For a change, this has nothing to do with parenting aside from the fact that one of the best things you can do for your child is to make your marriage a priority.
A while back Cameron and I had a serious conversation about our relationship. We have these from time to time where we evaluate where we are and where we've been and where we want to be, and how we feel about all of it. I think it's important to do this at least a few times a year. During this conversation, something came out (truth) that had never been said before. Our life has been pretty hectic with the new addition of Violet and being back around family and friends, so it took a while for the new truth to set in and for my mind to wrap around its implications. Once it finally settled in, I got into a bit of a funk. This past weekend I couldn't stop thinking about it and finally spoke to Cameron about it Saturday night. I expressed to him that the new truth I was living with changed my perception of the past. I was mourning memories that were put to death by the truth. I was very sad.
We know that areas of our marriage need work- we knew going into marriage that we would struggle in these areas. We want to not struggle. We want to have the kind of marriage that is described in the Bible. It's the desire of our hearts. We often get discouraged because we fail so many times, and even when we don't, we still live with the consequences of past failures.
Sunday, at church, the message was about the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Truth. To be honest, I was tired from our late night conversation. I had a hard time listening to the message, but God still had something to say to me. The Spirit of Truth comforted me. It's okay to mourn, but better to rejoice that we now live in the truth.
I am a huge advocate for marriage: for "til death to us part," God can heal ALL things, marriage. I believe in communicating, supporting each other, and being best friends. I believe in a biblical definition of marriage. I believe that the description of the relationship in the Song of Solomon is something that God intends for us all to have and enjoy. I believe that all of the descriptions about the roles of husbands and wives in the Bible are exactly how we ought to live, and they are what I want. I WANT that marriage. We both do. However, as much as I support and firmly believe in God's description of marriage, I often forget that God is a much better advocate than I am. I forget that what He describes, is what He wants for us.
We don't need to despair over the trials we face, because we know that God is our advocate. You see, when our desires match up with His desires, we can rest assured that our God is a good father and will give us the desires of our heart. How lovely is it to know that the marriage we long for is exactly the marriage that He longs for us to have?
That is something worth rejoicing over. When we live in the truth of God's word, He turns our mourning into praise. That's the work of the Spirit of Truth. Praise God.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Sweet Time
I realized a few days ago that it has been several weeks since I have written a new blog post. It's not that I haven't had a million different ones in my mind that I intended to write, but lately, I'd rather spend time with my Violet.
I think we've hit the sweet spot. I feel like we are currently at the magical period of time where Violet is the easiest she will ever be. Right now parenting is a complete and total joy. She is gorgeous and smiley and laughs and loves to just chill with us.
She really likes it when Cameron and I sing to her so I've been trying to jog my own memory to recall the songs I learned in VBS and day camp at church to expand our repertoire. Yesterday we were going through compilations of children's songs on Spotify and came across "My First Hymnal:75 Favorite Bible Songs." Violet heard the little kids singing and her face lit up with a smile. We started singing along, and seeing my sweet baby smile as her daddy and I sing songs we learned when we were little is one of my new favorite memories. She even makes sweet little sounds as if she were trying to sing along :)
She has grown into such a happy and sweet little girl. She sleeps for 10-12hrs every night, takes at least 2 naps a day, and just smiles as big as she can when I go in to pick her up in the morning. She giggles and kicks and splashes and coos. Sometimes I just can't get over how much I love her. She's becoming a real little person. My only real complaint anymore is that she spits up her new formula so much... and loves to get it all over me. But hey, that's part of being a mom right? We wear our hair up so it doesn't get pulled, we wear clothes that are easy to move around in, and our earrings rarely dangle. Makeup is ALWAYS optional. Oh yeah, and all of those little vanity sacrifices... we don't care about them. I like looking nice, and feeling clean, and getting dressed up, but right now, that gets to happen like once or twice a week and that's okay. Laying on the floor with messy hair pulled into a ponytail while making ridiculous faces and singing songs to make my sweet baby laugh is totally worth the trade off. I know the nasty milk smell isn't permanent.
So if you see me at the store in my t-shirt and stretch waist band shorts with flip flops and a messy ponytail hunched over, talking to my baby girl as I push the cart... feel free to laugh. I know I look ridiculous, but she thinks I'm hilarious and I'd do just about anything in the world to hear her laugh and see that giant smile.
I think we've hit the sweet spot. I feel like we are currently at the magical period of time where Violet is the easiest she will ever be. Right now parenting is a complete and total joy. She is gorgeous and smiley and laughs and loves to just chill with us.
She really likes it when Cameron and I sing to her so I've been trying to jog my own memory to recall the songs I learned in VBS and day camp at church to expand our repertoire. Yesterday we were going through compilations of children's songs on Spotify and came across "My First Hymnal:75 Favorite Bible Songs." Violet heard the little kids singing and her face lit up with a smile. We started singing along, and seeing my sweet baby smile as her daddy and I sing songs we learned when we were little is one of my new favorite memories. She even makes sweet little sounds as if she were trying to sing along :)
She has grown into such a happy and sweet little girl. She sleeps for 10-12hrs every night, takes at least 2 naps a day, and just smiles as big as she can when I go in to pick her up in the morning. She giggles and kicks and splashes and coos. Sometimes I just can't get over how much I love her. She's becoming a real little person. My only real complaint anymore is that she spits up her new formula so much... and loves to get it all over me. But hey, that's part of being a mom right? We wear our hair up so it doesn't get pulled, we wear clothes that are easy to move around in, and our earrings rarely dangle. Makeup is ALWAYS optional. Oh yeah, and all of those little vanity sacrifices... we don't care about them. I like looking nice, and feeling clean, and getting dressed up, but right now, that gets to happen like once or twice a week and that's okay. Laying on the floor with messy hair pulled into a ponytail while making ridiculous faces and singing songs to make my sweet baby laugh is totally worth the trade off. I know the nasty milk smell isn't permanent.
So if you see me at the store in my t-shirt and stretch waist band shorts with flip flops and a messy ponytail hunched over, talking to my baby girl as I push the cart... feel free to laugh. I know I look ridiculous, but she thinks I'm hilarious and I'd do just about anything in the world to hear her laugh and see that giant smile.
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