A few hours ago I returned home from our Wives Ministry. A couple of wives meet every two weeks and are going through a wonderful Bible-based book called "The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace. We're on chapter 9 and are talking about Love! What is true love? Is it based on feelings and romance? Or is it something bigger, something exemplified by a God-man dying on a cross? And what are some challenges to loving your husband?
It's really nice to hear stories, share struggles, praise God together, and try to glorify God as wives. Kevin has been so good to me, and it's hard NOT to love him :) He's just so wonderful. But of course, he fails me, and I fail him, and I can't shake off the reality that I am a selfish human being. There are so many changes that come with marriage, such as...living and serving this other human being! And I'm not talking about bebes, folks. As a wife, I try to keep things clean around the home and cook for Kevin, and I have to manage my time around his. For instance, I have to think twice before texting a girl friend to hang out, or wanting to do anything outside of the home, really! And I work full time too (thank God! I really enjoy working) so it's harder to keep the house clean and in order. Given my background of being raised by a single mom, being fed microwavable foods and fast food all my life, it's still a challenge for me to go into a grocery store and know what or where things are. I don't know what is fresh and what isn't, because well, I never really ate veggies or fruits growing up. I have recently been frustrated buying fruits and veggies because they perish so quickly! And then I went through a scare of eating salmon 10 days later than the "sell by" date and waiting by the toilet because I was convinced I was food poisoned! lol dramatic... But God is teaching me and I get to depend on Him more during these weird transitions of being a wife.
Being a wife also means leaving and cleaving, but that's kinda hard for me because of my family situation. I wanted to talk to an older woman at the Wives' Ministry about this and two other wives around my age were like, "Would you like alone time with her?" signalling they would get up and leave, giving me privacy. They're so thoughtful. But I didn't want them to go as if I'm hiding anything from anyone. I also didn''t want to be too transparent where I'm making anyone uncomfortable. So I told them it was fine that they listened, but not to be too concerned for me. I'm not a big fan of being secretive when the Church is called to carry each other's burdens and encourage one another. They're my family. How would I feel if the sister or brother next to me were harboring such pain and didn't feel comfortable enough to share it with me, when maybe I could somehow help and encourage them? What if I had a child, a daughter or son, who had such heavy burdens laid on their shoulders, and they didn't want to ask for my help? What a discouraging and scary thought. The Church is here to help one another get closer to Christ. Plus the devil is so good at manipulating and twisting things way out of proportion in our minds. I am so blessed to have other believers point me back to Christ when I am being tempted to give into Satan's lies.
"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."- 1 Peter 2:11-12
This is so hard. Words can't even describe. I'm the only Christian in my family so I felt very lonely since my conversion 5 years ago. Of course, I suck at being a good testimony. I still struggle with a lot of things. I mean.... I grew up thinking a lot of the problems we had were normal. And then I realized they weren't, and ta-da! Hello, bitterness. Hello, disrespect and dishonoring attitude. I'm so challenged in my holiness. I always felt like I had no real hope until I would die and see Jesus. Who would save me from this situation?
But....
Lo and behold, God is and was and always will be gracious! He transitioned me into this very new, exciting, and fresh season of my life. Kevin came into the picture... He came and befriended me, he rebuked and corrected me, he loved me, he pursued me, he married me, and now I have a new home (what a parallel to God's love and pursuing of the Church; our home is in heaven, afterall!) I seriously have NEVER had so much peace in my life (in this living situation, at least). I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE being married!!!! It's so wonderful living in a new home with a new family member. Gosh. He is just God's biggest gift to me (other than salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, of course ;) I have a new family! Kevin is my family! YAYY!!! And if it's God's will...there will be miniature versions of us running around in the next few years! AHHH!!! What a fun thing to think about :)
I was naive to think that problems of my past wouldn't creep up in my marriage. I thought that the biggest challenge would be things between Kevin and me, not these external factors, like past responsibilities in the old house I lived in!!!! Leaving and cleaving just doesn't exist in my family... But I was encouraged by an older couple Ate Tess and Kuya Erick who reminded me that God wants me to go through these things, and that we are called to suffer for Christ and to be a good testimony. They are such a wonderful couple. Kuya Erick was like, "Alright, so God put you through these challenges, and is telling you "GLORIFY ME IN THIS"" Thank God there's hope, because I have Christ. I am learning. I am a work in progress. I am being sanctified. His power is made perfect in my weakness...
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me. -2 Corinthians 12:9
Amen and amen.
It's really nice to hear stories, share struggles, praise God together, and try to glorify God as wives. Kevin has been so good to me, and it's hard NOT to love him :) He's just so wonderful. But of course, he fails me, and I fail him, and I can't shake off the reality that I am a selfish human being. There are so many changes that come with marriage, such as...living and serving this other human being! And I'm not talking about bebes, folks. As a wife, I try to keep things clean around the home and cook for Kevin, and I have to manage my time around his. For instance, I have to think twice before texting a girl friend to hang out, or wanting to do anything outside of the home, really! And I work full time too (thank God! I really enjoy working) so it's harder to keep the house clean and in order. Given my background of being raised by a single mom, being fed microwavable foods and fast food all my life, it's still a challenge for me to go into a grocery store and know what or where things are. I don't know what is fresh and what isn't, because well, I never really ate veggies or fruits growing up. I have recently been frustrated buying fruits and veggies because they perish so quickly! And then I went through a scare of eating salmon 10 days later than the "sell by" date and waiting by the toilet because I was convinced I was food poisoned! lol dramatic... But God is teaching me and I get to depend on Him more during these weird transitions of being a wife.
Being a wife also means leaving and cleaving, but that's kinda hard for me because of my family situation. I wanted to talk to an older woman at the Wives' Ministry about this and two other wives around my age were like, "Would you like alone time with her?" signalling they would get up and leave, giving me privacy. They're so thoughtful. But I didn't want them to go as if I'm hiding anything from anyone. I also didn''t want to be too transparent where I'm making anyone uncomfortable. So I told them it was fine that they listened, but not to be too concerned for me. I'm not a big fan of being secretive when the Church is called to carry each other's burdens and encourage one another. They're my family. How would I feel if the sister or brother next to me were harboring such pain and didn't feel comfortable enough to share it with me, when maybe I could somehow help and encourage them? What if I had a child, a daughter or son, who had such heavy burdens laid on their shoulders, and they didn't want to ask for my help? What a discouraging and scary thought. The Church is here to help one another get closer to Christ. Plus the devil is so good at manipulating and twisting things way out of proportion in our minds. I am so blessed to have other believers point me back to Christ when I am being tempted to give into Satan's lies.
"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."- 1 Peter 2:11-12
This is so hard. Words can't even describe. I'm the only Christian in my family so I felt very lonely since my conversion 5 years ago. Of course, I suck at being a good testimony. I still struggle with a lot of things. I mean.... I grew up thinking a lot of the problems we had were normal. And then I realized they weren't, and ta-da! Hello, bitterness. Hello, disrespect and dishonoring attitude. I'm so challenged in my holiness. I always felt like I had no real hope until I would die and see Jesus. Who would save me from this situation?
But....
Lo and behold, God is and was and always will be gracious! He transitioned me into this very new, exciting, and fresh season of my life. Kevin came into the picture... He came and befriended me, he rebuked and corrected me, he loved me, he pursued me, he married me, and now I have a new home (what a parallel to God's love and pursuing of the Church; our home is in heaven, afterall!) I seriously have NEVER had so much peace in my life (in this living situation, at least). I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE being married!!!! It's so wonderful living in a new home with a new family member. Gosh. He is just God's biggest gift to me (other than salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, of course ;) I have a new family! Kevin is my family! YAYY!!! And if it's God's will...there will be miniature versions of us running around in the next few years! AHHH!!! What a fun thing to think about :)
I was naive to think that problems of my past wouldn't creep up in my marriage. I thought that the biggest challenge would be things between Kevin and me, not these external factors, like past responsibilities in the old house I lived in!!!! Leaving and cleaving just doesn't exist in my family... But I was encouraged by an older couple Ate Tess and Kuya Erick who reminded me that God wants me to go through these things, and that we are called to suffer for Christ and to be a good testimony. They are such a wonderful couple. Kuya Erick was like, "Alright, so God put you through these challenges, and is telling you "GLORIFY ME IN THIS"" Thank God there's hope, because I have Christ. I am learning. I am a work in progress. I am being sanctified. His power is made perfect in my weakness...
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me. -2 Corinthians 12:9
Amen and amen.
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