♫Denny's Song♫

Denny's Song

Let there be light, God said,

And out of the darkness it came

He spoke the worlds to existence.

And everything in them the same.

And as He made them one by one,

"It is good," the Father said.

Until He saw a lonely man,

then these were His words instead.

"It is not good that man be alone

I'll give him a wife and they'll have a home.

Together as one the two shall be,

as man and wife," as you and me.

Once God saw a man who served Him

With no one to walk by his side

No one to meet every need of his heart,

And kiss away tears that he cried.

So God made a lady to love him,

And walk by his side all through life.

Some one that he'd call his very own,

His friend and his love, his wife.

"It is not good that man be alone.

I'll give him a wife and they'll have a home.

Together as one the two shall be,

As man as wife,"

As you and me.

From the Family.Love.Notes ~A.collection of songs for the Christ-centered wedding and the true Christian home by Cathy.Corle~

We had this song sung at our wedding on 8.10.02

Extramarital Affairs

Did you know that an extramarital affair is just an escape from reality or a search for fulfillment outside of marriage?  This means that an 'affair' can come in many different disguises!  Think about it...
*Activities
*Materilaism
*Career
*Family
*Fantasy (which can include porn.ography and/or romance novels)
or
*An actual love affair


So are you the kind of person that seeks outside activities to be involved in a little too much, how many boards are you on?  Are you the kind of person that needs the newest latest things to keep you happy?  Are you a work-a-holic that just cannot say no because you are too busy getting ahead with your job to take time for your spouse?  This one is very common, it seems like something for the greater good when you 'sacrifice' your relationship with your spouse to spend time with the family driving the kids to all their sports and recitals when you could be taking just one night a week to devote to your spouse?  Do you have troubles with getting away into a fantasy land either in your thoughts or in what you watch/read and that tends to take the place of a relationship with your spouse or at the very least cause a gap between you?  Or are you one that has taken it to the next level and actually been involved with someone other than your spouse?  Each of these usually start with small steps and Satan can use those small steps to, in a sense, seduce you to get deeper and deeper until they have a stronghold in your life. 

It is not what God has in mind for a marriage relationship.  I am sure each marriage has suffered at least one of these 'affairs' at some point and time, but again...bring it back to the Bible and recommit yourself to finding joy and fulfillment in your spouse! 

Not original to me...

I just received an email from FamilyLife.com that was pretty sobering!  It was called, "Googling Help for Marriages" and the idea behind it was using Googles autofill setting to see what the most popular searches are when it comes to marriage...so I tried a few of their suggested ones and this is what it said:

I typed "My Husband"

it offered...
...is annoying
...makes movie lyrics
...hates me
...doesn't love me
...is a jerk
...cheated on me
...ignores me
...'s three wives
...is an alcoholic
...is depressed

I typed "My Marriage"
it offered...
...is falling apart
...is in trouble
...is over
...is boring
...is failing
...was a mistake
...is dead
...trouble quiz
...is over now what
...needs help

I typed "How Can I Get My Wife"
it offered...
...to swing
...to shave
...in the mood
...to shut up
...to love me again
...to loose weight
...'s facebook password
...pregnant
...to
...back

I typed "How Can I Get My Husband"
it offered...
...to fall in love with me again
...to be more affectionate
...to leave the house
...to want me
...to be more romantic
...to help around the house
...to loose weight
...back
...to love me again
...to talk to me

Those are the top 10 auto fills for each of the phrases and the top ten are choosen by most popular searches.

Dave Boehi ends the FamilyLife.com email with this:
"This is just one piece of the picture of American marriage. But it's enough to show once again how many people are looking for help for their marriages and families.

There are answers to these problems--and those answers are found in a relationship with God and in the plan He provides in the Scriptures. Probably you know some people who need those answers.

When I read stories about marriages that have been saved or revived, I often notice that someone in that couple's life was courageous enough to step in and offer help. Perhaps a listening ear and a wise word of exhortation. Or an invitation to attend a Weekend to Remember® marriage conference or a HomeBuilders Couples Series® group.

In your family, in your church, and in your neighborhood there are people who are searching desperately for help. You can look at this as an overwhelming problem, or a tremendous opportunity."

We attended a Weekend to Remember last October and while we have a good relationship and strong marriage commitment, it is something I would encourage any couple (new and old alike) to attend.  At our meeting the newest married couple was less than 24 hours and the longest married couple was 55 years!  It helped us to understand where the other is coming from a little more, what God expects of us in our relationship and so much more!  I reference my session binder where we had fill in the blank answers and homework and "making it personal" couple and individual activities to accomplish throughout the weekend.  One of the things I learned there that I still think of almost daily is that when you are have a discussion it is best to meet fact with fact and emotion with emotion.  My Handsome is a very factual person and I am an emotional person...he has learned that when I am struggling I do not want to hear all the facts about how to fix whatever the problem may be, but I need tender love and care (ex. hugs, kind understanding.)  That turns around, when he is struggling with something I cannot get all emotional...I have to deal in facts (ex. instead of crying, have actual reasons for why that upsets me.)  One of the best tools that I could ever have been equiped with!  Wish I would have gotten it before 7 years of marriage!

If you know of a Weekend Remember retreat being help in your area, I highly recommend you to attend!  It will be well worth your time and investment! 

But as for the google for marriage...I would suggest going to the Bible and seeing what God has to say about the troubles in your marriage. Dr. Google isn't likely to give you Biblical advise in that department!

Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw

So I have mentioned that I was going to be doing some reading and reviewing for BookSneeze and I received the first book in the mail on Wednesday and LOVE it!  "Love Your Heart" is a great book!  I read it to my 3 year olds and they thought it was great how much the Daddy loves his little Princess! 

I think that the book does a great job of showing what kind of a connection a father/daughter team really has.  As the pages turned coming closer and closer to the end I could never have imagined what the REAL lesson was going to be!  When little Katie offers to help her friend and put her own desires behind that of her friend it teaches a lesson that some many children (and adults alike) miss these days, kindness.  A selfless act is something I never tire of teaching to my little ones.  I read the book to my daycare the next day and they all enjoyed it!  A hit for sure, one my daughter has asked me to, "read me to it Mama" many times since and it has only been two days! 

My opinion of the book is a must have for anyone that sees the special bond between Daddys and daughters!  But as my son says, "It isn't just for girls, Mama!  Boys can read this one too because we need to be good Daddy's some day!"

Pick this one up!  And check out BookSneeze!

MckGiveaways are here!

Over at MckGiveaways they are giving away a great Kelly Moore camera/diaper/catch all bag that looks amazing I have entered and would LOVE to win...go check it out here!  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on the post!

Music

I know I have been talking alot about music lately, but seriously....what better way to prepare your heart for God than with some good music full of scripturally based words?!?!?  I LOVE music and have music going most of the day (when MickyMouseClubhouse and HandyManny are over.)  It is so much fun to see all the little Pumpkins Running around the house singing and dancing to praise and worship music. 

One day I do hope to be serving our Lord full time again...whatever capacity that may be I know music will go with us!  I was thinking the other day about what happened if we were to loose our CD collection...it is full of so many different types of CDs from very traditional hymns to more comtemporary and some Southern Gospel thrown in there.  I am thankful for music and all that it does for a person...it really can take you up or down, so what kind of music do you choose?  Right now I hearing, "Cuz Jesus I am so in love with You" sung...hopefully that can be sung out of the depths of my heart every single day!  And right on to "We fall down and lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus."  WOW!  Just start really listening to the music you have in your home and if like me, it is for extra noise to drown out the REAL noise...re-evaluate, even if you are not paying attention the little ears in your home are and we have decided to play 99% Christian music (I do still have to keep a few of my sappy love songs around for the times when I might need a reminder for how much I love my hubby ~not because of him, but because I usually need an attitude adjustment! ;-) 

Anyway, just a random thought that popped into my head after hearing my 3 year old daughter as she was cleaning up singing along to "Rock of Ages." 

Something along this line is the favorite songs of my kiddos...right now the Princess is loving "Every Move I Make" commonly known as "The WOOHOO Song" in our house...."Every move I make I make in you you make me move Jesus...every step I take I take in you you are my way WOOHOO" 

My BooBear loves "Today is the Day" and can sing the entire thing without music (when he wants to...he is three ya know!)  In the mornings it is common to hear him sitting in his bed bursting at the top of his lungs "TODAY IS THE DAY YOU HAVE MADE I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT  OhOhOh OhOhOh" 

Before we moved here I cared for a little 3 year old boy that ran around singing "Man, I feel like a woman" and that was before we had our own kids.  But at that point I realized that it really is about what you as parents put into your kids' brains that helps mold them to be who they will be...and I would love for all of my children to grow up loving God and serving Him too! 



 

People

So, if you know me IRL you know that there were many trials that we faced in the middle of our marriage (almost 7 1/2 years) and many of those trials came about because we didn't fit into a certain mold that other people believed Christians should be.  The purpose of this blog is still not completely clear to me, but it seems that it is my {just have to get it off my chest} kind of blog!

Well these last few weeks have been those of trying to seek and hear God.  I believe we are on the right track, but it seems that every time something good is coming around one of the above mentioned people step out from the past and lash out.  Or maybe it just seems that way, my husband preached an AWESOME message on Sunday.  He gets to preach every once in a while at our church to give the pastor a break or while he is away, but this message seemed to be exactly what was heavy on my heart the last while!

It was titled Success is Loving!  He talked about how Peter denied the Lord, he said that he didn't even know "the man."  We all know that Jesus heard all of this.  I liked how my husband said that "the meeting of their eyes has to be one of the most painful exchanges in human experience."  After this Peter wept bitterly the Bible says.

He then went on to talk of when the Lord said, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"  Speaking of the other disciples.  Peter responded "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."  But Jesus had asked him if he had the agape (selfless unconditional spiritual) love and Peter responded with Philia (a friendship affectionate type) love. 

Jesus asked him again with the agape and Peter again answered with the Philia.  Then Jesus goes on to ask him a third time, but this time he did ask if he had the Philia (friendship) type love for him.  Peter then aswered but saying, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Speaking of the Philia love! 

This started with three questions followed by three denials and come to a point where there were three questions from Jesus and three times that Peter could tell Him of the love he had for Him!

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your stregnth."

It is possible to do most anything without loving God, and some may not even know.  Your heart is only completely known by you and God.  You can pastor, work, teach Sunday School, work on a bus route, or be a missionary without loving God.  But we need to get our priorities back in order and put loving God back on top of service to Him!

My husband also said on Sunday, "Realizing that loving God is the ground of all true success is truly liberating."  And he left us with three ingredients to loving God!

#1~An absolute honesty regarding our love for God.
#2~Cultivate earnestly the conscious inner ability to love Him while we serve Him.
#3~Spend special time with Him.


I was touched by this message.  Loving God is the most important thing and it is really what my husband and I try to base our every decision around!  Have we failed, YES....will we fail again, YES!  But that doesn't mean we aren't Christian, it just means we are sinful humans like everyone else. 

The praise team followed this up by singing "Here I Am":

"Something in my heart


Burning like a fire

I want to live for You



Need Your touch right now

Fill me with Your power

Power to live for You my God



I will not be moved

I will stand for You



I will go where You send me

Jesus take me now I am Yours

I am Yours



Lay my life on the altar

Everything I give to You alone



Here I am

Here I am



Here I am send me"

Which seemed so perfect, but they didn't know what he was preaching and he didn't know what they were singing!  I couldn't control my tears as we sang that song....it was like someone had stabbed a hole in my heart so that every bit of emotion rolled out through the words of this song!  It will be interesting to see what God does.  I believe that there are amazing things going to happen...soon, and we will be here ready and waiting!  But until then, our day to day life is to love and serve Him!

Hope this was as much of an encouragement to you as it was to me!  Maybe this is more just a reminder for me before the details esacpe my mind!  But I have now realized that the people that think we are not Christian because of how we dress, or decisions we have made really do not matter.  What matters is that we love God with everything in us and that each decision we have made we have made through prayer and following God! That is how we plan to continue!

How Deep The Father's Love For Us

I am a HUGE fan of songs that not only worship, but also can speak to the heart and get ahold of a heart issue!  The song "How Deep the Father's Love For Us" has been one of my favorites (I know I have MANY) of them...but with Valentines Day rolling around the corner I think it is important to remember what love is the purest of all...that is God's love for us!  Enjoy the lyrics and I will see what I can do to get the music to auto play so you can hear it!  LOVE.THIS.SONG!


How deep the Father's love for us,


How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure



How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory



Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,

Call out among the scoffers



It was my sin that helf Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I knoww that it is finished



I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast inJesus Christ

His death and resurrection



Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

(REPEAT)


If you would be interested in a CD with this song on it the Steve Pettie Evangelistic Team has a great one called "Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All" and you can get it here!

BookSneeze

I am really excited, I heard about this sight from another blogger...terrible but cannot remember which one to link you up this time...but I filled out the application this morning and they accepted it.  So I was able to go back to their website and choose which book I wanted to review first from their available list....

I will be receiving...

...in the mail shortly

Once I get it look for my review!

Hey and you can go here if you are a blogger and join the fun too!