Marriage In The Eyes of a Single Girl

     The Lord won't quit speaking to me about marriage. He keeps giving me revelations about marriage, love, dating, purity, and life. I'm not totally for sure why, but He is. It could be He wants me to start writing my book again or it could be so I can write this blog. I have no idea but I'm more than happy to hear and learn. I've prayed about and considered writing a blog about marriage for quite some time. The only reason I hesitate is because I'm not married. But, I've decided that excuses stink and I'm writing it. I thought I would share some of the things God is speaking to me about:

(this is part of my fairytale... He'll wear suspenders)

     -Your spouse is a human being. They are not perfect. Give them grace to learn and grow as a person. I am sure that I have a few fairytale mindsets when it comes to marriage. Mostly being that my husband will be the best thing ever and never make a mistake. But that's false. And in a marriage, I will have to let my husband grow into the man God is calling Him to become.
     -I must speak to His potential and not who He currently is. The reason for marriage is that two are better than one. I'm not as strong on my own as I will be with my husband. We have to let iron sharpen iron. And we also have to believe in our spouses. If you constantly speak negative things over your spouse.... then the product of that will probably be negative. It's amazing what believing in someone will do to a relationship.
     -Be on the same page. It's hard to understand something when you're at 2 different points. Look out for each other. Hold hands.
     -Love is a choice. In a marriage I will have to choose love every day. Even when I don't feel like it. I will have to come up with reasons to love him. (And probably write them down so I won't forget.)
     -Prayer. I must be on my face in intercession for my husband. Now, when we're dating and when I'm married.
     -God's eyes. How does God see my husband? That will check a lot of my awful thoughts when He isn't mowing the yard when I think He should, or saying the right thing, or doesn't want to cook.
     -Honor my husband now. The amount of honor I show towards my husband will be in direct correlation to the amount of life in our relationship. Honor brings life.
     -God first. Husband second. In that order. Always. Always. Always. My husband can't solve all my problems or complete me. Only the Lord can. I also must communicate with my husband about the passions, encounters, and sweet whispers the Lord gives me.
     -I am not his Holy Spirit. God is very capable of handling my husband's problems. Unless instructed by my Heavenly Father- I will have to keep my mouth shut.
     -Hug. Kiss. Spend Time with one another. Find a question that you can ask every day that will stir conversation. Communication. Physical Touch. Keep the passion burning.
     -Don't yell. Ever. Never even think about mentioning the D word. (divorce). (Learned that one from my parents.)
     -Stay in alignment with the Word. Keep a kingdom mentality.

I am sure that when I do get married one day, I will have to re-read this blog. I am also sure that my husband and I will not always live in a fairy tale land. Even though I think we can for some of it. It's all a matter of choice. And I will choose to love. I make that vow now. I have a few other vows that I have written out for my husband now before I've met him. I want to honor my husband even now when I'm sitting on a couch alone. One day my prince will come, and until that day, I'll pray, fast, and honor Him.

"Jesus, What are YOU doing!?"

     "Jesus... what are You doing?" was the question I jotted down in my journal today. Sometimes in life things come in it that you just wonder what God has up His sleeve. That's what is going on in my life. This past week has been a week full of encounters with Him. He is stretching me, asking me to dream bigger, think larger, and be bolder. He's bringing things into my life that I "wonder" about. It's so easy to try and dissect every little thing and try to figure it all out. But, what good will that do? None.... I simply must come to a place of absolute trust.
     A friend recently told me, "Absolute trust = Absolute peace". Ah, the truth that is in that statement! If I am worrying over every little thing and trying to manipulate things into happening the way I see fit- I am not trusting. Therefore, I live in a chaotic mind set. A chaotic mindset is not aligning me to hear from the Lord.
     I want to always position myself to be able to hear from the Lord. So many times I catch myself complaining to my friends, "I'm just not hearing the Lord speak." How wrong am I!? So wrong. Either He IS speaking and my chaotic mind isn't listening. Or, He's already told me something and I haven't been obedient.
     Last month, the Lord spoke very clearly to me and told me to give a young girl in the church something. I shut it off and said no way. Last week, He told me again. This time, I obeyed. In that month- I was not hearing from the Lord. Since last Tuesday when I stepped out in obedience- I can not get enough of the Presence of God. He's been speaking to me.... that's just one testimony of when you obey the Lord you are aligning yourself to receive from Him. We have to be in alignment with His word and His kingdom. Pastor Jeff does such a great job at explaining this, I may have to get him to write a "blog" for me about it. :)
     Back to what God is doing in our lives. Stop worrying, He has it under control. It's so good to hear that sometimes. To be reminded of His faithfulness. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He doesn't withhold any good thing from us. He gives us the desires of our hearts.
     I was reading Psalms 103-105 today and I wanted to share a few truths from it:

104:27 God will give us our food at the proper time. Check out that verse! The hungry get fed!

104:30 He renews the Earth with His spirit. +Get in His presence, there is renewing. 

105:15 If you are walking in your anointing- you are protected. 

Stand on His promises. Allow God to work, don't try to figure it out. It's like your on a rollercoaster. If you know every turn and curve and up and down it can take the fun out of it. It's the surprises in roller coasters that make it fun. ;) Get ready people!

Get It Together

I don't feel like I have it all together. And if I am honest with myself, I don't have it all together. I oversleep. I eat too much. I don't exercise. I miss my quiet times. I talk to the Lord more than I listen. I don't stay on my budget. And like last night, I skipped doing my homework. Simply, because I didn't want to do it. 

Why is it that I do this!? I get so frustrated with myself. As I talk to other people, I find out that I am not the only one. But this morning, I apologized to the Lord for it. And He spoke back, "I didn't ask you to have it all together." That's the thing. He didn't. He asked us to love him and serve him. (Amongst other things as well.) He asked us to love him totally and completely. He asked us to live a lifestyle that lines up with the word. He asked us to love him so completely that it becomes a lifestyle. 

He isn't a perfect recipe or formula. Yes, according to the world I should be up at 8am, eating healthy, exercising, etc, etc. But if I do all of that but not love….. what am I!? Nothing. I must love. I must love with my entire being. I must love and serve whole-heartedly. Completely abandoned to His will.

I will not be so ignorant to dismiss my lack of discipline because I love the Lord. I totally believe that the Lord wants us to live a life with some solid disciplines. Look at Proverbs 5:23- "For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly. 

Folly: Definition: Noun: Foolishness, stupidity, thoughtlessness

So, as I was praying and asking the Lord for a passion to wake up at 8am, ready to go exercise, and resist Coca-Colas; He reassured me that He has me in His hand. That He loves me like I am. But that yes, I do need to work on some things in my life. One lie that I have told myself, is that one day I would reach perfection. I would "have it all together". And that's not true. Some days, I might. But other days, I might not get it all just right. I don't go into my day with a defeated attitude saying that I'll never be able to do this. I wake up, put on the armor of the Lord, fill myself with His word and truth, and dive into the day confident in what the Lord has called me to. 

He doesn't want us to have it all together, He wants us to be intentional. Intentional about: spending time with Him, serving Him, loving and serving others, taking care of our bodies (adequate sleep, exercise, and eating healthy), and walking in our individual purpose and callings. 

I encourage you with the fact that you aren't the only one who doesn't have it all together. But that it's okay. Just start working on being intentional. And remember that He's holding you. He's got your back. And their is grace for our lives with Him. 

A Short Blog on Love.

     If you have a husband please do not complain to me about him. I don't have any friends that do this. But, I hear so many women complain about their husbands. And it's always his fault. And he doesn't do enough. What if instead of degrading your husband- you encouraged him? I know that I am a merely 20 year old single girl who isn't married or close to being married, but you can learn alot from the outside in. Marriages are the one thing that I study and watch. I love it when I see a couple that is still in love, working on their marriage, and striving to be the best that they can be for one another.
     Divorce rates are skyrocketing. The other day I had a customer say that normal life is: Get married. Have kids. Get divorced. How sad is that!? I am lucky to be surrounded by couples that work at their relationship and constantly choose love.

     And that's the thing..... you have to choose love. You have to work at it. You gotta make time for each other. You have to make each other a priority. And when he drives you nuts.... think about me. A single girl who can't wait to get married.