Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Share Four Somethings




Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm linking up with Heather G for this month's edition of share four somethings, where we share things that we loved, gleaned, braved (saved) and achieved. I realize I may be a little early for this post, but it's just working out like that this week. 

Loved

I loved getting away with my man for a night this month. It started off great, but it ended with him not feeling good, so we headed out early the next morning to drive back home. This was when we went to Nashville for one night to a banquet where he was honored for saving a life. That's the short version of the story, but the longer and more detailed version can be read here

I also loved a chance to wear this dress. I bought another one this past weekend, in a totally different print. 

Gleaned

Thanks to the Bible study I just finished, I feel like I gleaned a lot about marriage. I have always had such a high esteem for marriage, but what I learned more about was how a marriage brings glory to God. I'm continually gleaning that it is not at all about me, it's not at all about my husband. It's all about us being united together for the sole purpose of glorifying God. Sometimes we succeed at this and sometimes we greatly fail. That's another thing about marriage that I keep remembering—we mess up on an almost daily basis. We don't communicate, we don't spend time together, we are sometimes like ships passing in the night. We get it wrong a lot, is what I'm saying, but God's grace is sufficient and He gives us wisdom and new mercies everyday. I saw something on Instagram today that I loved. I'll share it below.

I think perhaps we all need to spend more time praying over our marriages. One thing I know is that the enemy is after the family and it begins with marriages. Please don't think I'm ever shaming anyone for divorce, I promise that is never my intention. It's why I share some of our own failures in the hope that everyone knows we are normal people. God does hate divorce, but He gives grace to cover it when it does happen. Sometimes a divorce is permitted that the Bible talks about and sometimes divorce is the safest thing for someone in an abusive relationship. Sometimes though, people claim to fall out of love and that's where the line is gray. Like I said, there's grace that abounds there, but no marriage is perfect and a good one takes boatloads of work and commitment. 

 Braved

Well, this isn't necessarily being brave, but I'm realizing that we're getting closer to being down to just the two of us. It's sounding sweeter and sweeter! We had a big chunk of time alone over the weekend and we LOVED it. That probably makes us sound terrible. 😂 That being said, I've been doing new things. I've been using the leaf blower and keeping things cleaned up outside of our house. I've also decided I'm going to start cutting our backyard. I know people are thinking I have boys, there's no reason I should have to do that, but here's the thing—they've all taken care of the yard since they were old enough to learn how to mow a straight line, which was around the age of eleven. They've done a great job over the years and this is nothing that I have to do. It's something I want to do. I want to put on my bathing suit and mow the grass and keep the backyard looking good. It's a good way to exercise and it's a good way to get some sun. I'm excited to start! I attempted this yesterday, but the battery on our mower was dead and that's the only thing we didn't go over when Todd talked me through this last week.

If I'm going to sit out there on the swing to read, I'd love for it to look as good and well kept as possible. 


Achieved

Did I mention I'm finished with my portion of the Bible study I'm helping to write? This is a huge achievement, because I was on the first seat of the struggle bus for months trying to get motivated and inspired to start. It's on some hard material—1,2,3 John and Jude—and it's extremely repetitive. I am so thankful to be done with my portion. All that's left for me to do on mine is to make the corrections our editor suggests and then I'll help edit the whole thing before it goes to publish. 

Your turn! What is something you've loved, gleaned, braved or achieved this month? I love looking back on these. I'd love to hear from you! Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment, I always love reading what you have to say! I appreciate you more than you know. Love to all! 

9 comments:

  1. So much good in this post, Jennifer. Agree with everything you said about marriage. Sometimes it seems like promoting marriage seems like being judgmental of those who have divorced. But I know that’s not your spirit as you stated it so well. When you said you started to cut your lawn I was confused because I didn’t realize at first that you meant mowing. I thought maybe you were partitioning it up or something ;). But then it was completely clear and I applaud you for doing it and that inspired me to volunteer to mow our yard. Jacob did it when he lived at home but this summer he’s not at home. Donnie has been doing it on the weekend but I feel bad for him that he’s spending his two days off mowing. Have a great Tuesday, friend!

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  2. I love that dress so much and wonder where you got it, if you don't mind sharing. You gave some really good advice on marriage. And no, I don't think you're awful for wanting a empty nest. Hubby and I have had it for several years now and we totally love it. I love my kids and talk with them often (in fact, the oldest was in town this past week and we got to spend some wonderful time with her and her husband. But there is something to be said to having complete freedom in your home and we love it. I think you will too.

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  3. Thank you, Maria! I agree with what you said about how it seems to be judgmental to be promoting of marriage and I wanted to make sure and clarify that was never my intention. I have lots of family members and good friends who've been divorced for circumstances beyond their control and even some who admitted to just being young and dumb. One thing I kept thinking this morning as I prayed is that we all fall short of God's glory, but praise God for His endless and abundant grace.

    Girl, your vocabulary is something else! I had to look up the meaning of the word partitioning. Do you not say "cut the grass" where you live? I didn't even think about how that may be the case! It's funny how different our ways of speaking are from different areas of the country. Thanks for those kind words! Guess what?! I came home from lunch with my mom and got to mowing! It's the first time in my life I've ever started a mower! It wasn't as easy as they made it look all those years, but it doesn't look terrible, so BONUS POINTS! I'm smiling so big. I can't wait to show my husband. I will say that he doesn't want me mowing the front yard yet...he wants me to get more comfortable with it (and better at it), because it so effects the curb appeal. 😂 I can't wait to hear what you have to say about doing yours! I felt the same way, which is why I volunteered to do this. They're all so busy with working and I have the time. Why not, right?!

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  4. Thank you, Cathy! I'll post a link in tomorrow's blog post, because I don't know how to do that in the comments. It came from Amazon, but I'll give you a direct link.

    I think we'll enjoy those days too! I think they sound fun. I hope you're having a good week and that you're recovering well!

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  5. Congrats on finishing your section of the Bible Study. I'm sure it's a relief.

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  6. Jennifer, I love the dress you wore to your husband’s award ceremony. And congrats to him for being involved in such an amazing rescue. I think it’s great that you’re looking forward to your empty nest. We’re a year away from that ourselves, and I am too. My girls both work in the evenings a lot, so we’ve been having a lot of suppers just the two of us. It’s been nice. :-)

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  7. I have mowed our yard a few times to help my son and husband, but it always makes my ears hurt, and then I don't feel well, so I stopped. I think it's great that you want to do it. Congratulations on writing your portion of the Bible study!! That's exciting (and I do imagine hard!).

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  8. Congratulations to your husband for saving a life. I read the story and it's amazing that if a "freak accident" had to occur that it was at a retired deputy sheriff's house, and he knew what to do and who to call. It was neat the doctor gave all the glory to God. Congratulations on finishing your writing project! That's huge! May the editorial part go well. Happy mowing!

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  9. Way to go on finishing your part of the Bible Study!

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