To Love Your Husband

Wow, what a great group of women I get to study with! You all are such good sports, and I so appreciate your transparency and vulnerability. It makes for an interesting, fun and safe environment for learning and growing.
We covered the big topic this week-sex. And the more I talk to women, the more I am convinced that we need to talk about it! And the more I'm discovering that young women, especially, want to talk about it. We all agree that older women are to teach younger women; but I'm not sure very many older women want to teach about sex. And I believe lots of young women are looking for some guidance in this area.
So let me reiterate two major points we talked about this week:
1. Sex was God's idea and all His ideas rock! It is a GOOD THING to be ENJOYED, not only by your husband, but by YOU! It is a beautiful picture on earth of Christ and His bride, the Church.
2. We are to meet our husband's needs, including his need for sex. If we don't, we are opening a door for Satan to tempt him. If we neglect our sexual relationship in our marriage, we are sinning.
I don't want to end on a seemingly negative note, so let me say this: God never intended sex to be a chore or a drudgery. You get out of it what you put into it. And as with just about everything else, it all starts in the mind. Let's change the way we think about sex. I challenge you to reprogram your thoughts. For the month of March, think only positive thoughts about sex. It all starts in the mind. See if you and your husband notice a difference within a couple weeks. No negative thoughts, words, or responses about sex (including your response when he wants it!). Let's see what happens...
Any thoughts or ideas to encourage each other?
Tracy

Wisdom To Know Your Man

What an interesting week in class! I loved studying, talking, and hearing about the different types of men we're married to, and the wisdom we need in being godly wives to them. I think God was so creative when he gave all of us different personalities, strengths and tendencies. Life and marriage would be uninteresting if we were all predictable and all our husbands had the same character traits.
So, I'd like you to tell something specific you've learned about the type of man you're married to, and what you've chosen to change about how you respond to him.
Don't forget to pray for your man, and to pray for wisdom for yourself! Remember that your relationship with your husband is to be a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride, the church. That thought is so humbling to me. What a privilege!
Have a great week!
Tracy

Thank you , Thank you, Thank you!

Mike reads my blog, and he was a little troubled when he read my last post in which I mentioned our fun weekend, and then posted what he assumed was a representation of him and me. I assured him he is not that gray and we are not quite that "seasoned" yet, and that it was just a picture of a couple obviously in love. This week I was careful to find a picture of a pair that more closely resembles us. Ha! I wish! Actually, I don't. I like where we're at right now; which is somewhere in between.
How's your week going? I loved Tina's reminder to us all to be thankful. Aren't we so blessed? Sure, we have plenty we could complain about, if we chose to, but life is so much richer if we choose gratefulness.
Any specific ways you've chosen to express thankfulness to your husband this week? Nothing is too big or too small to show gratitude...think of how appreciative you feel when someone genuinely thanks you for something. Our husbands are gifts from God; let's not take them for granted. Ever.
Thank you for participating in this study, and for your gentle and humble spirits!
Tracy

Five Days In...

Hey Everyone!
God timed things perfectly for me. Coming off our first class of "Help Meet", my husband and I had a weekend alone, as our kids were off at the High School Retreat from Friday till Sunday. We had a really great weekend! Saw a movie, had breakfast out, hung out at the bookstore, and enjoyed some quiet time at home. It's always weird having the house to ourselves!
The kids are back now, and the challenge resumes; the challenge to be a positive joy-filled wife and mother amid all the usual stuff that life brings - good and not-so-good.
I'm wondering if anyone would like to report any ways that you have consciously tried to be a helper to your man this week, and any results of those efforts? It's always encouraging to hear what's "working" for others, and it often spurs the rest of us on to try a little harder!
I'm looking forward to our next class. And I'm praying for you. Hope you'll do the same for me!
Tracy

Help Meet Bible Study

We started a new women's Bible study this week at The Well at Cedar Creek. We are reading the book "Created To Be His Help Meet", by Debi Pearl. Though we are just getting started, we had some great discussion and some tough questions were already brought up. I'm so grateful for the chance to go through this book with a room full of other women who are seeking God's will in their marriages.
I'm excited to see God work in the next few weeks! Keep an open mind, Girls, and let's pray for God to reveal to us how we can please Him in our relationships with our men. It all starts in the mind, so pray for God to guide our thinking.
I'd say the key truth for this first week is, I do have a choice in how good my marriage will be.
What are your thoughts or first impressions after our first class? Let's hear 'em!
Tracy

I'm blogging from Richmond, Virginia today. Mike and I came down to run in a race. He ran the half marathon and I ran my first 8k. I really enjoyed it and it was easier than I expected! I'm already looking forward to my next race.
The best part of the day, though, was the time spent with family and friends. This race has become somewhat of a tradition for us and several others that we ministered with in Virginia a few years ago. It's fun being together and cheering each other on. We all waited together to watch my cousin Dave finish his first marathon. Then we spent the rest of the day visiting and just being together.
It was an extra bonus to wake up today to a sunny 70 degree day! Mike and I went for a nice walk today to stretch our sore muscles and we were reminded what a beautiful state Virginia is! It's been a great weekend.

Amen to Modesty!

This morning was our third session of our Esther Women's Bible study at Cedar Creek. It's a Beth Moore DVD study. This morning's session was about the meanness of Haman in the Esther story, and Beth camped on meanness in general and really laid it all out to us as women. One thing she stressed had me shouting Amen! She said, "Mean girls dress provocatively around other girls' men!" And then she said, "Keep your breasts to yourself!!!"
All I can say is, "Preach it Sister!" That needs to be said in every church in America, in my opinion. But who's going to say it? Whose responsibility is it to say it? I dare say, it's not the preacher's.
First of all, mothers should be teaching their daughters how to dress appropriately and in good taste, glorifying God with their appearance. But that's not going to happen if the mothers themselves are falling out of their shirts! The world has lowered its standards through the years, no doubt about it. But God has never, and will never, lower His!
So how are women who dress immodestly supposed to know what's appropriate? Other godly women are supposed to tell them! Is it awkward? Yes! But so is standing around visiting at church in mixed company with a christian woman sporting a slot machine on her chest big enough to drop a silver dollar in!
Our men have it rough as it is, with society and the media and technology making it difficult for them to stay pure. Why should they have to come to church and worry about lust because some woman is wearing something two sizes too small or six inches too short?! Boy, satan is having a heyday with this one! We need to get a clue. And if you already have a clue, love a sister enough to tell her to put some clothes on. Your husband will thank you.

Amen.