Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Make Time for Love...


With two little girls and the hustle-bustle of everyday life, I sometimes find me and my hubby's alone time being put on the back burner. Not that I don't LOVE spending time together as a family with our daughters, Sophia and Peyton. Actually this is when I usually laugh the hardest and feel the most complete. But I have found that with another child and my hobby/home business growing, our wife/hubby time has been more and more put in the category of 'later' or 'next time'. Let me clarify what I mean by 'alone time'; I mean talking, sharing, laughing, planning, and dreaming together. And as much as I know we have to make sacrifices for our children, I don't think we are meant to sacrifice our relationship with each other for the sake of our jobs/hobbies/and even our families 'wants'. Maybe I should explain in more detail...The strength of the family and structure of the family (in my belief) come from the bond and love between the parents. So in other words, if the parents display trust, contentment, love and encouragement, than the children will feel those same things and feel true joy and happiness. I adore my husband of 9 years to no end and I am so incredibly thankful to have some one so patient and understanding in my life. If you know me, you know I can talk anyone's ear off and I love to talk through problems, aspirations and even about mundane things such as hair and clothes, so to have a hubby that will sit there and listen to anything and everything lets me know he truly cares. But I also want to be there for him too and sometimes after caring for the girls all day, working on jewelry in between and then making dinner, keeping up with the house, by the time the girls have gone to bed, I'm pooped and ready for bed myself. I simply have no energy left for him and this realization kills me! My biggest fear in life is that I would get caught up in the everyday routines and almost become a robot in my schedule and lose my zest for life and love. I have such an 'achiever' personality that I tend to focus so much on the goal and lose sight of the process. Like I said in a few posts back, I am getting better at living in the moment, but still need a refresher every once in a while. Well this is my refresher and I am seeing my life playing out in a whole new way. I am where I am in my life because this is exactly where God wants me to be. I feel like at times I am trying to run full force ahead and God is gently holding me back, lovingly saying to me, 'You're not quite ready for that yet, and when you are, I will be right beside you cheering you on!" I am not failing because I haven't achieved all my dreams, I am still in the 'process stage' of life. I am so in a rush to be finished, that I miss the small moments that are teaching me the most about who I am. One huge lesson I have learned recently is, I'm not afraid to fail because I now know it's not a personal thing, it's just not the right timing and from failure, we grow and learn. I have also learned that you can't make decisions, nor deal with people based on emotions. Emotions come and go (such as anger and hurt), but to choose to love that person or forgive that person is using the beautiful and logical mind that God gave us! Long story short, (after I've already rambled for five hours, lol) is this: When you truly love someone, you give your life for theirs. You wipe clean the slate, you bury your agenda and love them with every ounce possible. So even if your tired from a busy day, or they left their dirty clothes on the floor, look at them how God would and see them for the heart and soul you married. Brush off the bitterness, and stress of the day and make time for love. Make time to talk about your plans, your dreams, your goals. The dishes can wait, the TV shows can wait, heck sleep can even wait! Make the time to share with each other whats on your heart. So many couples wait until they no longer have anything to share or don't even know the words to begin. My hubby doesn't know it yet, but tomorrow while my mother in law watches the girls, I'm going to surprise him at work so we can have lunch together. Make time for Love!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Love...


I sat down with Sophia tonight and rocked her like I do every night. As I rocked her, we read two stories out of her princess book and chatted a little bit about our day and then we began saying prayers. I sometimes say them and she repeats me, or sometimes she just comes up with her own prayer. Tonight as I prayed, I prayed a prayer my Mom taught me when I was a little girl:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I shall die before I awake
I pray the Lord my soul to take

As a little girl I found comfort in this prayer because no matter where I was, or if my mom wasn't with me to help lead me into prayer, I had something to whisper up to God. Something to let my God know that I loved Him and wanted to be with Him. And as I prayed this prayer, I always felt like my Mom was praying it with me. Because of the comfort, security and love this prayer brought me, I wanted to share and teach it to Sophia. So as I said each verse, I asked her to repeat after me. When she repeated 'If I shall die before I awake', she got a very concerned look on her face. She asked why we were praying that. How do you explain death to a 3 year old? She correlates dying with my uncle Todd because that was the first time she heard the word 'died or passed away'. So as best as I could, I tried to explain to her that I didn't want anything to happen to her, but if for some reason it did, I would want her to be up in heaven where God was taking care of her and looking over her. And then I went on to tell her, "Even though Mommy and Daddy love you so very much, God loves you even more!" I told her God put her in my tummy and made her. She looked at me trying so hard to understand what I was telling her. I want her so badly to understand how much her Creator loves every single hair on her head and designed every little freckle, mole, and blood cell. That she is 'special', 'unique' and wonderfully and beautifully made. I want her to know she can be anything she wants to be and that I believe in her. I want her to ultimately know her worth! I feel like so many kids these days don't feel worthy or know how special and precious they are, and I want to make sure my girls know that as God loves me unconditionally, I will love them unconditionally. I am of course their Mommy, who wipes their tears and kisses their boo-boo's, but I feel I am also their mentor and the words that I say to them and use around them are how they will feel about themselves and who they will become. We as parents, have such a huge impact on the growth and development of our children. And though as a human being, I know I will make mistakes along the way, I want to be able to look back and see that I was a positive example and tool in the woman they grow up to be.