Time to Reconect and Remember What is Important

There are some things that I sometimes take for granted in life and one of those things is my spouse.  We live in the same house, share the same meals and enjoy our children but by the evening, after we put those little ones to bed and it is just us, we sometimes either end up either going to bed ourselves, or stay up and do the work that was pushed off during the day.  There is not much "us" time in a week and part of that, I hate to admit, is due to poor planning and lack of effort.

We were able to get away this Valentines Day weekend to spend it together at a Weekend to Remember conference in Hershey. It was a very needed time to reconnect with each other just talking, and not about our kids or work, but about us. Every marriage needs maintenance, now how that looks for you may be different than us, but we all need it the same. Just like you can't expect your car to run great forever if you never take the time to maintain it, eventually things breakdown.

Being young parents to two kids 2 and under with another one coming down the line and a business and home to run it is an extremely rewarding but exhausting life right now. We both have different things that bother us and different needs. This combined with not enough time spent praying together and studying God's word as a couple and the spiritual side of our relationship was causing us to need a tune up.

As a result of our discussions and quality time spent together we decided there are a few things that I/we are going to work on in order to make each other happier and keep our marriage healthy and vibrant.

1. We need to pray with each other every day. Even if it is short, it is hard to stay mad at a person you are praying for.
2. We need to spend time looking into God's word as a couple; maybe even keeping accountable by being in a study with a group of other couples. Learning together and growing together in grace.
3. I need to stop using "you" statements and start using more "we" statements, and decide if the issue is even worth bringing up.
4. I need to make a regular, daily habit of encouraging and praising my husband in the good he is doing.
5. I need to relinquish my spirit of fear and desire to have control of my life and realize that God is the one in control, and he loves me and has great plans for me and my family.

It was such a blessing to talk and just spend time together as a couple, it reminds us why we started on this adventure in the first place. We both wanted to live a life that honored the Lord, we wanted a marriage that was a picture of the love Christ has for us, and family that loves each other and blesses those around them. I pray that we can live up to these high goals; with God all things are possible!

May the Lord richly bless and protect your marriages, as Satan wants nothing more than to kill, steal and destroy those things that the Lord takes delight in. Don't take your spouse for granted. Show love and grace to them even if you don't feel like they deserve it at the time. God loved us while we were unlovable, I need to show that kind of love to Joshua. Take the time to have real conversations about what is going on in your spirit with your spouse because the battle is not just with the flesh and blood but with the spirit realm as well.

1 John 4:7-10 
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

                                                               The Farmer in the Dell