Marriage Builder Monday

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know that I have a pretty high opinion of marriage. You probably also know that I feel as though marriage is tremendously undervalued in today's society, a fact that makes me alternately irate and deeply saddened. With that in mind, I enjoy participating and encouraging others to participate in blog events that prompt us to positively impact our marriages.



I have only been married for one year, but I have learned, even in such a short time, that a truly great marriage is the result of a lot of hard work. I would by no means say that Austin and I have achieved this in every way; however, we are both committed to each other and our marriage, and we both work to be better people and better spouses, with the help of God.

Our pastor's series the last couple of weeks has been on marriage and relationships (tying into the release of Fireproof), and he has made several wonderful points along the way. Here are a couple of my favorites:

~ Love has to be a daily decision because everyone is constantly changing and growing, so we have to decide, with God's help, to love our mates every day even in the midst of the changes.

~ Human love cannot always whether the storms of life or stand the test of time, so we have to depend upon the Lord to help us love the way he loves.

My Marriage Builders for the week of October 5-11:

1) Continue reading The Power of a Praying Wife.
2) Help him pack for his business trip.
3) Include daily trip notes in his bag.
4) Have a pecan pie waiting for him when he gets home :)

Hope everybody has a fabulous Monday! :)

Marriage Builder Monday - on a Tuesday :)

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I know I'm a day late on this one, but yesterday was our big BATW day! Thanks to everyone for your visits and your sweet comments! I am hoping to return the favor within the next couple of days :)

I am starting the book The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian, so one thing that I'm going to do for Austin this week, and for the next several, is to read this book and put it into practice. I have a tendency to just zip through a book and while I get a lot out of it, I know that in certain situations, it is best to read slowly, taking everything in and even rereading when necessary. Therefore, I am going to read just a single chapter per week, and take longer if I feel the need. This week's chapter is entitled "His Wife" and it's about looking at myself and what I need to improve upon rather than always thinking about and focusing upon the areas in which he needs to improve.



Another practical thing I am planning for Austin this week will happen on Friday evening. We are going away for our anniversary this weekend, and the trip involves a six-hour drive. Having just returned from a cross-country road trip to Florida in which he drove the bulk of the 25 hour drive (both ways), he is not particularly looking forward to the driving portion of our weekend. So, I am going to drive the entire way there, and if he would like, the entire way back. If he'll let me. Sometimes he's kind of macho about that. He feels responsible to get us there safely. He's so stinking cute! :)

Hope everyone's having a great, great Tuesday!

Marriage Builder Monday!

Sarah over at Burgeon is hosting a new meme called Marriage Builder Mondays. She says:

"I’m a big believer in accountability and have found that it becomes very easy to be accountable when you share your mission with others. So here we are…I would like to share with you each Monday one small thing I will be doing for my husband each week."



As you all well know, I'm a firm believer that a healthy, happy marriage = work. Good work. Mostly fun work. But work nonetheless. And the extent to which we fail to do the work, so we fail altogether.



To that end, I will be joining Sarah in this weekly challenge, because I can use all the help and accountability I can get. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of life and work and everything else and forget to make our husbands our number 2 priority (second only to our relationship with God).



I have been so blessed with my amazingly wonderful, patient, loving husband who just happens to be a hottie, who absolutely rocks my socks off!

And on top of all that, he is taking time off of the job he loves, to drive me twelve hours both ways to visit my family in Colorado! He's just that cool!

So, this week, since he works so hard, and since we will be sitting in a car for hours upon hours, I will give him a relaxing and thorough massage every eveining. I know that this means a lot to him, and it's something that I do not take the time to do nearly often enough.

Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration Sarah! This is such a great idea!