A time of reflection

For two weeks my husband has been in Peru ministering to the people and sharing the gospel with them. During that time, I've been here at home ministering to the people God has put in my path. It's been hard, challenging, enlightening and, above all, a God-thing!

When my husband left for Peru I was sad, wishing I could go and minister with him and do something exciting. Little did I know, God had plans for me right here. Several people in my life are going through very difficult things and when they called on me to help I was completely available to go be with them, or allow them into my home. It gave me time to spend with people who just needed someone to be there...something that normally doesn't come very easily for me with a family of 6, a full-time job, as well as the ministries God has me involved in at our church...so I count it a true blessing from the Lord.

Often times, my heart is pulled in many directions with the many things I have going on in my life, and one of those heart strings is sometimes pulled but not responded to like I should, leaving me feeling like I let friends and family down sometimes. This week God allowed me to minister like my heart was telling me to, even working out all the details to allow me to do so. My parents asked if my kids could come spend the week at the lake with them, and my bosses were wonderful to me when I needed to leave work early one day, and everything just worked out completely!

Another awesome thing about the last two weeks is the time I've spent reflecting on my marriage and what God desires for our lives. I often find myself asking God the same thing, "change me!" Not externally...what passes away...but change my heart, make it more like Christ. One of those areas would be in how I truly show my husband love and respect. For some time now I've felt convicted about how I speak to him or nag him about things, and during this last two weeks God has shown me the areas I need to work on and the courage to say okay, Lord, I'll take action and do something about it. I'm so excited about learning how to love my husband more, in a way that he needs to be loved, not how I think he needs to be loved. I've asked God to show me and help me to hear and respond.

Just this morning, as I was spending time with the Lord he took me to Proverbs 31 and, verse by verse, we conversed about me as a wife and how I could work on certain areas. It was amazing! I then felt God's leading in sharing all the Lord has shown me by writing a letter to my husband...nailing down I was willing to take action and do what the Lord has shown me I need to do. I am excited because I know the Lord is working in our lives to draw us even closer to him and to each other.

Thank you, Lord, for two special weeks in my life...first of all, for your love and protection, keeping us all safe while we were away from each other, and for time to spend with those who needed a friend, for time to spend all by myself (allowing me to look deep into my own life and your will for my life and my marriage). Thank you for a wonderful, godly husband whose heart's desire is to know You and make You known, and who loves me unconditionally and shows me every day how much I mean to him. Thank you for all the many, many blessings in my life!!