A Successful Marriage …
I Don’t Want My Children …
Listen Earnestly To …
Relationships: Now & Forever
Forever
When I look in your eyes and see your bright smile and feel your comforting touch, when I hear all the love in those warm, caring words that encourage and cheer me so much. There’s a feeling I have that “forever” is ours, that, no matter the season or weather, Our hearts will be filled with the same kind of magic and love that first brought us together. – Emily Matthews
A great reminder for those of us who are married. Our spouses know us better than anyone else. They know how to make us laugh and push our buttons. There will be days when life is smooth and bright while other days may have a few storm clouds brewing in the distance.
Take the time to talk with your spouse. Share your heart. Spend time doing projects and fun activities together. Go on a date. Relax, snuggle, and share a hug. It doesn’t matter if you have been married for a few days or many years investing in your partner is important.
Relationships: Through the Eyes of Children
If you look at the world with the eyes of a child,
There is joy in the simplest thing,
From the green of a leaf on the earliest tree
To the curve of a bird on the wing.
If you look at the world with the eyes of a child,
There are miracles filling each day,
From the grass which mysteriously sways in the wind
To the gold in the sun’s friendly ray.
If you look at the world with the eyes of a child,
There is wonder beyond any measure,
From the stars and the moon in the evening sky
To the sparkle of a dewdrop treasure.
– Maryjane Tonn
I love how children take such joy and delight in the everyday things of life. From a babies giggle to sprinkles on top of the ice cream cone to a handful of cheerful yellow dandelions picked to be displayed in glory on the counter. The little moments of happiness and sheer gladness over the simple yet everyday tasks or items in life. Learning how to use or do something for the first time brings a great happiness to a child.
As an adult there is so much my children and other children can remind me. There is so many blessings all around us. Too often I take those good things that God gives me for granted. I know I don’t take enough time to focus on the blessings and goodness that I see around me.
Being around kids especially small ones for extended periods of time is exhausting yet rewarding. Their energy and excitement is contagious. I am thankful for my kids and the little ones that I have had the opportunity to spend time with because they remind me of the true treasures in life that I have been given. Thank you little ones!
Relationships: Blessings of Good Friends
Friendships are a special part of life, and each and every friendship is different. Some friendships develop and grow when times and places make it easy for friends to be together and share. Some friendships mature and change and last a lifetime, even when distance and silences exist. The wonderful part of a good friendship is that it touches your heart with feelings that make every day more beautiful and worthwhile. – Ben Daniels
I am thankful for my friends. While reading the other day I came across the above insert from Ben Daniels. It was a great reminder for me and might be for you as well. Hopefully each of us have developed at least a handful of these types of friendships in our lives because they are priceless. They journey through life with you no matter the amount of miles between you and the time gaps in seeing each other. With all the technology (cell phones, internet, social media and other) we have the resources available to at least stay in touch to these friends. Reach out to these friends in your life this week. Be an encouragement, share some laughs, and invest the time in these friendships.
Relationships: Granting Your Spouse Permission to Help YOU Heal
Rose picked by Jake from the Mother’s Day bush Karlie gave me last year! Beautiful!I am blessed to have a loving husband. He takes great care of me and the girls, loves me despite my faults, pitches in around the house, always seeking ways to teach our girls, and intentionally invests regularly time and energy into our relationship and our family.
Yet for some reason when I am tired, hurting, or discouraged he is the first person I tend to lash out at. Is it because he is near? Or is it that I trust he will continue loving me as he helps me get through the moments of hurt? Is it that he is the first person who notices that I am struggling? Is it because I allow “little stuff” to build up, get emotional, and blow the “little stuff” way out of proportion? Or is it a complex multitude of feelings and connections of life that make me think it is acceptable to snap at someone truly trying to lovingly help me?
Life is tough. It would be a lie to say that I have not gone through a multitude of various emotions over the past few months. My girls are growing up so quickly and my Momma’s heart is rejoicing yet broken over it at the same time. I have not invested the time and energy into relationships that are important to me. It has been a struggle to balance life, schedules, and times to the point that some days I feel like I am messing up everything or falling short. It feels like there are days when I am rushing through life and trying to just get what has to be accomplished done only to crash at night and re-start the process all over again the next day.
How can I be an encouraging, positive, loving light, sharing God’s grace with those around me when I feel like the walls are falling in on me? I have been praying specifically that God would break down the walls I have built up around my heart, revealed those areas I need to heal and repair, fill the holes that are plugged with the wrong motives, and work in my life, however, it is at times a very painful process.
When an animal is hurting they tend to find a safe place and withdraw into themselves. If you approach a hurt animal when they are in that safe place or feel like they are backed into a corner they have a tendency to snap at anyone reaching out to help them. Their eyes are clouded with hurt or pain, their defenses are up, and they don’t know what to do so they react in anger at anyone trying to help because it is hard for them to distinguish between someone who is trying to hurt and a person who is trying to help. I am sure vets or people who work with animals see this all the time. The animal wants to be alone in their pain, lick their wounds, and retreat to safety even though it it not the best action if they truly want to heal.
As humans we cannot and should not react the same way as an animal would. We are built to value and crave relationships. Some of our relationships may be healthy while others are pulling us down. We cannot be everything to everybody, it’s impossible, yet we can make an impact on the lives we touch. Starting with our relationship with Christ, spreading to our spouses, children, and reaching out to family, friends, co-workers, and others that we interact with in our lives. It always works best when we are living our life looking for strength, encouragement, and wisdom from the top and allowing it to filter down through our lives to the people we have the privilege of loving and living life beside.
Take time this week to spend time pray. Investigate your heart, reflect on your relationships, and start the process of breaking down the barriers we have created to falsely shield us. Those barriers are really just holding us back and blocking those who truly love and want to help us. Allow your spouse and others to speak truth into your life.
Relationships: Friendships & Crossroads
The beautiful flower is the one that Brina gave me on Mother’s Day!
I have been thinking a lot lately about relationships and friendships. Part of the reason this has been on my mind a lot is that our girls are going through the process of learning what it means to be a real friend and characteristics of friends. They are slowly, and sometimes painfully, at least from a Moms standpoint, learning the value and qualities portrayed in a true friend.
As they wrap up their final year in elementary school and prepare to move up to Middle School they are realizing that many of the people they know now are going different directions. They are are starting to understand that the friends they have known since Kindergarten are not going to the same schools. Yes, they will see a few people they know next year, but many of the classmates, teachers, and faculty are going to new. A new school, new location, and in some ways a fresh start to the next phase in their life. Kids from their school are going in various different directions some due to location and others family decisions.
I was thinking about friendships and how our lives continually crisscross paths with individuals who become our friends. Sometimes for whatever reason or due to circumstances our paths have to go separate ways, but that doesn’t mean your friendship is lost or that you’ll never see them again. Other times for various reasons it is best to go separate ways. As I was thinking about the conversations I have been having with my kids and ideas of how to encourage them through this transition I came across this little saying by Donna Yea that describes this part of the friendship journey well:
Life is like a journey. We may be walking along a path with friends and then come upon a crossroad where we each must choose the road that is right for each of us individually. At times we may find ourselves walking a path alone, but somewhere along the road we find new friends to walk with, friends to love, friends to grow with, friends to share with. The path of life has many crossroads, and at each one it’s difficult to say good-bye and go our own separate ways, choosing the direction that is right for each of us. But the memory of a friend will always remain, and there is always the chance that our paths will cross again. – Donna Yee
Thankful for writers that can put words down in such a way that they can encourage my heart and let me know that this is normal. Is it easy to go through this stage and process with your kids, no, but it is necessary. Our support as parents and families is essential as our kids learn to grow and adapt to the changes they encounter while they are under our roof. How we handle or don’t handle these little crossroads will make a big impact on our kids. Let’s make this a positive experience for them. One of the hardest times in my life was transitioning to a new High School, but I met some of the most amazing people and friends during those last couple of years that I may have never met had I not been required to switch schools. God is good and will provide those people at the right times and in the right moments.
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Heart Reflections: Stretching Towards the Sun
Our family has recently planted a garden. Since it had been getting cool at night we started the seedlings inside. Every day I have watched and nurtured those little plants. Some of the seeds popped up quickly while others never came up. As I watched the plants growing each one stretched out their leaves towards the light. Once they were big enough we transplanted them outside in our garden. Shortly after planting them we had a night of heavy wind, rain, and even hail followed by a frost on the ground a few days later. Even though it was “safe” for us to plant the garden outside there are still risks and dangers. Many of the seedlings survived the tough few weeks of new growth, however, some did not make it. Although, our hope was that every plant would thrive we know that nature will do some natural pruning especially in the weaker plants. For whatever reason some plants didn’t make it (something caused the undesirable side effect…maybe the roots were too shallow or wet / dry or too much shade / sunny or bugs or a number of other factors) . On the other hand some plants thrived despite all the challenges they faced.While I was thinking about the plants it occurred to me that the analogy can be applied in some ways to our own lives. We should be looking towards the Son at all times, the one who created us. We all grow at our own pace, some of us may have sprouted quickly while others are delayed but have a more solid root structure. Even though life may not be perfect and we may experience seasons of drought, hail, or disease we still have a choice of where to focus our attention. Once we decide where we will focus our energy we will experience a variety of ripple effects (sometimes the effects are positive and other times they can can be less desirable). When we are in stressful situations do we continue to grow or do we wither under the pressure of life? We all want to continue growing, thriving and producing a beautiful fruit. The big step is making sure our root structure is strong and secure. We do this through continually cultivating a relationship with our Savior. Yes, this will take our time, energy and nurturing, but in the end it is worth it. We all want to feel loved, appreciated and valued yet so often we look towards our earthly relationships to provide that fulfillment whether it is through our spouse, children, serving at church or whatever fills that void. Instead we should look to our creator who made us, never fails, and loves us unconditionally. As we notice flowers and plants stretching towards the sun, let that remind us of the importance of reaching towards the Son in our own lives as well.
“Heart Reflections” is a series of thoughts and encouragement that come directly from my heart. Life has a way of throwing us extra challenges and when our focus is pulled away from what is truly important we tend to feel the pressure of stress in our lives. This series is created to remind us that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We don’t have to face the pressure of life on our own. We can trust that our prayers are being heard. He alone knows what’s best for us and gives us the appropriate strength to get through each day as it is set before us.
Photo by Stig Nygaard
