Completing Him Challenge....Assess Your Marriage!

Our summer Completing Him Challenge from Women Living Well is drawing to a close today and I for one am so glad I participated! The truth is that we can get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to acknowledge the many blessings we are surrounded with every day. If you weren't able to join us, I would highly recommend going through your own 8 Week Challenge and really take the time to make your relationship a priority! Here's a recap of all the challenges:

1. Remember your dating days and what made you fall in love in the first place.

2. Remember your sacred vows.

3. Remember to ask your husband how you can pray for him daily.

4. Remember to tell your husband how you admire him.

5. Remember to keep your priorities in line.

6. Remember to follow your husband's lead and vision for your family.

7. Remember to respect your husband.

8. Remember to kiss him like you mean it!

As for how our marriage went this summer, I'm happy to report that it is strong. The summer challenge came just as we were entering our "God Watch" season with a job loss. God was faithful and provided well for us for the the 7 weeks we were without work and Chris got a new job last Monday! While finances can be a sticky spot for some couples, we have worked really hard to stay on the same page with similar goals and expectations and constantly communicate our needs and desires in this area.

Thank you Courtney for challenging me this way and I look forward to future challenges!

Completing Him Challenge....Kiss Him Like You Mean It!

It's hard to believe that this is the final challenge of the summer....um, where did time go?

Today's challenge is to kiss your man like you mean it! And while I will not disclose many details of our physical lives, I will say that we both make it a priority to at least kiss each other in the morning and the evening. We also tell the other one that we love them daily.

I think it's important to remember that each man and woman is different in this area. While some couples are extremely physical and touch each other constantly, some may be a little more reserved and that's okay! I would highly recommend talking to your spouse about his desires and to even share your thoughts on the subject. There is no other person in your life that you share this kind of intimacy with....let go and enjoy it!

"My beloved is mine, and I am his."
Song of Songs 2:16 KJV

Have a fantastic week!

Completing Him Challenge.....Respect Your Husband!

It's week number 8 already in our summer challenge! This week is a good one and because Courtney said it so well, I'm going to use her words instead of mine.

Ephesians 5:33 says "Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband."

God's command to wives is to respect our husband's.....unconditionally. Here are a few universal ways a wife can disrespect her husband...

1. The wife rolling her eyes at him.

2. The wife criticizing him.

3. The wife complaining to her mother or girlfriends about his flaws.

4. The wife not respecting his knowledge, opinions or decisions.

5. The wife nagging him or assuming the worst in his actions.

6. The wife using sarcasm to communicate bitterness.

7. The wife disrespecting his work, protection, provision or leadership.

8. The wife disrespecting his need for physical intimacy.

This week take some time to assess your husband's respect-o-meter. Ask him what makes him feel respected and disrespected. And then weed out those disrespectful thoughts and attitudes and exchange them for respectful ones.

And remember.....you respect your husband for who God is and His commands. You respect your husband because of who you are and your character. You respect your husband because you have been given grace and you freely give it. You respect your husband because of your vows at the marriage alter. And your respect your husband because because you indeed love him and desire to please him.

I couldn't have said it better myself Courtney!

Have a good week!

Completing Him Challenge.....Following Your Husband's Vision!

I must admit that when I first read this week's challenge on Women Living Well, I got a little nervous! Not because I don't think that it's God's will for wives to submit to their husband's but because it's such a sensitive subject in general. I know there's going to be people who are not going to agree with my stand on this issue and that's okay.....I just ask that we respectfully agree to disagree.

"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church." Ephesians 5:23

We live by this standard every day. Am I saying that I don't have any say on what goes on around our home? Absolutely not! But I've learned when to stand on my convictions and when to just let it go.....that's a tough lesson to learn, but once you learn it it completely changes your marriage.

This week's challenge is to "Follow Your Husband's Vision". I was surprised by Chris' answers to the questions I asked, but that seems to be happening every week! :) Here is his answer....

"Because I'm a task driven individual, I can get so wrapped up in finishing what I want to do that I push God off to the side. The truth is that if I keep my eyes and heart on what God wants, I get the things done that He wants me to do...not what I want to do. And we've been blessed over and over by trusting Him."

Amen to that! Chris is one of a kind....and anyone who knows him personally is probably saying amen to that too! :) But all kidding aside, I'm reminded this week of just how blessed I am with having a husband who has finally learned to seek God's will before his own. What peace it brings to my heart!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Melissa's Secret Family Recipe PB Cookies....

Are you ready for a treat? These are by far one of the best things I've ever put into my mouth! :)

Melissa's Secret Family Recipe Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar packed
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the first four ingredients until smooth. Beat in eggs.
Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Chill dough.
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich.....

As part of this week's WLW Challenge, I pulled out my Pioneer Woman cookbook and made Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich for dinner last night. Mercy, it was good, good good! I must warn you though that it's NOT a low fat meal so if you plan to make it, just be well aware of that!

Step by step instructions can be found here. Enjoy!

Completing Him Challenge....Make Him a Priority!

It's hard to believe that it's the 6th week of our Completing Him Challenge already! There's still time to join if you haven't already....it's been eye opening and a whole lot of fun for me!

This week's challenge is to make your husband a priority and to prepare his favorite meal(s), drink(s) and dessert(s). I'm fortunate in that Chris will pretty much eat anything I put in front of him, but he's always quick to point out his favorites! I'll be sure to photograph and list the recipe of some of his favorite meals this week and post them here. For now, here are a few of his favorites in no particular order....

1. BBQ Chicken Pizza
2. Peanut Butter Cookies
3. PW/MM Favorite Sandwiches
4. Rocky Road Ice Cream

The funny thing about this Completing Him Challenge is that he's not the only one blessed by paying a little more attention to our marriage....I have been too. Care to join?

Have a good week!

Completing Him Challenge....Time Management

Good morning!

As promised, I'm back today with the 5th Week Challenge in the Completing Him Challenge on Women Living Well!

I have to be honest here and say that I momentarily thought that I could go ahead and post Chris' priorities for me because I know him so well. I'm SO glad I didn't! It turns out that what I thought was most important to him, isn't as high on the list as I originally expected it to be. If you can only do one of the challenges all summer long, I would recommend this one! I was surprised by the results and actually look forward to making some changes in my routine. Here are the top five things on my husband's list....

1. Daily bible and prayer time for me.
2. Shopping wisely and being a good steward of what God has provided.
3. A clean house.
4. Laundry done and put away.
5. Spending time together.

I'd like to note that I'm not saying that what is important to you is no longer valuable. It is. But just as most things in marriage take some compromise on both parts, adjusting your responsibilities to reflect your husband's desires will without a doubt have far reaching effects in your home. Give it a shot! What have you got to lose?

Many Blessings,
M.

Completing Him Challenge....Admire Your Husband!

Good morning ladies! I hope you had a great 4th of July...I know I did! Let's get right into this week's challenge since I didn't get to post yesterday!

I had to ask myself Courtney's question from yesterday's pop quiz.....Is it easier to list all of Chris' faults or the things I admire about him? My very first thought when I read that sentence was scripture....and I'm glad too because that's a very good tool to use when the enemy wants to try and fill your head and heart with doubts! It comes from the very popular scripture often spoken at weddings and such.....

".....it keeps no record of wrongs." 1 Cor. 13:5. If you have never read 1 Cor. 13:4-7, I would highly recommend it as it is a sure fire way to learn to love. Here are the things I admire about Chris:

1. He is a follower of Christ. He's not ashamed of his beliefs and will go toe to toe with anyone who would like to debate the issue.

2. He saw enough worth in me to lead me to Christ.

3. He makes me laugh like no one else!

4. He is the hardest working man I know and an excellent provider because of his ability to do many things.

5. He's trustworthy because he's a man of his word.

6. He's loyal to those he loves and will go to great lengths to protect them.

7. He's intelligent and is patient with me when explaining something I don't understand.

8. He's disciplined in finances and makes good choices for us as a family.

9. He's creative and can often make whatever I ask him to.

10. He loves me and tells me every single day.

What's not to admire?

Many Blessings,
M.

Praying Daily.....

Good morning!

I hope you all had a good weekend. We did but it sure seemed to go by way too fast!

This weeks challenge on Women Living Well is to commit to pray for your husband every day. I know in our home, prayer is important. In fact, it has been for most of our marriage. You see, I'm an introvert by nature so praying in large groups of people makes me almost have an anxiety attack! But my personal daily prayer time not only draws me closer to God, it helps me keep things in perspective when I'm faced with daunting circumstances. I'm honored to pray for Chris and printed off the list that Courtney listed from Stormie Omartian's book. Here are a few of the things listed.....

1. His Wife :-)
2. His Work
3. His Temptations
4. His Fears
5. His Health

Image from Women Living Well

Courtney also suggested to use your wedding ring as a reminder to pray for him throughout your day. I love this idea! I'm rarely without mine on so it's a perfect suggestion to send up a sentence prayer on his behalf.

Consider joining our summer challenge today!

Many Blessings,
M.

Until Death Do Us Part.....

As promised, here are the photos from our wedding 16 years ago.....I apologize ahead of time for the quality of the scans. We had a house fire in late 2008 and all of my scrapbooks need to be re done so they are in protective sleeves....

It was a sleepless night on June 3, 1994 because I was too excited to sleep! I could think of nothing else but becoming Chris' wife the next day. I woke up early because our wedding was scheduled to start at noon. I had to meet my girls to get our hair done and to my horror realized that when I had moved all of my stuff over to our new home earlier in the week, I had forgotten to bring back a pair of underwear for my special day. Yes, ladies, I had to wear my mother's underwear on my wedding day. I can chuckle about it now, but I was horrified that day!

In my nervousness I had also forgotten how to get to my stylist's salon.....I had been there many times before but for some reason that morning, I couldn't find it so we were late arriving. After we were done at the salon, we headed over to the church and got ready to go. I was blessed to have fantastic family and friends all around me as I prepared for the rest of my life. Once I was in the dress with my hair done and makeup on, a peace come over me like I'd never felt before. I was ready and nothing would have stopped me from getting up in front of all of our friends and family to say I do.

I believe that marriage vows are sacred and permanent just as Courtney said. We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago and I'm looking forward to the next 16!

Many Blessings,
M.

Captivate Your Husband....Our Dating Story.....

July 1993

I'm terribly behind on this post, so I apologize upfront! With all of the changes going on, I've gotten a little out of sorts but I think I'm back on the straight and narrow...

In keeping with the Completing Him Challenge, I'm sharing our dating story today!

I had just graduated high school after a very long year. My high school sweetheart had broken my heart by deciding we no longer fit each other. To say that I was a mess is a HUGE understatement! There's a reason that God designed us to love only one person as intimately as you do your spouse but not being a Christ Follower, I had no idea why that was.

Chris and I were matched up to walk down the isle together in a mutual friend's wedding. We met for the first time a few weeks before the actual ceremony and the attraction was instantaneous. I remember leaving the rehearsal smiling from ear to ear because he was so charming!

The day of the wedding we walked down the isle together and have not parted since! I knew there was a God, but I had not asked Him to be my Savior. Chris led me to Christ in late 1993 and we were engaged by early 1994. I suspect it probably took our friends and family by surprise when we announced our plans, but I knew he was the one. I went into that day wanting nothing more than to be his wife and 16 years later, I still get the butterflies in my stomach when he pulls into the driveway after a long day away from home.

I'd like to catch up on the challenge before Monday so that I'm completely back on track so I'll be posting some of our wedding photos over the weekend.

Thanks for the visit!

Many Blessings,
M.

A Summer Challenge.....

Good morning everyone!

I'm excited to announce that I will be participating in a summer challenge from today until August 9th dedicated to being the kind of wife that my husband needs. Courtney from Women Living Well posted the schedule on her blog this morning and it looks like this....

June 7 - announce to your readers you are participating by posting the button on your site and leaving your link below. Optional: Embed the HTML from this video in your blog post!

June 14 – Post Pictures from your dating days (or tell us all about it!). Think about one thing you used to do or have as a couple that you have lost in the shuffle of life. How can you regain it?

June 21 - Remember Your Vows - post pictures of your wedding day. We will review the sacredness of this day.

June 28 - Ask your husband every morning how you can pray for him that day. Bonus: Fast and pray for him one day this week.

July 5 - Admire Your Husband. Write this post and then show it to him! He will smile!

July 12 - Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask him 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.

July 19 - Make him a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, dessert and drink are. Be sure to serve him all three one night this week. Bonus: cook his favorite dishes all week long!

July 26 - Support his vision. Discuss his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. Share with us how you let your husband lead.

August 2 - R-E-S-P-E-C-T! No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging, or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home!

August 9 - Kiss Him Like You Mean It (and be sure the door is locked!)

The beauty of this kind of challenge is that all of the things on the schedule above are universal. Courtney points out that all marriages look different because we are different people and I've found that to be true after 16 years of marriage. I encourage you to take on the challenge of being the kind of wife that your husband needs and would love to hear if you decide to join in as well!

Many Blessings,
Melissa