Abundant Blessings

I have been a terrible blogger lately. I can not believe that it has been over a month since I last posted! I kept meaning to get on and the time just flew by me. For the few of you who actually read this, I promise to try to do better in the future.

To give you a quick update, baby and I are still doing great. After much debate, we decided that Huey needed a more feminine name:) We finally settled on Alaina and love calling our daughter by her name! She's growing strong and we're over halfway there. Only 16 more weeks to go!

Scotlon is still out of work. It's been almost 6 weeks now and while we have some leads working, nothing definite yet. To add to that, the Department of Labor takes forever to approve unemployment when there's severance involved and we haven't seen the first check. For the last 4 weeks we've been surviving solely on my salary and on God's promise to provide. And has He ever...

I have a confession to make. We are terrible tithers. In the past we have always meant to tithe more consistently and have even had numerous discussions about it. However, we have never been consistent about following through. Until now. When Scotlon lost his job, it felt like the end of the world. When we calmed down we realized that God was using this period as a teaching opportunity. We were asking Him to provide for our needs and to bless us while being directly disobedient to what He was laying on our hearts. He made it abundantly clear that it was time for a change.

Can I tell you that He has provided in ways that we could never have imagined? He has strengthened our relationship in a time that we could have easily been at each others throats. He has poured out blessings from the most random places at exactly the time we need them. He has stretched our dollars further than we have ever been able to make them go on our own. It hasn't been easy and I don't expect that's going to change. But I would not trade the peace that has come from really trusting that He is in control for anything in the world.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Phil. 4:6-7

Anniversary Weekend

For our anniversary back in May, my wonderful husband got me a pair of silver heels that I had been lusting after for months. Along with my new shoes he got tickets to go see Les Miserables at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. I love gifts that you get to redeem later because it just draws out the excitement! Since the doctor cleared me last week, I was even able to wear my new heels to the show.
As always, the show was incredible. Les Mis is one of my favorite stories and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

After the show, we drove over to Lenox and had a wonderful dinner at Prime. It was, by far, the best steak that I've ever had in my life. Just for kicks, I thought I would see if I could cut it with my fork...and it cut just fine. It was that tender. To top it off, right now all of their steaks are ½ price between 5:00-6:15p.m. If you live in the Atlanta area and get the opportunity, go eat there. You won't be sorry!

Full, fat, & happy we wandered around Lenox, lusting a lot, buying a little. The highlight for me, was the trip into Lush. I've been buying online for years but this was my first trip into an actual store and it was heavenly. They have the best bath/shower/skin care/etc. products I've ever used. They are a little pricey but totally worth it. They have bath bombs with rose petals in them so you're floating in petals when the salts disintegrate...what girl wouldn't love that?

We ended the night snuggled up on the coach with a good movie, tired but incredibly happy. The perfect way to end the perfect day.

Love & Marriage

When I dreamt about marriage growing up my expectation was the happily ever after, fairy tale kind of love that you see in the movies. One day my prince would sweep me off my feet and we would be blissfully happy for the rest of our lives. Those of you that have been married for longer than five minutes know that this is not the case. I have been married for just over 3 years and while I love my husband more each day, our relationship looks nothing like a fairy tale.

And I have never been more happy in my life.

Scotlon and I spent the entire weekend together, which in itself is rare. We did nothing out of the ordinary but it was one of the most perfect weekends that I have ever had. It wasn't what we did so much as it was the spirit in which things were done. We both compromised (1 chick flick, 1 action movie), did things we hate (I did dishes, he worked in the yard), and tried to make the other person happy as much as humanly possible. I was basking in the glow of this perfect weekend this morning, humming to myself, and trying to figure out what made it so good when it hit me.

We put the other person, and their wants and needs, first.

It's as simple, and as complicated as that. It is the part of 1 Corinthians that I think I struggle with the most. It pains me when I think of how selfish I can be and how much that can hurt the people that I love the most. It's something that I am striving to change. I want to love my husband, and people in general, the way God loves me. While I don't think it's possible to love that way, He is God after all, I can certainly do a lot better than I am now. Bible Gateway has The Message and this is what they had to say about love. You can read the entire text here.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

What aspect of love do you struggle with?