Things I swore I'd never do

 

Oh, to be the youngest... 

Unexpected Things

(1)  I had the stomach flu over the weekend while my entire family was away.  Good because there were no kids to knock on my door every few minutes, but bad because there was no one to bring me 7up and crackers when I needed them.  I know, rookie mom move to not have crackers and 7up during flu season.  So I resorted to asking one of my friends to bring me some.  In my mind, she could quickly run to the store while her hubby watched and kids.  In reality, she was out of town, so her hubby packed up the kids, lugged them into the store, and dropped them off at my house.  Thank God for AMAZING friends!!

(2)  When I got comfortable running 3 miles and my friend asked me what I was going to do next.  Try to get faster or try to run farther?  My answer was neither.  I just wanted to enjoy spending that time with God.  Since then I have just been running my 3 miles a day, but unexpectedly I have gotten faster. 

(3)  Apparently long socks are back in.  They're the Nike ones that I used to wear for basketball when I was a kid.  When I go to the Y after school it is teeming with teenagers.  All of them, even the girls,  have on their workout shorts and tennis shoes with these long socks.   Maybe I should break mine out and join the cool kids:)

(4)  Leaves are dangerous!  One day I was jogging and I saw something scurry in front of me.  I nearly jumped out of my skin and almost twisted my ankle, only to realize that it was just a leaf.  I really hope no one was outside that day to see it.  If so, they got a really good laugh.  The very next day, I was out jogging and it was very windy.  As I'm tooling along a leaf smacks me in the face.  It really hurt.  Darn Kansas wind.

Communicating Respect

We are in between studies in Sunday school, so last Sunday our teacher brought her own lesson, well one from the internet anyway.  25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband and 25 Ways to Show Your Wife You Love Her.  We didn't have time to get through all of them in class, so Bubba and I went through them at home.  He chose five things I can work on and I chose five he can work on.  Here are mine:

1.  Choose Joy - He did elaborate that I usually do a good job at this, but there's a certain time of the month that I struggle.  I know exactly what he's talking about...'nough said.

2.  Honor His Wishes - The list said to give weight to what your husband thinks is important.  He shared with me that above all else, he would like supper ready when he gets home.  This may come easily to some of you, but I absolutely hate to cook.  Deciding what to make, getting the ingredients from the store, putting the meal together at home, and doing the dishes is pure torture to me.  But since that is what is important to him, I am making that a priority. 

3.  Be Thankful - Be appreciative for everything your husband does for you, big or small.  Always say thank you.  This should be easy, but I know that sometimes I let my pride get in the way of this.  He did say that I am not a complete failure at this though.  Just something I can do better.

4.  Respond Physically - This could mean sexually, but for him it was more about responding when he touches me in other ways.  Sort of like flirting.  I was pretty good at this before kids, but now I have three little ones touching me all day and Bubba is the one who seems to get cut off. 

5.  I just noticed that he only picked four.  I think they were big enough and hard enough, he knew he better not pick any more :)

I'll update you how I'm doing on this later.  I decided that he gave me a pretty big list so I might just start with one or two until I master those.  Whether we succeed or not, communication was opened up between the two of us.  We got to talk about our hopes and desires for our marriage.  We even talked about the many things that each of us is doing right.

Romance

Precious is a lover.  I have been fighting that since the day she was born.  When playing dress-up, she always wanted to be a bride or wife or princess with a prince charming.  In preschool she had her first crush or maybe boyfriend since he liked her too.  I tried to tell her boys are icky and she should run from the boys as fast as she can.  She seemed to take that literally because in first grade she would have the boys chase her around the playground because she liked to be chased.  I say "she would have" them chase her because she didn't have to force them.  They just wanted to.  Oh to have that kind of power :)  Anyway,  our school had their book fair the other day and she said, "Mom, I want a romance."  I was so taken aback that I didn't know what to say.  One, why does she know that word?  Two, can't she just read normal girl books like Clementine?  After talking to her for a little bit, I realized she actually meant that she wanted a fairytale.  You know, like, princess meets prince charming and they live happily ever after.  I struggle with fairy tales too because I don't want to set her up for disappointment when it comes to her future husband.  I have been trying to change her so much that I have failed to embrace her as God created her.  For whatever reason, God made her a lover.  He put that desire in her heart.  I need to stop trying to change that about her and encourage her to love.  I have always prayed that God would bring up a Christian man that completes her, but I think I better start praying for him to be able to live up to her expectations now because he's going to need all the help he can get.