Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge

Here is week three's challenge from Courtney:

This week's challenge is:
Pursue intimacy and place the intimate needs of your spouse above your own. Give him a foot or back massage, shower together, be creative!
Seek to "kiss him like you mean it" every single day this week! Solomon 5:16 says "His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely." Look at your husband through the eyes of his fiance...do you remember those butterflies and your longing for him. Renew that passion. This is taken right from Courtney's blog. To find out more you will have to visit her, this is so not my topic!
If you are visiting from iFellowship, please let me know so I can be sure to come visit you!

Here is Courtney's challenge this week. To read more head over to her blog Women Living Well.

Week #5 Challenge: Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask your husband to prioritize them for you of what is important to him. For example - a clean home, home cooked dinner, coupon clipping, service at church, having friends over for dinner, watching/doing sports with him, etc.

Okay, this should be a fun one. My husband is very laid back and never complains about any of the things I do regularly like cook, take care of the house or teach the kids. I will ask him about this later and will be surprised at what he says.

This is what I think:
1. Quiet time for myself; reading, praying, blogging
2. Taking care of the kids
3. Encouraging others
4. Cooking nutritious meals and being a good shopper
5. Cleaning the house (really he never,ever has had to ask me to do this) LOL

I will post later to see what he thinks. Hey you never know maybe he will add something to the list that I have never thought of!

Okay I asked him and he said "umm". After looking it over for a few minutes in deep thought this is what he said:
1. Quiet time for me
2. Just being there (no talking), quiet embraces
3. Keeping the family schedule, including reminding him
4. Good shopping plans
5. Taking care of kids (including nutritious meals)

#2 is a new one added to my list. My husband likes to just be with me without talking. I, on the other hand, am a yapper. It is difficult for me to not talk when we are finally alone. I will have to work on this one. The other ones are fairly easy ones because I enjoy doing them. It reminds me of how we are to love our enemies. It is easy to love those who are loveable but we are commanded to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:43)

Here is Courtney's challenge for this week:
This weeks Marriage challenge is: Admire Your Husband. If you are a blogger write a post all about your husband and what you admire in him and then show it to him! He will smile! If you are not a blogger, list the things you admire about your husband in the comment section and show it to him!

The top ten things I admire about my husband Tom:

1. His love for the LORD. He has a strong faith and trust in our LORD. No matter what the situation, he always points it back to God.

2. His dedication to do what is right. He knows what he believes and has strong convictions which he sticks to.

3. He has a willing heart. Whenever there is a need, he puts the other person first. And he does so without complaining.

4. He has a grateful and content heart. He never criticizes me and is always happy with what I do. Whether it is the way I keep the house, dress the kids, cook. He is happy with my efforts.

5. He is humble. He is so very intelligent and often times it means that people don't understand him. Rather than prove how smart he is by explaining in ways that others might not understand, he lets it go. He doesn't have to prove himself. He knows who he is.

6. He is handy. He can fix anything. When something breaks he knows exactly what to do. I don't have to depend on someone else for those mechanical failures.

7. He is such a fun Dad. He loves doing fun things with the kids and he makes everyday fun for the kids. There is lots of laughter in our home.

8. He is very protective of us. He defends us physically, spiritually and emotionally.

9. His forgiving spirit. He does not hold grudges or bring up past hurts. If I ask him to forgive me, I know he does. He follows the example of our LORD by burying it in the deepest part of the sea.

10. He has a joyful spirit. He is a happy person who treasures every blessing, no matter how small. He has an outgoing personality and will talk to anyone no matter where he is. He is always ready to give an account of the hope that is within him.

Praying for our Husbands

This week Courtney has challenged us to pray for our husbands. To read more about it click here

I like the suggestion she gave about praying for our husbands whenever we look at our wedding ring. This week I will try to do that in addition to asking my husband how I can better pray for him.

In Elizabeth George's book, "Small Changes for a Better Life", she writes about prayer in the chapter "Developing Your Prayer Life". She gives the following steps for developing your prayer life:

Step 1: Do it!
Step 2: Do it badly. If you are a beginner at prayer -or perhaps getting started again- when you first start praying, you may think you're doing it badly. You may stumble and agonize over your words and concerns. But no prayer is ever done badly in God's eyes if your heart is right.
Step 3: Do it regularly.
Step 4: Do it faithfully.
Step 5: Do it for life.

Won't you join me this week in spending more time in prayer, and praying for our husbands?

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Our Wedding

For this week's challenge Courtney has challenged us to simply Remember; to Remember the day you entered your sacred vows. Also to share your story and some photos from your special day. To link up, click here.

We were married on November 24, 2001. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday and season. Autumn in NY is truly breathtaking. Tom and I had become officially engaged in August of the previous year, so our engagement was about a year and 3 months long. We had so much fun planning our wedding. We had been waiting for our special day for a while and wanted to enjoy each and every moment of the planning. We went to wedding showcases, interviewed several photographers, looked at many places for our reception. It was fun.

It had rained the morning of the wedding. As I was getting dressed it was cloudy out. Tom called on his way to the church to tell me he saw a rainbow as he was driving and the sun was coming out. When we left my house for the church, it was as if God had flicked the clouds out of the way with His finger. God is so gracious in giving us little gifts along the way to remind us that He is sovereign over all. My old pastor used to call that "little kisses on the cheek from God".
I rode to the church in an old Rolls Royce with my Dad and Mom. My two sisters and two childhood friends followed behind us in a white limo. They wore platinum dresses. The church was decorated beautifully. The pews were draped with white tulle. There was an archway at the altar decorated with white tulle and flowers and a candelabra. We had two trumpet players dressed in royal fare for the grand occasion. They greeted our guests as they entered the church and played along with the hymns during the ceremony. We sang one of our favorite hymns, "I Know Whom I Have Believed". I had trouble singing because I get so choked up with that song. "I know not why God's wondrous grace to me He hath made known. Nor how believing in His Word brought peace within my heart." Our pastor presented the Gospel and did a wonderful job describing Christian marriage. He gave a charge to each of us as we became one. As we exchanged our vows, my voice was shaking because I was so emotional. My sweet Tom took his handkerchief and wiped the tears from my eyes so my makeup wouldn't run. We were so excited to be pronounce Mr. and Mrs. we wanted to run down the aisle. We didn't though, the photographer wanted to capture some photos along the way.


We went to the ocean for some photos after the ceremony. Remember it was late November in NY, the temps were in the 50's and it was windy at the beach. We didn't care, we wanted pictures on the beach. Some of the bridal party didn't want to get out of the car, so we had photos taken of whoever was willing to brave the wind. I am so happy we did. Those are some of my favorite photos.
Next, it was on to the country club for the dinner reception. We had such a great time. We had about 170 family and friends there to celebrate with us. We had a Christian band playing music and lots of great food. When we danced our first dance it was as if the world around us had stopped; at that moment it felt as if we were the only two people there. Of course when I looked at everyone watching us I saw all the love and support they were giving us. It was such an exciting time!
After the wedding, we returned to the new home we were renting. He followed the tradition of carrying me over the threshold. The next morning we got up early and went to church for Sunday morning worship. We were so excited to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ for the first time as a couple.

We left the next morning for our vacation. Tom had been making our honeymoon plans to a tropical destination where I could swim with dolphins, when 9/11 happened. We were both uncomfortable with leaving the country at that time, since we were not sure what was going on. He surprised me with a beautiful honeymoon in New England. We took the ferry to Connecticut and drove up to Maine. We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast and enjoyed God's beautiful creation there in Maine. It was snowing on the day we left to drive to New Hampshire. In New Hampshire we stayed at a beautiful Victorian resort in the White Mountains. It was such a great time bonding as husband and wife.

Whenever I remember our wedding day I am overjoyed with God's many blessings. I like to watch the wedding video and see the photos of each of us growing up and then us together. It is amazing to see how God brought us together. I need this challenge to remember this. To remember how exciting it was to become husband and wife and to serve Him and His Kingdom together. To remember our vows and to live them out every day. Thanks Courtney for another great weekly challenge. And as it says on the church in the background "To God Be The Glory"!