Record the delights in your heart

I pulled out a journal that my mom sent me for my 40th birthday the other day.  There is so much for me to write and see and say, and I wanted to begin to record.

But pulling out my journal brought me back to the last several years of my life and marriage.

If you have followed this blog since its inception 3 years ago, you would know that my husband and I have had to work really hard at our marriage.

One point, while we were receiving professional help, my husband was journaling.  It was a good thing.  Yet is was a VERY depressing thing.

While it was both cathartic and healing—it was just SO SAD!

And every time I read it, it was hard to read.

Hard times in life are hard.  And we need to share them with someone we trust—but that doesn’t make it easy.

So when I pulled out my journal…during a hard day of just being me, being mommy, being wife, I decided to do something different.

I decided that I was going to write about the joys of my day.  And while my children sat screaming and crying and throwing fits, I remembered that ONE moment of the day where they were pure joy—

And I wrote that.

And I giggled while I wrote.

And I shared with my husband what I wrote.

And we smiled.

Through the tears, through the difficulties, through the hard—we smiled…because, really, there was something to smile about.

Take for example, my family photo above.  My 2-year-old delight (sarcasm inserted here) cried and pouted and shouted throughout our entire photo session.  She was tired.  She was sleeping.  And she is two.  TWO.  That, in itself, is an answer for everything 😉

She did not want to smile for any photo.  It was impossible.  And as much as we tried, we just could not get that ideal and dreamy family photo that I had envisioned on the drive to the palace gardens where we were taking photos.

So we had to come to the conclusion to either leave her out of photos or just go with the flow.

And we did both.

When she wasn’t in the photos, we clicked magnificence.

When she was, we just had so much fun with her two year old pouty expressions…capturing not perfection but real life.

At the end of the day, when the gardens were about to be locked up, we wandered to the exit and just let the children run and play.  After all, they could get dirty now that mom had what she wanted.  That is when the sun actually came out.

No, dusk was on the horizon, but our 2-year-old Josephine ran and played and laughed and smiled.

And that is when my husband took back out the camera that he had already packed away and started to shoot.

And that’s when we saw her smile.

You know…It’s good to record life.  The ups and downs and all arounds.

But sometimes we especially need to record the joys—because they remind us to smile!

 

 

 

Husband for Sale. Discount today only!

Did you happen to read yesterday’s post about the husband who says too much?  If you didn’t, I hope you’ll go back for a fairly decent laugh.  If you did, then this story, you will see, continues to compliment the ongoing humor in our marriage.  Enjoy!

So, this morning, after not sleeping all night due to two rotating toddlers switching non-sleeping schedules, my husband saw my scar where I had my C-Section.  He then proceeded to say, “Wow!  You can hardly see your scar.”

I looked down at my belly.  He was right.  It’s nearly invisible two years after my 10pound 10ounce baby’s birth.

But Richard—being Richard—didn’t stop there.

“Yeah.  It blends in now with the rest of your belly wrinkles.”

I looked at him and died laughing.  I said, “Oh no you didn’t!  Let me read you what I just wrote!”

And proceeded to read him the blog When Your Husbsnd Says Too Much!

He was, at this point, rolling.

After we all stopped laughing, my husband said, “Well.  Are there any takers?”

Where we began to laugh again.

Friends—

Yesterday he was For Sale.  Today he is free.

I’ll set him by the curb.

Beware:  He comes with a wicked sense of humor.

Oh.  And he eats a lot.

Come quickly, though, because it is cold outside.

Minion Mom Monday: A Boundless Supply.

During a long overdue conversation, a friend of mine and I were discussing how Jesus’ instruction for us to love one another is seemingly so simple, but in practice it is so so very hard.  It’s not hard just because some people are annoying or rude or weird OR because we are busy or lazy or tired. It’s hard because it is constant.  Really loving people involves lots of time and patience. And that is hard.

Taking a meal, writing a note, picking someone up every now and again, while so very important, are not necessarily difficult and are not generally a burden. We do these things, feel the warm glow of caring about a brother or sister, and then go on our merry way. But what about the times when the sickness doesn’t go away in the proscribed time, the problem doesn’t sort itself out with a thoughtful note, or when one or two trips or meals turn into one or two dozen. What then? That’s what I think Jesus is talking about when He instructs us to love each other. To love the way He wants us to, is to love past what is comfortable, to love past what is easy, to love past the point of our capability and experience and knowledge. To love like Jesus is to let Jesus love through us. Man, that’s hard.

The fabulous news is that God IS love, so we have access to a boundless supply of what He asks us to give.  Thank you, Jesus!

Are you tired of loving someone? Are you tired of the emotional or physical strain? Are you at your love limit? Ask God to give you a shot of His love, to give you His ability to love the momentarily unlovable and He will be faithful to equip you to do just that.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:34

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Beautifully written by Monica Henry at @minionmom.  Please click her Gravatar to learn more about Monica!