagine my life without you. Thank God for friendships that draw us closer to Him and give us a glimpse of His love for us.

Stealing Creativity

I am a woman.

I like romance.

I love to surprise my husband.

However, I can easily get stuck in the same ruts, and we have only been together for three years and married for two years. I found this book a few months ago. I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg in flipping through it, but here's a sample:

94
Give her one Hershey's Kiss.
Give her one thousand Hershey's Kisses.

Remove all the little paper strips (that say "Kisses" on them) from a couple hundred Hershey's Kisses. Fill a little jewelry box with them. Wrap 'em up and present them to her.

Write a clever certificate explaining that the little paper slips are coupons
redeemable for one kiss each.

Not only are there 1001 ideas, but I think it inspires creativity and thinking outside the box when it comes to romance. Some ideas are far beyond my budget, and others are free. It is incredible the ideas you can come up with if you devote some time to it. (Since we don't all have a bunch of time, I'm recommending the book instead!)

If your husband complains about not being romantic naturally, get it for him. Take away his excuses! (Just don't tell your husbands I suggested it; I like them and still want to be their friend.)

It was $11.53 at Amazon. It was a great investment in my marriage. I look forward to using the ideas for a long time.

Transparency

I am preparing a workshop for the women's conference at our church next weekend. I am very excited to share and believe that God has a message He wants to share through me. However, I am thinking today about how hard it can be to be transparent in life as well as in a leadership role. It's even hard to share the blunt force of my true feelings with friends or my husband at times. Can he handle the ugliness of my feelings, my pain? Can they still love me when they see the unpretty parts?

Transparency is a gift we give. Often, when I give it, I receive it back as well. So I will step out, be transparent, and allow what others "intended to harm me" to be used for good (Genesis 50:20).

So be it.

Planning a Wedding...or Building a Marriage?

Wedding season is coming. I have been contemplating what to get for some of these couples. I hated getting a slew of gifts that weren't on my registry, I didn't need, couldn't figure out where to return, etc., so I am sympathetic to that perspective. I also know that they will receive many things to fill their home but not much to help their minds and hearts adjust to being a husband and wife. This is one of the best (if not the very best) books I have read on marriage. It challenged me and changed my thinking in many ways.

What if God created marriage to make you holy more than to make you happy?

I think I will throw this in the gift bag along with a cookie sheet or cake pan. I wonder which will do more good for their future?

I love Amie

I've intended to come back at random points in the past few months. I'm back because Amie tagged me. I needed to come back anyway. Thanks for the excuse, Amie.

The rules for this meme are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog; some random, some weird

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by linking to their names/blogs

4. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they are tagged

I will do my best here to find 7 things of interest about me.

1. I love Hostess 100-calorie packs; specifically, the chocolate cake and cinnamon streusel ones. I eat one almost every day.


2. I bring my own ice to work. At some point, bags of ice in the freezer were nowhere to be found, and I like to drink my pop with ice. So I started filling Ziploc bags with ice in the morning and bringing it with me a few times a week. I don't think it's that weird, but when Bill made fun of me and my ice, I realized other people may see it as so. I'm not terribly concerned about it; I brought ice again today.


3. I am 30 years old and do not have a washer or dryer hooked up in my home. (That's not weird as much as it is very, very sad.)


4. I love "What Not to Wear." I constantly evaluate my wardrobe on the basis of "The Rules."


5. My sisters and I grew up playing church in our front yard. We sang worship and special music with the legs of our trampoline as microphones. Not the huge trampolines they have now, but the little ones with the super-short legs. I also preached and prayed. I guess it was a pre-cursor of things to come...


6. I always thought that my love of NASCAR and some other spectator sports would be a big "plus" in getting a man. After all, they love sitting on the couch with the remote watching sports all weekend, right? I found the one who does not. And, ironically enough, I am very grateful. He is creative and interesting and, although he boggles me with the things he comes up with, I am glad we don't obsess over football games or baseball stats or even NASCAR points. (Trust me, I have seriously lightened up on the NASCAR thing since being married to Matt. I even gave up the chance to see a race this year.)


7. I love pictures. I get pretty upset if an important occasion passes and I do not have a picture by which to commemorate it. I am usually willing to ask passing strangers to take a picture because the chance of not getting one at all is too much to risk. Thankfully, we have some pretty great pics taken by total strangers, such as this one from our second anniversary:

As for tagging people, I have no idea. I'll go with Haleigh and Mary. I know it's not seven, but it will have to do.