DARE - Day 113

Christmas was great, because we both made good lists and I split them up between our families. I got a sewing machine, and a crochet kit. Now we just need to finish our improvements in the office and get a crafty desk and storage area where I can work/play.  We are no longer going to have a closet but an extension of the room. Here is a before shot.

The night before our devotion talked about symbols; like God's rainbow as a symbol on his covenent.  We have wedding rings for our symbols.  =) It is a reminder of our commitment and our growing love.

This week's dare is to do something out of the ordinary for your spouse to show your love. 
It is pretty hard to think of out of ordinary things. Especially when we seem to have a routine of helping each other out and doing things for each other already. Out of the Ordinary? This will take some thought and prayers.

Christmas Eve!

This is my favorite day of the year, better than Christmas to me. My dad's side of the family gets together after church and sings and dances like from Charlie Brown's Christmas. If I didn't have this family time, I would need more presents to make up for it. (kidding of course) So once the husband gets finished at work, we are taking the pup and presents down to open presents and then go to church. 
This is our first Christmas together, and I am super excited to be in each others arms on Christmas morning. I have never done Christmas at my Husband's parent's house so tomorrow will be a first. Usually they met there at 7am, don't plan on that. I wanna get up at seven, open our own presents and then make it up to his parents. Plus coffee cake, another of my family's tradition for breakfast. Good thing the recipe makes two round pan cakes, because we go to his grandparents house for breakfast too.
I just finished making the coffee cake and it is in the fridge, so all I have to do in the morning is put it in the oven.
I must admit I'm stubborn, I like my traditions and I need to open up more to my husbands, but I find it difficult since he doesn't talk about them with as much enthusiasm.

By the way Tuesday my husband brought me home a poinsetta! I love it, especially since I was looking at one in the store that day, but I didn't want to spend the money. He has been bringing home flowers for me everyday, that is his greeting for this week's dare. <3

Don't know the week, but we are on Day 105?

I deleted the blog for awhile as I did not update enough.  I am bringing it back up as to post about other things beside the devotion.  And Yes I do still love doing the devotion.
In fact, this weeks dare is about greeting your spouse in a specific way.

SOO, more reason why it was deleted, my job is behind a computer, I'm actually "working" right now.  So I've found I don't get on the computer at home anymore.  I used to play games online, upload/print pictures and videos, and check e-mails.  Now I go home a stay away from the computer. =/ That's why the blog faded.

Hopefully with a new me and new year I can start the blog back up.  I have plans for the new year, I will be a better Christian, start to actually walk my dog, and hopefully much more.  2011 shall be great, but first a Christmas in my own home with my husband and puppy!!

DARE - week 9

This week looks to be about not being selfish.  In fact today's devotion was called Love is others-centered.
This was something my husband and I have discussed after a previous devotion.  But we talked about how sin is almost always selfish, but tonight it points out that selfishness is the opposite of love.
It talks of how our culture focuses on our wants and appearance making us put our selves as the number one priority.  Not a good thing in marriage to seek your own happiness.  This is likely why there is a high divorce rate too.

This week's dare:
Buy something for your spouse that says, "I was thinking of you." (Sooo excited!)

DARE - day 55

"Love is proven by action" is the title of this devotion and goes along with this week's dare.

God gave his son to prove his love. The devotion goes on to say that God knows that we have to see love to believe it (even God knows).  So asking our spouse to show us love is not necessarily unreasonable.  Of course that doesn't mean you should expect big things, love for me is the little things like a massage or my husband making dinner.

Update on the Dare:
First off I finally tore up my list as an act of love! (My husband was like, I did that a long time ago, oh well)
This week I tried to do some little things that demonstrated kindness, my big thing was waking up at 4am with my husband to make him breakfast. And today my husband brought home some really pretty flowers!

DARE - week 8

Our devotion is about kindness.

This week's dare being about demonstrating unexpected acts of kindness to our spouse.

Any ideas of things I can do, because my husband said giving him a massage doesn't count, I guess he expects that?

DARE - day 48 & 49

Let me first start off with Church this morning.  It was our second time going to our church.  It's a nice church with lots of young people, like 4 babies were dedicated during the service!  But anyway they talked about anger during the service, and it totally fit into our devotion the past week. (Pretty cool!)
They even used some of the same verses in the Bible from Ephesians 4:26-4:32.

Church went on to talk about forgiving and not carrying our angry from season to season, and letting it build up. That forgiving is not for those who we forgive, but for our own good.
Our past two devotions were about preventing anger and showing kindness. Being careful of what we say and saying even hard things that might carry angry with kind, gentle words. Kindness is Contagious. =)

DARE - day 46

Tonight's devotion was about how selfishness can kill you.  It talked about how people wake up thinking of themselves.
When we read deeper from Luke 9:23-27, it is a passage from Jesus talking about if you are all about yourself you will lose your life, but if you give up your self everyday and follow him then you will live on.
My husband and I talked about it more trying to understand, and I liked one of the things he said.  My husband said usually when people sin it is for selfish reasons, so it makes sense that being selfish would not get you into heaven.

So far I have three things on my list for the Dare this week.  Most of them are old things that made me angry, and I feel I was more disappointed, which is like a form of anger (I guess).  I have been praying that I can let these things go.  I often think of them when I am upset and it makes me more upset.  I may even keep a list of things that I love about my husband and look at that when I start to feel angry.  (Because that is another thing that has been in the devotions this week... to notice when we are getting angry and have a plan to attack it.)

DARE - week 7

Tonight's devotion again talked about taking your time before reacting with anger.  My husband said it seems that is all the book is about, being patient/slow to anger.  He and I are both enjoying the book though!

This week's dare is to write five things our spouse has done that made us angry.  Pray asking God to be patient when you think of it and for help that you no longer hold that anger in.  Then tear up the list as an act of love.
I like this dare, I'm just trying to decide if I share my five things or not.  And no I don't know my things yet, it could take the week.

DARE - day 41

Love seeks Mentors.
Last night's devotion was about finding mentors, like a married couple that can be our support.
Helping us when we have problems, having advice from others that have likely gone through the situation before.  Because not everyone is perfect, nor are their relationships.  They would also be mentors of our christian life too.

We thought of a few people we could use when we need them.  Like our neighbors/my husband friend, or my brother or his brother.  I hope we can start actually hanging out with the neighbors more often, so I feel comfortable enough to talk with his wife so we can in the future discuss things that might be bothering us and work on them.

This week's dare is pretty good, talk about it tomorrow.

DARE - week 6, day 37

This stuck out to me, because I find it is true for many in our world right now.  That people build up their expectations that go unnoticed of their spouse and then slowly treat their spouse differently, holding them accountable for something they don't even know about.  Then they build frustration and expect happiness, still their spouse does not know what he/she wants from them.
Not sure if that makes sense, but the devotion talks about how once you love someone, your own happiness is not as important.

This week's dare is to pray about areas that make you resent/jealous of your spouse, and ask for forgiveness from God and your spouse.

I hope we can continue to do this and talk to each other about our feelings.  I found one area that I will continue to pray about, so as to not put anything more on my husband when I am upset.  He is great at forgiving me! =)

DARE - week 5 part 2

I have been inconsistent obviously. I've been sick, but I need to stop making excuses.

Here are a few things I liked about week 5, then tomorrow I will talk about our new dare.
Week 5 again was about patience but had different things it talked about each day compared to week 4.

Day 30 - I liked how today's devotion started. It stated how the Bible seems just too big to understand, an "impossible challenge."  Which of course I feel like it is. But it encourages us to start reading scripture together, and so far we have not, although we discussed it.
Day 32 - Today talked about how God does have reasons to be angry.  The last sentence in the devotion saying "Righteous anger speaks the truth in love and has the goal of restoration rather than destruction."  I feel if I become angry, I must remember my love before I decide to act upon it.  Of course easier said than done, but hopefully the next time I can remember and eventually it may come to mind each time I am angry.
Day 33 - This relates how your anger can come from pride.  Anger sets off what has been building and hiding, and because of pride you act like you are superior, which turns to more anger when you realize it is not the case.  That's not exactly what the passage said, but I feel it just doesn't want you to be defense and prideful when you are angry.
Day 34 - I felt this devotion was directed some what at me.  Today's devotion was about being a wise person compared to a fool.  A fool will take a comment that they feel was directed at them in a negative way, and turn it on the person.  I feel this happens often in most relationships.  People can not take criticism be it constructive or not, and when they hear it they feel they have to counter it.  I know I do this at times, and I told my husband that, he said he has caught himself in that situation too.  But we will work on it, and hopefully we can catch it before we do it. =)

DARE - week 5

Last week was super busy getting ready for our housewarming party. And all week our devotion talked about patience, and I think I did rather well having patience and getting things done with my husband. I am proud of the both of us, b/c even when I remember slipping up and being negative, we were quick to apologize. I love him and words do slip up, sorry sweetie.

This week we apparently are talking about patience again, now I have to try and think of a specific area to show patience to my husband. So far neither of us have an idea. But that's our Dare of the week.

DARE - week 4, day 22

We missed our devotion last night.  Not sure what happened we were home and talked about it, but this morning I realized we had not done it.  So we did it this morning, before we finished getting ready for our soccer game, which we brought "the family project" to.
Flo was really tired by the end of the day, it was too hot for her.

This week's dare appears to be a difficult one for me, it is something I have been trying to work on, so hopefully this will help.  We are to demonstrate patience by saying nothing negative to your spouse. I have had problems with my husband when were dating of saying things to him like a mother not like a partner.  He has told me (and I'm sure every man will agree) that he likes to be asked to do things not told to.  So I personally will be working on this as well as my patience.
I have to say though, I think this week will be a big struggle with our list of thing to do before our party next weekend. We have a lot to get done and little time. Wish us luck!

Never had a dog that heeled

I don't plan to always talk about the devotion, b/c then what will I write about when the year is up?  Yes we still read every day but I don't really feel like it's been anything to write about.  I'm just going to talk about our family project, our dare for the week.
FLO, has been doing rather well lately, she actually heeled last night when we practiced. We had obedience class on Tuesday, and she kind of embarrassed me. We were apparently late, b/c they were already talking, but I thought 3 minutes before 7 was early. Anyway once Flo and I joined the circle about a minute later we began practicing our walk. (Not Flo's best subject). Of course she was excited, since it was only her second time at class and we just got there, and she pulled me the whole time. Once we stopped walking she was pretty much on point the rest of class. But one of the instructors told me the reason Flo does not heel is b/c of my treats. Hello! What dog doesn't like CHEESE?!? No she is bad at heeling b/c she wants to play with the other puppies in the class.
So we practiced last night around our loop and she did pretty well, we were both really proud. Tonight we will practice "come" around the house, that's the other thing she needs to work on.

DARE - week 3, day 15

We went to a new church today. We both kind of liked it. Exciting!

This week's dare is to work on a family project together and complete it. The devotion talked about how we can get things done faster and better when both of us work together on it. So our family project this week is to walk the dog. Teaching our puppy to walk beside us, not lead the way.
We do have several projects we are working on since we are still fixing up part of our house, but those don't seem to be "family projects." Sure we will be helping each other work on the house, but getting our puppy to become a good family member is more of a project.

I've gotta admit I am so proud of our commitment to do our daily devotions! <3

Meet Flo

Day 12 - Woman was made so Man would not be lonely. But I thought that's what our dog was for.
Well actually she is a Puppy.
I've decided to talk about our puppy since this was our thought after our lesson.
She is adorable!! except when she smells like pee.
This past Tuesday we went to obedience school with her. She's already pretty smart, and knows tricks, but she has some flaws. Like she doesn't always come when we call. She pulls on her leash when we try to walk her. And she also gets way too excited around people and other dogs. So hopefully classes help.

She is so cute though. We taught her to speak, and her bark is so funny and cute.
FLO is a great dog and friend!!

DARE - day 11

"It's romantic for a woman to see her strong husband humbling himself before God. It's inspiring for a man to see his wife living with deep conviction and passion. Walking with God is better than a thousand marriage books or counseling sessions."

Priorities in your marriage: My husband said doing the devotions. =)


Our dare this week again, is to prioritize a few minutes each day with God. We did this together yesterday, but I need to try and do more tomorrow.

DARE - week 2, day 8

Yes I know if you are looking at the date, it is actually day 9! We are not behind, I'm just posting today because sometimes we do the devotion really late at night.

The lesson for last night was about loving God with all your heart and putting him first. It put emphasis on loving God before your spouse, which was nice last night since I was a little upset with my husband last night. Our lesson in church yesterday was to ask God for the impossible. (Joshua 10:12-13) He asked the lord for the sun to stand still in the sky and it did for a full day so he could finish what God told him he would do. I think both of these lesson will be a good start for the week and I intend to start praying more.

So our dare this week is to take time every day to pray to God and read scripture. And since I was a little upset with my husband last night for playing video games for several hours, I dared him farther telling him to read scripture before he can play any games.

DARE - day 5

"Love is the business of Men"
That was the lesson of today in our devotion. My husband read this one, and he liked it because it applied to him. It talked of how Love makes Men out of boys. Basically once you find Love, you stop your childish ways, and you protect and take care of your family that you love and so forth. My husband put it as you do things because you want to not because you have to. He said he definitely notice this after he met me and fell in love. =)
I'm so glad I have a husband like that.
He then continued the conversation comparing us to Lions. Let me first give some background, we have not joined our bank accounts yet, and since I work in non-profit I make a lot less. So he pays the bills and I buy us food. Like I said, he says we are lions, the man protects and gets the home, the woman brings home the food. I love him!

DARE - day 2

I don't plan on posting every night, but something in tonight's devotion stood out to me.
After the daily read, there was a section that said "go deeper" so we read 1 Corinthians 13, the verses about love is patient, love is kind, etc.  The section then says to read verses 4-7, but where the words "love" and "it" are in the verses, replace them with our first names.  So we did.  We each said them to each other, and it really meant a lot to me.  It seemed more meaningful than our wedding vows, probably because you are saying that Stacy is patient and kind and so forth.  It really holds you accountable, and shows you what you need to do in order to unconditionally love your partner.  I guess I just never thought of that verse that way.

Well my husband and I actually just got our wedding video today!  SO we are watching it together.  =)

DARE - day 1

My husband and I got a devotional book for couples at our wedding.  That was three months ago, and I can't wait to eat the wedding cake again in 9 months!
Anyways the devotion book is for a year, I really hope we can do them everyday, because day one was nice.  It suggests keeping a journal of the love journey, and since I've been wanting to start a blog, I thought perfect.  So since we haven't found a church yet and we were late for the one we went to today, we came home and started The Love Dare.  After learning what it is about we decided our devotions will be at dinner or before.
This evening we finally got the porch table from my in-laws, that is our dining room table for now, and sat down to a Taco Bell dinner. (I had a craving).  Day one we read about love, well I think everyday we read about love.  Each week there is also a dare.  This week's dare is to pray daily asking God to teach us true love and help us practice it. (Something like that).  Which brings me to my point of day one's post.  I do not remember the exact dare of the week, but as I laid in bed next to my husband, who goes to bed early, he said it.  I said what I remember of it, and then he basically stated it word for word!

Thank you husband! And thanks for putting up our new fan today. (that doesn't work, sorry).