R*E*S*P*E*C*T and Lilies

We've all heard the song at some point...

"All I'm askin' (oo)
Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB"

I've been reading Sacred Marriage during devotions lately, and I came to the chapter titled "Holy Honor." It's all about that highly explosive, highly desired, and highly important word.

Respect.

What does it mean to you?

"The sad truth is that comparatively few Christians think of giving respect as a command or a spiritual discipline. We are obsessed with being respected, but rarely consider our own obligation to respect others" (54). Thomas continues to explain that the Bible commands us to respect one another. Men respecting their wives, wives respecting their husbands: everyone giving others the respect and honor due to them as human beings created in God's image.

Thomas explains that gratitude is the best way to cultivate an attitude of respect for another person. "Contempt is conceived with expectations. Respect is conceived with expressions of gratitude" (67). How true this is for our lives. I am most dissatisfied with my husband when I dwell on the times he fails to meet my expectations, and let's face it, as a wife, I sometimes expect my husband to realize I've been slaving away in the house {in my perspective} and to roll out the red carpet of praises for how clean it looks or how good dinner tastes.

A few compliments for my hard work doesn't seem like too much to ask, does it? Ah, but how many times do I thank him for going to work every day? How many times do I complain that he isn't home enough or is working too many hours.

So, what should I do? Well, "If we assume that our spouse has the hardest road to travel and that we miss the mark most frequently--and then act accordingly--we'll find a mix that's just about right. Contempt is born when we fixate on our spouse's weakness. Every spouse has these sore points. If you want to find them, with out a doubt you will. If you want to obsess about them, they'll grow, but you won't" (70).

Have you thanked your spouse for what they do every day? And when you do, are you expecting them to thank you for your efforts in return...

Now for the lilies =) Today, Emily and I made lilies for my birthday cake. 

They need a week to dry all the way through, so we had to get them done today.

First we had to make a batch of royal icing. 

We took 1/4 of the white batch and added some rose color for the centers.

I had some pink stamens laying around, so we used those.

We piped five petals,

 Brushed a small ball of pink icing up the sides and smoothed it in the center,

Then placed the stamen in the center.

The finished product should look like the above... or something like it.

Emily made two of them

I'll update when the cake is finished =)

Spiritual Housework

Welcome,

My goal for this blog is to record our {Mark's and my} journey for the family and friends we left behind in Florida almost a year ago....

a year ago. wow.

It's cliché, but time really does fly...

July 15th, 2013, Mark and I moved to the beautiful area of North Georgia because of a job promotion. Yay! But we left behind all our beloved family and friends =( 

We miss them terribly, but we know that we are where God intends for us to be, and we are enjoying the perks of being north enough to enjoy the seasons!

Last week I learned something new about my husband of 5 1/2 years...

{I look forward to learning more things about him as we get older, as I'm sure I will}

We were on our way to see my brother, Landon, get married to Halal Allen. It was a beautiful wedding! Perhaps more on that later...

My parents with my brother and new sister-in-love

Something you should know about Mark, he's a little OCD when it comes to cleanliness. His OCD is no secret; our families often tease him about it, and he takes a strange pride in it. Last Friday, I found out why.

Mark went through a dark, god-less period in his late teens, early twenties. Providentially, he had a jolting wake-up call and decided to recommit his life to God. This also included a change in environment. Before his wake-up call, Mark's room was a dark place of filth. Often his only light was a black light mounted in his room, and he rarely ever cleaned. Mark knew that his environment encouraged the darkness (literally and metaphorically), so he changed it, obsessively so.

That Friday, driving down to Florida and talking to Mark about the years before I met him, I realized that my assistance in keeping our home clean and in good order helped my husband on a spiritual level. This was so profound to me. No longer was housework a chore to be completed; it was a way to care for my husband's soul. While I do not cherish scrubbing toilets or doing the dishes, I do cherish the thought of encouraging Mark's soul toward God. 

Sadly, I cannot say that there was a significant change in my behavior or actions regarding housework, but I know something changed in how I viewed it. Right thoughts prompt right actions. So here's to a Re-Envisioned Home!