Praying for Him: His Marriage

Ahh, marriage: what most girls dream of and what Hollywood really messes up with portraying accurately. Even the best marriages have difficult times. So it goes without saying every marriage needs to be covered in prayer.

I honestly feel this is going to be a short post. It's honestly up to you to take the time to clothe your marriage in prayer. To ask God to unite you and your husband together as only He is able. To ask God to keep any situations which may lead to divorce far away from you, allowing you both to not succumb to temptation. Stormies says it well: "Praying about all aspects of a marriage keeps the concept of divorce from gaining any hold." (p. 154)

And so though short, I urge you to take time to pray over your marriage, even if everything seems to be a field of flowers right now. You never know when hardships will strike; the only way to prepare for hardships is to be clothing yourself and your marriage in armor, prayer being part of it.

May we all be fervent in coming before the throne of God asking Him to bless the covenenant we each made with our spouses before Him!

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Here are the rest of my posts from this 30 week series I've done on praying for my husband:

Week 1: Intro     Week 2: Starting with Me     Week 3: His Identity     Week 4: His Treasure

Week 5: His Sexuality   Week 6: His Hugs, Kisses, and "I love you"s  Week 7: His Achilles Heel

Week 8: His Battlefield  Week 9: What Cripples Everyone  Week 10: The Passion Inside

Week 11: A Confession  Week 12: His Choices  Week 13: His Health  Week 14: His Protection

Week 15: His Trials  Week 16: His Integrity  Week 17: His Reputation  Week 18: His Priorities

Week 19: His Relationships  Week 20: His Fatherhood  Week 21: What Can Haunt Us All

Week 22: A Daily Choice

Cousins at the Farm

This past weekend we were able to get together with Ben's cousin and her family. We always enjoy our time with them and now we've added even more fun as we have kids who are only 3 months apart. Throw into the mix a pumpkin-patch-with-fun-activities filled farm and you're sure to have a great time. Though we all agreed next year it's better to go later.

You see, we had been watching the weather to see if it was going to stay pretty for us and if the temps were going to be bearable. And when an overcast day is projected with temps in the 80s, you think you're going to be safe. Especially with a projected cool front headed your way.

Well, it didn't cooperate. The sun was out bright as can be with no cloud coverage to give relief.

However, we didn't allow it to dampen our spirits.

Zoë wasn't so into taking pictures as a family. This was the best we were able to get. I'm pretty sure she was already hating how hot it was. Also, note here my hair is down. The rest of the pictures, I kept it up. It was H-O-O-O-O-T!! We do live in Southern Texas. I shouldn't expect much else :/ It was just a bummer as we were supposed to have some great cloud coverage all day with it raining in the afternoon. Needless to say that didn't happen.

Look at her smirk. She cracks me up!

Trecking out to the pumpkin patch. We decided it'd be best to go out there first in hopes the kids would cooperate for pictures. We knew if we waited until the end, they would probably be done.

Yet again, Zoë just wasn't having it. Thankfully, it wasn't because ants were getting her. I sure had my fair share of ant bites from being out there.

I will say I was a bit bummed it's not a cut your own pumpkin patch. We're not sure if they grow them off site and bring them in or if it's just too stinkin' hot down here to grow pumpkins so they have to bring them in.

Look at my stinker! What a face :)

The best we were able to get of Zoë and mommy. I'm not sure why but we forgot to get one of Ben with her. The ants might have attacked. I don't remember though.

The farm also raises Christmas trees. Starting the weekend after Thanksgiving, you can go and cut down your own Christmas tree. They had some really pretty trees, but there were so many people milling around I didn't try to capture them.

Zoë and H checking out the flowers. 

And romping around in the grass. They were in heaven!

Seriously, what kind of mischeif is she planning? I capture this face a lot, obviously.

This little man was headed straight for the tent support you see in my camera view. He walked right up to it and started making it spin. He got a good laugh out of it. So cute!

Little wagon riding buddies! So much fun they're the same age.

This pony really wanted to sniff Zoë. However, you're not supposed to pet the animals. I'm not really sure why. But, as soon as said pony was sticking it's nose through the fence Zoë let out a big, "WHOOOA!" I think it sort of surprised her and she has never seen such a nose. There was a donkey we pet before we knew we weren't supposed to. She thought the nose felt funny and tried to point out the Donkey's eye. Umm...actually she still tries to poke eyes out when she points to it and says "eye". We spared the Donkey such horror, though. She did love the donkey's ears. She got all excited from touching it :)

What is this weird nose sticking out at me?!

Walking with daddy past the duck pond.

They have these huge bouncing pillows. I would have gone but I was afraid I'd bounce Aubrey right out. Zoë went with Ben and they thoroughly enjoyed it. You can see here she's trying to jump by herself.

Look at that smile! Someone was in bouncing heaven!

All in all, we had a great time at the farm. They have a ton of stuff you can do for free and then activities like the bouncing pillows you can pay for. The fun part is many of them, including the bouncing pillows, are an all day pass once you pay for it. H and Zoë were a little young for many of the free activities this year, but we're pretty sure next year we may have munchkins who don't want to leave at all!

21 Weeks [A Bumpdate]

Is it sad I'm a bit comforted there isn't much difference between this week and last?

How Far Along: I am 21 weeks and 5 days. 128 days until I'm 40 weeks.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Ironically, I found out I lost two pounds at my OB appointment last week. I was really kind of shocked. The first words out my mouth when he looked at me while stating, "So, you lost two pounds," but with this "Are you really eating?" questioning behind it were this: "I promise I'm eating. I have no clue how this happened." He looked at Ben, who had taken off since it was also our big anatomy scan appointment, to confirm and without hesitation he was nodding his head. Thankfully, my OB turned back to me and said, "Well, I'm gonna say it all went to the baby." Of course, I agreed after seeing the difference in myself from my weekly bumpdate pics. Here, see for yourself:

I mean, the proof is all in the bump's growth. Seriously. And honestly, I don't think my doctor was excessively concerned considering the ultrasound results were great, my health seems to be doing great, and my weight gain is still in a healthy range for a normal pregnancy. 

Food Aversions (and "no nos"): Bananas are my only complete aversion. I actually came across BBQ several times this week and it smelled great! Tried some and it definitely hit the spot, well...it tasted good. I haven't craved BBQ. In fact...

Gimme' some of that!: ...I haven't had a craving since I satisfied my need for lemonade last week. I still really like lemonade, thus bought some to give me a variation of plain ol' water. Let's face it: drinking 4+ bottles of water, 32 ounces each (because I'm now curious after typing that: the minimum amount I've been drinking is 128 ounces or a GALLON), a day. Holy smokes! A freakin' gallon of water a day?! With other fluids not calculated in there? Good grief. Anyway, I enjoy having a glass of lemonade to balance out the freakin' gallon of water I drink a day. 

How I Feel: Pretty good. I can't stand for long periods of time but we found out this week it's because of the way our sweet Aubrey is choosing to get comfy. (By the way, if you missed the gender reveal video, you can check it out here.) She's scooching her little bum as far down as it can go and resting her head on my vena cava. Thus swelling and circulation problems in my right leg galore! Woot! Oh, as well as complete confirmation I am housing a bladder dweller. Fun times...not!

Maternity Clothes: Nothing new. Full panel pants are my hated friend. Is it possible to have a hated friend? Maybe it's like the awful medicine you have to take to get better. You don't like it but it totally isn't something you want to skip because you know you'll regret not taking it. Yeah, I think that describes my relationship with the blasted full panel. Also, I am almost unable to wear t-shirts to sleep in. If it's not maternity, the length is barely covering my bump and/or the material is too tight on my middle, of which I am not a fan.

Movement: Quite consistent. I'm loving it. I think it's hilarious she moves more if too much pressure is put on any part of her little home. She has also moved up to my hand when I rub my belly. If I pat, she'll find a new spot, but if I rub my hand up and down, she'll press into the side she's feeling me do that to. She moved a ton during the ultrasound; I'm under the impression she hated having the tech push on her with the wand. The Maternal-Fetal Medicine Doc came in to take a quick look once the tech was done (I'll explain in a different post, but everything is fine with Aubrey.) and she had fallen asleep in the 15 minutes she'd been left to her normal home. However, almost as soon as the wand was pushing, she covered her face up. Yes, I realize I'm projecting into actions of my unborn child. Yes, I try not to do this with Zoë and will try not to do this with Aubrey once she is here. But the motherly intuition I have would put this guess for her actions into the pot. Just sayin'.

Sleep: Eh...sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good. There isn't too much of a rhyme or reason to it. It has helped I moved our alarm clock, which has a ridiculously bright back light, to a different part of my dresser so the light isn't right in my face. However, I think my body is getting me ready for Aubrey's arrival because good sleep comes and goes. Much like the many phases babies go through with their developing sleep patterns. Though I will say I'm thankfuly it isn't trying to prepare me for the newborn phase yet. I'll be happy if it waits until at least the last few weeks of pregnancy for that.

What I Miss: Honestly, the one thing I find myself talking about is how I can't wear demi-band maternity pants. I never wore anything more than an under the belly band during my pregnancy with Zoë. I loved being able to feel like I was still wearing semi-normal pants. With the full-panel, I feel like I'm completely undressing/redressing every time I go to the bathroom. Pain. in. the. bum!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Making it another week in the pregnancy.

Favorite Moment of the Week: Getting to see my sweet baby. And to hear everything looks good in there, she's growing just fine. Blessing upon blessing!

It's a...

Praying for Him: A Daily Choice

I'm beginning to see a pattern with my first response to a chapter title in Power of Praying Wife. The horrible, great aspect of it is it always reveal a part of my heart in need of God's tender hand changing me. (Yes, I used an oxymoron there. I hate and love recognizing my need for change. Oh, my humanness! [<- if "humanness" isn't a word, I just made it one. I like it. I'm leaving it.]) This week was no different when my eyes first saw these words: "Chapter Twenty: His Attitude".

I immediately thought, "I'm not so sure I will be praying about his attitude as much as I will be praying about mine. Ben is an optimist. It's part of his nature, his wiring. He doesn't need me to pray for his attitude because he doesn't struggle with that." (You guys, I'm laughing at myself just typing those words.)

Part of my reasoning in propping Ben up on this pedastal is his optimism pervades everything around him so much, I've come to think that because I'm a realist, there must be something wrong with me, while Ben has it all figured out over there. (I say I'm a realist because I don't walk around in with a Debbie Downer mood, most of the time. [Umm...who doesn't get in a Debbie Downer mood sometimes? You? Well, I'm going to call you out and say you're lying. Or you're in a grave state of denial.] Yet, I don't look at a glass and see it as just half full either. To me, it's always half empty and full, unless, of course, the glass is mostly full or almost empty. And I think I just proved the point I tend to look at life from a "this is the way it is" mentality. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the steal-my-breath amazing.) Anyway, because many people tend to say there are only optimists and pessimists (can we delete that cramped, self-confining, smelly box, please?), including my husband, I started beating myself up about my view-point and placing him on this "I want to be like him" pedastal.

FAIL!

You guys, everyone struggles with a bad attitude. Some people more than others, but I'm willing to bet it's because those who don't struggle with needing attitude adjustments as much have some other "big" struggle they have to grab by the horns and tackle to the ground. A struggle the constantly-working-on-attituders may not even have. Not to mention, though this is completely unscientific, not verified data, with a very small pool for the data, in my teeny span of a life, I have never seen someone's bad attitude completely mirror the bad attitude anyone else. Similar, sure. But identical? Never. They may grow sour, angry, pessimistic, mopy, etc. because of the same incidence, but just as all those descriptors have different faces, so will their horribly, no good, bad attitudes.

Not to mention, desiring to be like my husband is not what God calls me to. Nor is my husband perfect, because like everyone else in this fallen world, my husband was born into it with a sin nature. (And let me assure you, though we strive to live a godly life, we sin plenty over here! Shoot, I've already revealed in this post my sin of setting my husband on the throne God, alone, should be reigning from in my life.) Thus I'm setting myself up for horrible failure, especially in the attitude department, with my focus so far from where it should be.

This leads me to think about the one quote from this tiny chapter which has really stuck with me:

"We choose our attitude." (p. 150)

Allow those words to sink in for a minute.

Maybe read the following verses to go along with it (I'll make it easy for you by typing it up here in this post :]):

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13 NASB

I'm not sure what is going through your head at this moment, but I know I sometimes look at those verses and find myself excusing my poor attitude because I'm not particularly struggling with Paul's description of the situations he has learned to be content in. Yet, verse thirteen leaves no room for guessing: Paul is saying no matter the situation, no matter the circumstance which has taken your joy, we are able to do all, not some, all things through Christ.

And since I'm running out of morning time without my daughter being awake, I will leave you with this: pray for your attitude. If you're married, pray for your spouse's attitude. Pray the choice to look to Christ in every single situation you face today will be your first. When we set our eyes on Him, He shows us how He desires us to handle the situation. It likely won't be through a booming voice telling you what to do, though I sometimes wish it was, but by choosing to focus on Him for everything, your relationship with Him will grow, you'll know how to better pray for your spouse while you are away from them due to work or anything else, and you will find at least your heart is struggling less to remain hardened about whatever was bringing down your mood. If there is one thing I've been learning it's I have no control over anyone's attitude but my own, so while I pray God is the focus of my husband's life, I release any control over how he responds or reacts to situations and focus on taking care of what I have been given charge to take care of: my attitude.

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Here are the rest of my posts from this 30 week series I've done on praying for my husband:

Week 1: Intro     Week 2: Starting with Me     Week 3: His Identity     Week 4: His Treasure

Week 5: His Sexuality   Week 6: His Hugs, Kisses, and "I love you"s  Week 7: His Achilles Heel

Week 8: His Battlefield  Week 9: What Cripples Everyone  Week 10: The Passion Inside

Week 11: A Confession  Week 12: His Choices  Week 13: His Health  Week 14: His Protection

Week 15: His Trials  Week 16: His Integrity  Week 17: His Reputation  Week 18: His Priorities

Week 19: His Relationships  Week 20: His Fatherhood  Week 21: What Can Haunt Us All