Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Words He Needs To Hear

Next month, we will celebrate 21 years of marriage.  I will have been officially married to him for over half my life.  And I’m still trying to figure out how respect = love to a man and how I get that really mixed up with food = love.  I can cook for him all the live long day but if I show him no respect then I am showing him no love.

But I do know as wives, we have incredible power in the lives of our husbands.  We have the power to build them up, or tear them down.

As wives, we love to feel loved and be romanced.  But for our husbands, they love to feel respected and to know we believe in them.  And I can assure you that feeling doesn’t come from a loaf of hot homemade bread and potato soup.  Believe me, I’ve tried.

God created men with a need to have respect from their wife.  Our men need to know that they are enough just as they are, and they are exactly what we desire.

Each time you give your husband a loving word of praise, you are valuing him.  He will feel treasured, adored, loved and he will thrive.  But something even more amazing happens – when you verbally appreciate your spouse with sincerity, his value goes up in your eyes, too.  You see him the way you are describing him and he becomes more and more valuable to you.  It is a win-win situation.  With more words of affirmation, love grows.  Um, hello smokin’ hot marriage!  When his woman is behind him, he will be able to take on the world.   Side-note:  I would bet when you shower him with praise, affirmation and kind words…you’ll get the same in return!

And ladies, I encourage you to praise him in front of your kids.  First of all, remember your kids are learning what marriage looks like by watching you.  They sure do need to see that their Mama appreciates and respects their Dad.  It means backing him up when he’s made a decision (even if you don’t agree), it means not making a decision without talking to him first and it means speaking good about him even when he isn’t around.  We need to teach our littles to appreciate how hard their Dads work to support and lead our households!

Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. 
Ephesians 5:33
Let’s help him take on the world today girls…♥ Thank you for loving me.

♥ I’m am so glad to have you as my husband.

♥ I trust you.

♥ I am such a different woman because of you.

♥ Thank you for being such a great husband.

♥ I’m sorry, will you forgive me?

♥ Thank you for leading our home!

♥ I’m glad you’re my best friend.

♥ Hey, the kids are in bed early. 😉

♥ You are such a great Dad.

♥ Sooooo glad you are MY man.

♥ Thank you for helping me today, I couldn’t have done it without you.

♥ I absolutely adore your heart.

♥ I love spending time with you.

♥ Thanks so much for doing that for me.

♥ I am more in love with you than ever.

♥ I love holding your hand.

♥ Our kids sure are blessed to have a Dad like you.

♥ You still take my breath away.

♥ You are exactly what I asked God for.

♥ I love you sooooo much!

A Legacy of Love {In Pictures}

Today is the anniversary of two pretty amazing people in my life. A couple I’ve been absolutely blessed to call Mom and Dad. Fifty-three years is a long time y’all, especially in this day and age. To honor their super special day, I’m posting my annual blog about their legacy of love.

Last week, as I was cleaning my new office space in my home, I came across a box. As I opened the lid and peeked inside, I saw it was filled with old pictures. Instantly my heart soared.

As I’ve said before, I am enamored with old photos. So much so that it sparked this insatiable craving to take pictures of people. To me, pictures are priceless treasures. I found a box full of moments, perfectly captured, allowing me to travel back in time.

I settled down on the floor, sitting indian style and pulling the box over in front of me. As I started rifling through the photos, I realized what I was actually looking at. A smile graced my lips. I was looking at love letters, in pictures, my parents had sent back and forth while they were dating. My Dad was in the military and stationed across the country. So their only way of communication was through letters and pictures.

At first, I felt like I had barged into a secret diary. But I just couldn’t stop looking, reading and smiling. This is where the legacy of love began. The legacy that was passed to me and now on to my children.

And now the tears begin.

These pictures, so innocent and hopeful, with no idea of the future. Thinking about all of the highs, lows, and wonderful things they’ve experienced together over the years brought me to tears. They had no sense of the struggles they would eventually face. They had no idea they would someday have to hold each other through cancer, the death of loved ones and lost jobs. That one day they would travel to another state and adopt the sweetest baby girl ever. They had one thing…love.

Through that love, and devotion to each other, they sat such an amazing example of marriage and parenting for me. Every day, they wrote more of their legacy together. A legacy that will be remembered in lives long past their days on this earth. When we say words like legacy or inheritance, money or heirlooms usually come to mind. But the legacy I’m speaking of is different. It’s a legacy of priceless and intangible things. They’ve built a legacy of loving God, loving others before yourself and having a selfless heart.

I was given directly by God a family with two parents who are still married. I was given a family where both sets of grandparents were married until their dying day. A family that bonds closer together during tough times rather than throwing in the towel. At times, I wonder how I got so lucky…to be hand-picked by God and placed into this amazing family. Like a whisper in the wind I’m reminded that luck had nothing to do with it. This is part of my story, the one He wrote long before I was born.

They are incredible parents, living out a legacy of love passed down from both of their parents! They have never tried to be perfect, but they have tried to love me and others well and show us the best example of Christ that they could. They know how to fight when the enemy brings the battle close to home and they know how to praise when another battle is won. They are my legacy of love.

Soaking in These Moments

This morning I stood at my office window and watched the first glimpses of sunlight.  I watched as the sun peeked up over the trees and kissed the sky.  I can’t remember the last time I did that, yet it is a daily ritual for the sun.

As I stood there savoring the first glimmers of sunlight, I asked myself: what have I been stopping to savor in place of moments like these?

And the was clear and came quickly: the wrong things.

Like the cat vomit I stepped in before I had even wiped the sleep from my eyes or how easy it feels for people to walk out of my life.

Savoring. Soaking in. Replaying those moments. Not because they are good, but because they caused me pain and I rather enjoy feeling sorry for myself.

If there is one thing I’m good at, it’s holding a grudge. Actually, I might even be considered a professional grudge holder.  If I don’t have time to think over the bad right then, I’ll tuck it in my pocket to pull out later.  

Good things happen every day along with the bad. And with a simple refocus, it’s up to me what I choose to soak in. Enjoying the good moments make the bad a little more bearable.

These tiny treasures of moments aren’t loud. They aren’t obnoxious. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to miss them. They speak softly and get crowded out in the mad jumble of a hurried life.

Today. Today I’m taking the time to savor and soak in these priceless moments. Holding them softly in my hands like precious gifts.

  • The sweet phone call from my 19-year-old, excited to tell me he bought me a canning pot at a great price.
  • The excitement on my 17-year-olds face, covered with special effects makeup, asking me to take a photo of it.
  • Walking out my door and being greeted by 42 happy, hoping-for-a-yummy-treat chickens.
  • My daughter throwing her hands around my waist for a Mama hug in the kitchen.
  • Holding my husbands hand as we walk down from the chicken coops after feeding.
  • The morning phone chat with my Mama. And our across-the-yard chats in the summer.
  • Cooking my husbands favorite childhood meal, and sitting around the table as a family to enjoy it.
  • The always-happy-to-see-me greeting from my two sweet dogs.
  • Tickle wars in the living room.
  • My husbands gracious spirit and always, always being willing to run to the store for me.
  • Hearing my Dads backhoe or truck running from across the yard.

I’m not naive enough to think these moments will last forever.  And today, I’m soaking every one of those moments in.

These are the things I need to fill my mind with. These moments are tiny treasures that serve as a reminder that this too shall pass and that, yes, it really is all worth it.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise… Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9