Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing green right now? If not, I wish I could reach across the computer screen and give you a pinch! Actually, I wouldn't do it, but it's the thought, right? There isn't a drop of Irish blood that runs through these veins... I'm mostly Dutch with some German and Scottish mixed in. Ben's side of the family is mostly English with German sprinkled throughout. But it's fun to enjoy the festivities of a pretty non-sensical day; although, I did share with the kids the story of St. Patrick and how he helped to bring the Gospel to Ireland. It went well with the verse we're memorizing for the week, Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." I love it when God brings together "randomness" and makes "coincidence." Very cool!

So, what's in your oven right now? What a funny subject for "wifely Wednesday" you may think. Not so! I have a traditional Irish stew slow-roasting. The scent of thyme and parsley wafts through the air. Meat, potatoes, herbs, spices... yum. You see, I make a menu every week of what we're going to eat as a family for dinner. It's often a labor of love to take such precious minutes and fill them with new recipes and old favorites. Sometimes I just want to chuck the whole thing and make the same thing every Monday, Tuesday, etc. But I don't. Ben would probably be fine with it, but I like to stretch myself in the kitchen and make many new recipes, and I've made plenty in the past almost 9 years of marriage.

Why do I push myself? Yes, I enjoy cooking and I want to expose the kids to a wide variety of food (I'm not a short-order cook and the kids eat what is served to them... nothing special made for them for dinner). But beyond those two criteria, I enjoy pleasing my husband by offering him one of my talents, that of cook. Thankfully, he is not a picky eater and will eat anything I put in front of him. I can probably count the number of times on one hand (okay, maybe two) that I've made something of which he'll only take one bite; he's great about trying new things.

God has given me the ability to not only cook well but to enjoy it and share it with others. As a wife, I have a responsibility to feed my family a healthy diet of foods that will sustain them and that they will enjoy. When we have leftovers or sandwiches for supper, I often feel as though I've failed that evening in the area of cook, but through it all, I press on to honor the Lord by cooking meals that will please my love. Sadly, one of Ben's favorite foods, any and all fish, is not high on my priority list. I make attempts at mild white fish, tuna, and shrimp, but the financial cost of a possible disaster deters me from getting too crazy with seafood!

So I'll keep on making the weekly menu, doing the weekly grocery shopping, and cooking the nightly meal. I do so to please my husband and along the way, I've had some amazing dishes that I might not have otherwise tried. Thank you, Ben, for allowing me to cook for you and honor you with one of my joys!

Blessings!

The Gift of Headship

Happy Wednesday! Yes, it is a beautiful day here with temps in the low 40s and sunshine streaming through the clouds. Today is my time to write about being a wife. What a topic, eh? I love my husband of 8 1/2 years and know that God specifically brought us together a little over 9 years ago. For those of you who might be interested, Ben and I met through a singles' group at church. Our first date was 17 hours long; our second date ended with Ben telling me that he was dating me to see if it would lead to marriage! Well, it did. We dated for 5 months, were engaged for 4 months, and we're still thriving after 8 1/2 years. Praise the Lord!

Okay, enough history. I'm reading a book entitled A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George, and I just finished the chapter on loving your husband. Wow... lots of convicting messages from the Lord in there. I mean between the baby, the almost preschooler, and the almost schooler, I find myself drained at the end of the day and just want to focus on the Mommy! But that's not right... I am here to honor my husband in all that I do. By honoring him I bring glory to God. Here's a quote that I found particularly illuminating:
"Do you know the main reason why we wives hesitate to follow our husband's leadership? God says it's fear. We are afraid of what will happen if our husbands do things their way instead of our way... or another way."

Ouch! Did that hurt anyone else? I've always said that I do not have a problem submitting to Ben; in some cases that is true. On big issues, I am more than happy to submit. But the day to day submitting is a little less pleasurable. "I" am "in control" all day when the kids are home. I'm mistress of the house. I get a little power happy... that and I love scheduling and organizing things to the nth degree! When Ben comes home, I want to keep that position. The problem is... it's not my position to keep! This will be a hard lesson for me to learn. In the small decisions, in the kid decisions, in the home improvement decisions, in the eating out decisions, in the movie decisions... submit. Now, this doesn't mean that I have no say, and often times Ben will ask for my advice/opinion in all of these areas. I can say what I feel and then LEAVE IT TO HIM.

I'm going to learn to keep quiet when I, perhaps, disagree with a direction. And then I'm going to learn to encourage him and answer concisely and with joy in the affirmative. My life is about glorifying my Father and this can be done in honoring my husband.

Blessings!