Marriage Memo

I get these "marriage memos" emails every now & then from the marriage conference we went to last fall. This week they had a list of questions to ask yourself often in regard to your marriage; I hope you find them challenging like I did:

What is keeping me from loving my spouse as I should?
Am I harboring any anger or bitterness over something my spouse has said or done?
Am I relaxing too much in my marriage relationship--have I stopped working at improving it?
Have I learned from past relationship failures, or am I repeating my same mistakes and sins?
Am I stuck in an unhealthy pattern of relating that I learned from my parents?
Do I have unrealistic expectations of how my spouse should act?
Do I have unconfessed sin in my life?
Do I forgive my spouse's sins?
Am I maintaining an unhealthy dependence upon my parents?
Am I tempted to spend too much time on activities that don't build me up in my faith or in my marriage relationship?
Do I have an unhealthy relationship with a friend or co-worker that is drawing me away from commitment to my spouse?
What is preventing me from putting my spouse's needs above my own?

my legs are jello

You know Shred Level 2 is hard when Jillian says, "I want you guys to feel like you are dying!"

Aaaand that is precisely how I felt!!

oh not much

I love having a cup of tea in the afternoons now - yumm! I went to Teavana with my parents Friday & they bought us the little teamaker & some German rock sugar, which tastes much better than HEB sugar substitute! At this rate I'll be going monthly to load up on tea... but it's so good! I have a cup a day, sometimes two if I have some peppermint tea in the evenings (it aids in digestion, you know, & is not caffeinated). PLUS, I am finally using the cute tea cups that came with our plates... they are not very useful for non-tea drinkers. Oh, but that's what I am now - a hot tea drinker! Crazy.

I'm writing about Venice now (as in, before I started writing you this little pointless update), just so you know... I think I'll finish the whole trip then post each city separately, with some pictures.

Happy Father's Day to my dad & father-in-law!

I heart Teavana!

So I started the shred again on Monday (my knees took a beating in Italy because of the cobblestones so it took a couple weeks to get them back in decent shape) after a 3-week break... although it takes some motivation to get going, my body feels so much better when I do the workout. So I'm glad to be back at it. I never moved up past level 1 because I wanted to be able to do the whole workout without struggling at all, but I think I'll be able to move up to level 2 next Monday. Ooh, I wonder what it will be like!

Josh & I were at the Galleria in Houston on Saturday & we wandered into a store called Teavana. I have recently decided to make myself like hot tea (I have also made myself like salsa, avocado/guacamole, red peppers, sweet potatoes..) so although this store would have never interested me before, we wandered in & started trying some teas they had available for sampling. One of them was DELISH! We talked with the women who worked there & eventually bought some, the flavor we liked, which was a blend of two different teas... anyways, we now love this store! AND we have one in SA, WHOOO! I also bought myself some peppermint tea this week. This is all a smidgen of what God continues to do in me regarding health... maybe I'll blog about that soon.

& yes, I will blog about Italy... it is on my to-do list now, which means, I mean business, it will happen!

coffee!

I just signed up for this deal... four bags of coffee (a $38 value) for $4.95! & free shipping! It's a promo from BocaJava. You pick your four flavors, join, then you can cancel at any time.

CHEAP COFFEE!

Heaven & how we live

(I will write about Italy, but that is going to take a while.)

Our pastor just concluded a series on Heaven yesterday. I think it was 5 weeks long, & we missed the 3rd & 4th week so I haven't listen to them yet, but just what I heard has been really good. Not quite what I expected. But it has changed my thoughts & the way I view my circumstances & actions.

I want to tell you about yesterday's sermon, because it was very convicting to me.

1 Corinthians :11-15
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, & the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

This scripture, when referring to the man that builds on the foundation of Jesus, means someone who has put their faith in Jesus to save them. It is speaking of believers (which means more than "I believe in God" or "I go to church, sometimes" or "I'm a good person" or just calling yourself a Christian but that is another topic); if you do not know Jesus this does not apply to you.

We are saved by grace, but our reward is based on how we live.

On Judgement Day, our lives will be presented before the Lord: every thought, word, action, every single little bit of our lives that we maybe think doesn't matter, everything will be judged (remember Matthew 12:36-37?). So, we are building our lives with the following aspects:
-our thoughts
-our actions
-our words
-the attitudes of our heart
-the way we spend our money (which is an expression of how we live our lives; what we value)

These things are represented by either gold, silver & costly stones, OR, wood, hay & straw. They either represent what the Lord is passionate about (love, patience, kindness, compassion, humility, etc) or what He despises (ugly words about other people, anger, lies, jealousy, disobedience to authority, coveting, etc). It will all be presented before the fire, & what is left is our reward. Some will not receive a reward, based on the way they lived their life.

I want a reward. I want to build my life with gold, silver & costly stones. Since yesterday I have noticed some of my thoughts that are definitely straw. I want to live my life aware of the thoughts & attitudes I have so I can make sure they represent gold. I don't want to live my life selfishly, living in the moment, responding out of emotion, instead of stepping back & seeing things the way God does - an opportunity to respond in kindness, not anger, or the chance to forgive instead of be bitter.

This is just my summary of the sermon, it is certainly not all-inclusive. You can listen to it & the rest of the Heaven series here.