I love my family. I’m so thankful for the little smiles that come and pile into my bed in the morning just to get a quick hug and kiss!

This morning I was looking at my baby daughter, Emma, thinking how blessed I am to have her….just like the rest….I’m so thankful to God that He let me borrow her, even for this short time on earth. I can’t imagine my life without her, without any of them. I am blessed!!

This morning, I am thankful for my daughter’s cinnamon biscuit recipe (no, this one is NOT on the diet)…YUM! She is turning into a really good cook!

I’m also thankful for my loving hubby. He surprises me sometimes by the things that he says…he makes me feel so adored! I love you, sweetheart!

I’m thankful for my friend, Christy. I commented to her just yesterday that when sorting through my photos, I realized that her family was in a good bit of them. She has been part of my life for so long…I’m glad that I have her. We don’t get to talk as much as we used to but I always know that she is there!

I’m thankful for my loving Lord. I know that I don’t always see how things in my life will turn out but He knows. How wonderful to be in the Master’s hand.

Today’s prayer requests are for my traveling husband.

Also for my friend, Tanya, who has been on my mind this week.

Please also keep the Young family in your prayers…they are expecting their 5th child soon.

This week I’m learning:

(I should already know this!) Don’t leave a fresh baked batch of peanut butter cookies in a ziplock bag on the counter when you go to bed. This morning, Paul and I woke up to the sounds of one Mr. Benjamin (age 2), and one Mr. Timothy (age 4) munching away in the kitchen. Of course, they were in trouble…they were also not very hungry for their breakfast! I guess we’ll be baking again later today! At least I know they tasted O.K.

I picked this peanut butter cookie recipe up a few years back! It’s delicious and VERY easy:

1 egg
1c peanut butter
1c sugar
1t vanilla

That’s it! No flour needed! Just bake in a 375 degree oven until done. They are the best tasting peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had. I made them with organic peanut butter last night and they were even better!

Diet really does make a difference! In everything! I can tell that I’m not thinking as clearly and not as creative this last few days as I’ve been off my eating program. I’m going to have to get back on!

Today’s (and actually on into the rest of the week) scripture meditation is on being busy at home.

The scripture comes from:

Titus 2:4-5

“Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. NIV

Let’s look at the first part of this scripture….“train the younger women to love their husbands”

What does it mean to really love your husband? If we don’t really know how to ourselves, how can we teach younger women?

There are so many references to love in the Bible. I think that the one that first comes to mind is in Corinthians.

1 Cor 13:4-8
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
(NIV)

Whoo! What a tall order! Today, pray and examine your heart in regards to the love you have for your husband. I, personally, struggle with many of these qualities on a daily basis. It’s hard to always be kind…and oh boy! to let go of the things that I get angry with Paul about or to not get angry in the first place! How about to always have hope and always persevere…through good times and bad? Remember ladies, these are some of the very things that you vowed to do the day you were married. Oh, and what about to never fail your husband?

I love my husband so much…I have to work on each of these things.

It took me a long time to really learn to love my husband. I know, I thought that I loved him the day that we were married. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but the real love starts two years down the line when he didn’t call you to tell you he was going to be late for dinner. Will you be rude to him, or will you show him kindness and have hope that it will not happen again?

This is so hard. We live in a society that tells women that they have to first look out for themselves and that they were made to be more than doormats in a marriage, stuck at home with the kids and a husband. We’ve been trained since our birth that if we don’t look out for ourselves that no one will. How sad. It’s with this very thought process that marriages fail, and wives never learn to love their husbands. They must be willing to truly examine what love is and establish selflessness within themselves to see the true beauty of what love can be.