Becoming a Joy-Filled Mother... pt 2...

Consider what message your marriage is sending to your children....

I have written before about the bible study that I am currently going through this semester at the West Campus.... I just LOVE it! This weeks lesson was on marriage, and it struck a cord with me on several different levels on just how God intend for me to treat my marriage. God has blessed me with this amazing man and He is showing me daily how I must love with an unconditional love and an attitude of that of Jesus Christ! Those things are so hard to do...but God made us for eachother! What we have is special and unique and needs to shows my children even more of who Christ is, simply by how Brian and I love & RESPECT eachother. Here are just some points from our large group time today led by Leanne. She did a fabulous job!

"If you want to be the best moms you can be, work to become the best WIFE you can be!"
- this should be our #1 priority, even over our children.

In order to do this we must do 4 things:
#1. Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
#2. Get rid of unrealistic expectations of your husband.
#3. Realize your role in shaping your marital relationship. Proverbs 14:1
- The gift of authority was given by God to our Husbands, but we have the gift of Influence as their wife.
#4. Meet his needs. (A man's deepest need is honor and respect!)

5 Things you need to say to your husband:
1. "I respect you!" (Ephesians 5:33)
- Submission is what you do for the Lord, Respect is what you do for your husband!
2. "I believe in you!" (Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 3:13)
- It's abouse sending the man you love into the world every day - alive w/ the belief that he can conquer anything in his path!
3. "I am Thankful for you!" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
- "Be joyful always!" Start a "Gratitude Journal" of all the reasons you are grateful for and why you love your husband (and your kids, your friends, your life, etc etc). There will be moments when you will need to refer back to those things as a reminder of all the many reasons why you love that person!
4. "I enjoy you!" (Genesis 2:18, Eccl. 4:9-10)
- Women bond by sharing emotions...men bond through activities. Get involved in his life... then he will be more inclined to want to listen to all our our "emotional talk" later b/c he knows we care and are interested in his interests.
5. "I want you!" (Song of Songs 4:16, 1 Corinthians 7:4-5)
- When you make intimacy a priority, it is one of the loudest and clearest ways that you can tell your husband that he is the most important earthly relationship for you.

Some points from this weeks lesson from the author.... (sorry so long, this is just GOOD stuff that I wanted to share.)

*"Our husbands ability is affected by his perception of our belief in them. This powerful & precious responsibility should be tenderly guarded!"

*"They do make GREAT men...and they need to KNOW they're good at it! Remember God endowed them with egos unlike a woman's. We long to know if we're beautiful and often solicit our husbands' validation; they need to know if they're powerful, but they won't ask for our validation."

*"God calls us to build up our husbands (Romans 14:19), to value them for who they are as they are, just as Jesus values us. Only then does Christ in us become real to them."

*"Men thrive on encouragement, and we're to be their main source of it."

***Final thought:
"When you choose to respect your husband as a man, you will see him differently as your leader, protector, and provider. When you choose to respect him as your leader, protector, and provider, you will see him idfferently as your children's father. When you choose to respect him as your children's father, your children will see him differently."