Marriage trouble.

We all go through marriage problems on and off. One day its better, and you feel loved and the next day you feel sad, and unloved and feel like the marriage has hit the rocks. I have been married for ten years and went through some tough years, with some moments thinking why I even married this man, maybe there is someone else who is better. A lot of us go through different stages in a married life.

In the first years of marriage I was lonely, and was upset that my husband didn't want to spend all his free time with me. Then I went through a stage where I was upset when he didn't show me acts of love in "my" way. I was blind to the acts of kindness and love that he was showing me in his own unique ways. Then I went through some months of disappointment in my husband, I thought he wasn't acting how he should be acting, so I tried to "explain" to him how he should act. I tried hard to change him to no avail, he wouldn't even badge. Sad to say I went through a lot of months, and possibly years in my marriage being frustrated and upset at him. There were a few issues we were going through and some of those issues still remain today, that made me really sad, angry and complaining when my husband did not see those issues as huge problems for our family.

Finally there was a time in my life, that I felt so unhappy, as tears streamed down my face, I sat and cried out to God. To help him heal my marriage, to change me, and make me be a better wife. That's when God started to change me, not my husband. He started to show me all the ways I tried to control my husband, all the times I complained, and He started to work on my heart.

I brought Him my loneliness and He filled me with peace.
I brought Him my sadness and He filled me with joy.
I gave Him all the family issues, and He promised to carry me through them all. He did not say he would remove them from my life, but that He would help me through the hard times, that he would carry me when I couldn't walk. I offered him my health, my children, my husband, my marriage.

I love the gentle ways God works in our life. He hand guiding us through the rough patches. I remember crying hard in the bathroom as I felt Him comfort me and fill me with His amazing presence. I am forever thankful in different ways He carried me in my marriage and filled it with hope and love.

He has removed the neediness, the clinging, the controlling nature and all the dirt to see the gold beneath all the tarnish. In Him alone I found true love, with which I was able to love my husband more. I found true happiness and joy.  In God alone. I still have a lot to learn, and there are days I fall back to my old ways and of course make myself miserable. I am glad we have God in our life, who lifts up our souls and helps us through the dark time in our marriage.

I pray that you find the same comfort in Him alone, and that He is the one who heals your marriage.

Here is a link to a  some nice advice on marriage as well from focus on the family.

Focus on the family- give your marriage to Jesus.

Summer.

Summer is here to stay. Life is busy, I am working full time, my husband is home with his broken ribs, watching the girls. I try to enjoy summer with my girls, bringing them as much fun as we can manage, and I am glad that little things, like sprinklers and ice cream makes for a fun day for the girls...:)

What does summer mean to you? Pretty flowers....

Strawberries over ice scream...

I cut strawberies up, sprinkle with sugar, cook for about 10 minutes, and then we pour over vanilla ice cream or short cake... um, so good.

We had our fill of snap peas... so fresh and crispy.

Water is a nessesity during the summer. Nothing can survive without water, not even little girls..;)

And finally, summer is all about resting, soaking in the sun, and enjoying the beauty of a hot summer day, that God has blessed us with.

Death.

My friends husband died last month, after fighting with cancer for the past year and a half. I went to his funeral. It was sad and touching to be there, to remember him, to see his family, to hear the great things said about him.

My distant relatives 18 month old baby boy, drowned in his family pool the past week. I did not go to his funeral, too far to travel. But my heart was broken for the parents, for the siblings who cried and wanted to know why the baby was not waking up. Its just too sad.

Life is so precious and so short, we never know what will happen to us or our loved ones. Cherish the everyday things. Don't take anything for granted.

Death is so unfair, takes precious life from our grasp. I am glad that at least knowing that if we believe in God and love Jesus with our whole heart, our soul, and our thoughts, we will see our loved ones in heaven, where we will join them too.

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.