Wisdom From Others: Thoughts on Marriage

A few months ago I spent some time over at resolved2worship. I was immensely encouraged and challenged by this blog... reading about Alyssa and her husband's real-life love story here. [Warning- it's LONG- as in 12-parts-plus-some long, but oh so wonderful!]

The story speaks of trust, fear of man, parenting, faith, communication, believing lies, hearing from God, keeping Christ at the center, God's love, and ultimately His redemption and sovereignty. It includes lots and lots of pain, but also so much beauty in the restoration that Jesus brings to their family [they have 8 adorable kiddos, by the way].

So after reading the story in its entirety, I wanted to share some of the wisdom about marriage, relationships, and life that I took away from it [all that follows is written by Alyssa from resolved2worship.]

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The number one purpose of marriage is to conform us into the image of Christ.

What is the image of Christ? I think it can best be summed up in three words: unconditional love, mercy, and grace.

So the questions are. . .

- "How would you ever learn unconditional love if you married someone who met all of your "conditions?"

- "How would you ever learn mercy if you were married to someone who never sinned against you?"

- "How would you ever learn grace if you were married to someone who was always deserving of all good things?"

Because God's greatest desire for a couple, and in marriage, is not compatibility or like-mindedness or perfect one-ness. His greatest desire is that we be conformed to the image of Christ. We are conformed to His image not by living with a perfectly compatible, unfailing, deserving mate. We are conformed to His image by being married to an incompatible, failing, undeserving mate.

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It is really okay if your heart gets involved and then God sends red flags and tells you to turn around, or cut it off. It might be very hard, and it might be painful. God tells us there could be heart break in relationships. So trying to avoid heart break in a [relationship] can be trying to play God.

God's Word says trials build us. If you go through a difficult, heart breaking relationship, that is God's love for you. Let it take you to the cross, grow you up and prepare you for the relationship that does end in marriage.

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You want a guy who pulls you closer to Jesus, not a guy who just pulls out the flesh in you. Ask yourself when you're with a guy, "Do I grow in my walk with God when I'm with him, or is it all just fleshly attraction? Does this guy pull Christ out of me, or pull out my flesh?

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The best preparation for marriage? The best "system?"

Real and deep communion with Jesus Christ that penetrates past all externals - a relationship with Him that is greater than any fluffy methods promising less broken hearts and more physical "purity." If you are in real communion with Jesus Christ, it's a relationship that cuts deep to the heart, where true purity either is, or isn't.

It's the Little Things

I've been moved into my current home for a week and a half now... and I'm loving it! My room feels so homey, and I've been realizing that it's the culmination of so many "little things." You know, the little touches that you might not notice at first glance, but when there are many of them together all in one room it just seems to fit. So I thought I'd share with you all some of my favorite little things in my room. Enjoy! :)

REcover//REstyle

This weekend I got to feeling a little crafty. A little fabric and Mod Podge always solves that, right? :) So I went down to the craft shelves in the basement and scrounged up some scrap fabric and Mod Podge, grabbed my Bible and an old office chair, and got to work! [Sorry for the poor photo quality of my phone as well as the lack of before/process pics!]

To cover my Bible, I simply painted a medium layer of Mod Podge onto the cover and placed the fabric over that, wrapping the fabric around the edges and cutting out spaces for the binding and elastic band to still fit around the book. Easy peasy!

To cover the chair, I unscrewed the back and just placed the fabric around the old stuff, taped it in the back (shhhh, don't tell anyone!) and then screwed the back back on. For the seat portion, there was a way on the bottom of the chair to loosen the cushion, so I simply loosened it and tucked the fabric underneath then tightened it. I LOVE a sewing-free project! :)

Both pieces got NEW life from these simple improvements. Plus, my Bible's spine was falling apart and this solved that problem, while enhancing the beauty of it as well! Hope you are inspired to go recover and restyle something of your own! Happy crafting!

MIA

Sorry I've been absent in the world of Wordpress lately! You see, I may have found a new love, called .... Tumblr. I know, I know... how many stinking blogs do I have, right?! But I just keep finding ones I like. Now don't get me wrong, Wordpress has been so good to me. I love the fun templates, the ease in which I can add new posts and track my site traffic. And I certainly love the official "website" feel that it gives my blog. BUT, have you ever checked out Tumblr? It's just so cool. The only thing easier about posting on Tumblr is breathing. Or sleeping. Oh gosh, is the Wordpress police gonna come arrest me? I feel like such a traitor!

But that's not the point of this post! Because I do want to apologize for being gone, and let you all know how cool Tumblr is, but at the same time, I obviously haven't shut down shop here either. Because here is where I can share more big life stuff. Here is where I get to rant and rave and have uber long posts that probably noone reads all the way through. Because the truth of the matter is that no matter how cool Tumblr is, it's just not really the place for those uber long posts. At least not for me. It's more of a "slap up a photo, throw up a quote, scrawl a quick thought or two" kinda blog.

So, now that I've got you curious, why don't you go check it out? :)

Should have added this one...

So my last '5 Things Friday' was a list of links to websites that are helping to make a difference. And this one DEFINITELY should have made the list (however, I learned of it on Saturday!).

 

This 22 year old decided to wear one dress for 100 days in order to raise $50,000 for orphans in India. She has a huge heart for these children and really wants to go to India, but unfortunately has some health issues that has stopped her from traveling. So, with some creativity and a dream from God, she is using her talents and gifts for fashion to make a difference.

You can check out her blog here. She is now on day 106, so the dress is no more, but she IS still accepting donations. She has $30,000 of the $50,000 goal.

Aslan

Sometimes I like to think of God (or Jesus)  as Aslan.

He's mighty, powerful, loving, forgiving. He's a conqueror, a protector, a warrior. He brings peace, order, joy, and life. He fights for me. He sacrificed His very life for me. Sometimes I tremble in His presence, and other times I just wanna give Him a great big hug. Yup. Sounds like Aslan to me.

Haiku

While in Colorado, a lovely lady named Alyssa re-taught me how to write a haiku. So I thought I'd try it out.

*10 minutes later... "wow this is harder than I thought it would be!"

Bed so large it screams

Always wanting me to come

Calling for a nap

(Inspired by true events that took place this afternoon.)

25 Ways to Tie a Scarf

This is such a fun video! I have so many scarves, but only a couple of ways I know how to wear them... well, not anymore! Watch on to learn 25 ways to tie a scarf... my favorite is the "celebrity." :)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5LYAEz777AU]