AMAZING.... Ps 37:4

Everyday (at least I try to make it everyday) I find

time to spend in God's word and with God.

And it still amazes me that he is 'interested' in the

small details that we have.  I believe that

I was raised to be a selfish person....heck, we are

all born with a sin nature that

is a natural bend toward ourself.

So the cry of my heart has been

please remove the 'view' off of me and onto

you Lord. 

So why does it amaze me that he (God) is so interested

in my small requests??  I think about those who are praying that empty their

hearts out over their dying husband,  their sick wife in the hospital bed,

or a child who is going to have surgery, or a parent who

has just lost a little one to SIDS....I mean

the list goes on and on of what I would consider

as 'heartache'....so why is God so interested in - not

my prayer request per say - but rather the desires of my heart??

Well....the answer is simple....

Ps 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I sincerely beleive that when you spend time praying

for the prayer requests, either for others

or for your own

personal needs,

that are endless (unfortunately) God delights in your

willingness to stay focused on others and wants to 

'reward' you, if I may, for your delighting in Him.  

Just remember ~~ we delight in Him b/c his glory is our

motivation....not our 'reward'.

I would love to be praying for you today!!!! 

help meet...

The phrase 'help meet' has been a phrase that has really had me frustrated, confused, excited that I can be a housewife and still have a 'title'.  For so many years I have thought about what it means and what it looks like.  And I think I might have finally gotten it--
THERE IS NO 'COOKIE CUTTER' HELP MEET!!!!
Can you believe it???  There is no cookie cutter help meet.  All of these years I have read, looked, asked, and searched for the cookie cutter equation on how to be a help meet....and all along it has been right here in front of me. 
Let's look at what I mean:
Help meet:
by definition:
Help: (first it is a verb-an action verb at that) to give assistance
or support to,  to make more pleasant or bearable
Meet:  precisely adapted to a particular situation, need, or circumstance
When you combine those two words and their
meanings..it takes on a whole new meaning and how-to use. 

But...I keep going back to the very same question that I started with 11 years ago--
What does a help meet look like?
And I don't mean - what is she wearing, but rather what does an example, of a help meet, look like.
What does a help meet act like?
How does she respond to her husband?
How doesn't she respond to her husband?
How does she respond to her children?
How doesn't she respond to her children?
How does she dress? (now we are talking appearance)
How doesn't she dress? 
(ok...so my English is not great in some of these questions)

And all of these questions can be answered with one easy 'question' you can ask yourself:
What can I do to 'help meet' the needs of my husband?

I have prayed for years to understand what being a help meet really means, meant,
looks like, etc and all along it has been right
here in front of me...what can I do to help meet the needs of my husband??

 Now, please notice that I did not say how can I
help meet the needs of my children.  So maybe you're asking
(and maybe you're not) why??  My children's needs include living in a
home that is filled with love, joy, peace and honesty and obviously food and shelter
....and when they live
in a home where momma fulfills her job of "meeting daddy's needs"
 and daddy fulfills his job of "providing, protecting, and 'managing his home'"
then there is no room for confusion, rebellion, or hatred. 
And the physical needs of food shelter are also taken care of at that point too...
daddy's out working - to provide food and shelter
and supply protection - a home. 
Hence, why their needs are met when momma and daddy fulfill their roles. 

As simple as it seems and yet so unimportant anymore. 
I am always reminded of the vows my husband and I took when
we got married (16 years ago) :
I, Carrie, take thee, Chon,
to be my lawfully wedded husband
 for better, for worse,
in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows, until death do
we part. I give you all that I have myself and my love.
(All these things I pledge to thee) In the Name
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With this ring I seal my vow of love to you, Chon. 

I stood there almost 16 years ago pledging to be his
help meet and I finally get it!!! 
Everyday my goal is give my schedule, my plans, my energy to God so
that with his help I can meet everyone of Chon's needs to make
him more successful in God's eyes.

Gen 2:18
And the Lord God said,
It is not good for man to be alone,
I wil make him a help meet for him (him being Adam).

Interesting the words used.... 

School and sun...or is it Son and school?

As it gets warmer, we are are finding it harder and harder to stay focused on school.  So today we decided to combine the warmth of the sun and math. After this long, cold, wet winter and, thus far, a wet, cooler Spring, the sun felt sooo good. Colten removed his socks and 'sunned' his feet...haha. That is funny for us b/c Colten was 'sunning' his feet b/c Casey, his cousin, is getting married this upcoming weekend, and he did not want 'white' feet for his new flip flops for the wedding. So we sat outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun and for Colten it was 'sunning' his feet.

But...as we sat outside soaking up the warmth of the sun it reminded me how lucky I was to have my children home, learning in the sun and in the Son (Jesus Christ). We have taken our home, this year, and reclaimed that which we allowed to be taken from us. God has been very gracious to us this year. When I look back at this year--I wonder if I knew a year ago we would be where we are today?? I don't necessarily mean just physical location--I am referring to the 'WHOLE PICTURE'....would I have guessed that we would have really sold our house in Mt. Zion?? Rented a house in Decatur?? Start homeschooling the kids who were either in Jr. High School or verging on it?? Seeing God work in the kids' life and our own?? Purchase a house that allowed us to 'spread our wings' on a property that is exactly what we have been looking for for many years?? Seeing Chon and I grow together in ways that we thought were 'mastered'?? Seeing us step us into roles God designated for us long before we realized it (please don't hear that we are pefect in these 'roles')??