My husband and I do some pre-marital counseling at the church, and we like to do one whole session on unrealistic expectations in marriage. I know I had them when we got married. I think I still may have one or two lying around. For instance, for the whole first month of our marriage, I got up early and cooked Mikel breakfast. I mean eggs and bacon, biscuits, and sometimes even hashbrowns…the whole 9 yards. I thought that’s what a “good wife” did. After about a month of it, he kindly told me, “Ummm, I don’t really like to eat breakfast!” He never said he wanted a hot breakfast every day, and I never asked. So I went to all that trouble and took all that time and put all that pressure on myself based on an unrealistic expectation of what a good wife was. Sometimes we set expectations for ourselves when it comes to God no one could ever live up to….
Category: Uncategorized (page 34)
Reality….
My husband has family on the island of Oahu, and I’m so thankful to have been able to visit that tropical paradise several times. Whenever it was time to go home, I would sing that 80’s song (and it’s really the only line I know) Back to life…back to reality! We would even talk about moving over there – you know – like everyone who visits that island probably does. But in the end, if we did move over there, it wouldn’t have been the same. It wouldn’t have been a relaxing escape….the work and stress of every day life with 3 kids would follow us there. Our vacation time was not what the reality of living on the island would be. So…we always came back to reality and kept that as an oasis of escape. There are two different realities that can teach our words…
When you can’t say no….
Doesn’t the thought of getting away sound good right about now? Especially someplace warm and tropical? The thought of sitting on a beach with my feet in the warm sand listening to the sound of the waves sounds AH-MAY-ZING right now! Where all I have to think about is finding a great seashell and eating another pineapple whip. Who doesn’t need a little extra down time? What happens when we can’t get away? When we can’t un-busy our lives? When we can’t say no?
Scheduling…
For those of you that might be interested, I wanted let you know that I will be ministering this weekend at Victory Christian Center Warren Campus. If you are in the area, I’d love to see you there. It’s always such an honor and privilege when I get to share His Word, and I’m praying He speak through me a timely word for this season.
Where does busy come from?
Busy comes in all shapes and sizes and for various reasons. It can be because of a busy season, like Christmas! Or maybe it’s because we’re planning a special event. Busy can be because we have more kids than hands and they keep us busy from sun up to sun down. People tell me all the time that I’m really going to miss this season of life…going from work to football game to soccer game to music lesson to cooking dinner to……(I believe them….kinda….) One reason for busy that’s not so healthy is when we’re busy because we have to be. I don’t mean have to because someone is making us. I mean have to because if we aren’t busy doing something, we feel we have no value. We find our identity and self-worth in what we do. This isn’t good, but I think at one time or another, we’ve all found ourselves here. I know I have. What can we do about that?