Us Weekend

My dear Isaiah and my schedule has been pretty crazy lately. With Isaiah and I both going to school and Isaiah working we hardly see each other during the week. Our weekends have been busy with all kinds of events. We hadn't had just us time in a while. 

We had a weekend free so I was planning a surprise weekend getaway for us. That night, Isaiah told me not to plan something for this weekend. I got worried. That typically means he is planning something. I was worried. I got hi to tell me what we were doing, and turns out he was planning a weekend getaway too. We ended up getting a place in Orlando for the weekend. 

Its been so nice to getaway. We have no homework, no work, and no housework. It feels so strange. I'm honestly not sure how to handle it. Its really nice to not have something that has to be done.

We slept in, and relaxed. Isaiah made a great breakfast. This afternoon we are going to roam the resort. Not sure what we are going to do, but its nice to just go with the flow and relax. 

Tonight Isaiah's brother and wife are coming to spend the night here (we have a three bedroom apartment). It will be fun. They got married 4 months after we did and they were in our wedding. It should be a fun tonight.

Since we have been married we have realized that we have to take time to spend time together. Its necessary. In order to keep our relationship strong we have to make sure that we don't just live together, we keep our relationship growing. We try to have lunch together once a week. But lately our relationship has been put on the back burner because of how busy we have been. So it was time to spend a weekend working on it.

So that is what we are doing. I will admit that I am missing our cats. It was weird waking up and they are not walking on us. Whenever they hear us waking up they come in and starting cuddling and they were not there. I miss them.

I'm always up for ideas on how to take us time or how to build our relationship. Do you have any suggestions? What do you and your darling do to make time for each other?

Giving Blood

Today I did something, I gave blood. I have given before once, and I've wanted to give since then. I always feel like I'm helping someone out when I do. My school was having a blood drive so I stopped by the blood mobile and gave. Its hard for people to get blood out of me because my veins are like almost invisible. Today they had to use a blood pressure cuff, instead of a tourniquet to find my vein. Thankfully though, they were able to stick me and draw blood first time.

I looked up some information about donating blood and was really interesting. You can find out information at the American Red Cross if you are interested. Here are a few facts:

	Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood
	More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day
	One out of every 10 people admitted in a hospital needs blood
	Total blood transfusions in a given year: 14 million (2001)
	The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints
	The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O A healthy donor may donate red blood cells every 56 days The demand for blood transfusions is growing faster than donations Less than 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood Less than 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood People with O- type blood are universal donors. Their blood can be given to people of all blood types. Only 7% of people in the U.S. have O- blood type Type O- blood is often used in emergencies before the patient's blood type is known, and with newborns who need blood.

A lot of people are freaked out by blood or are scared. Its really not bad at all. There is nothing to be worried about. As Christians we are to help people, with no thought to personal gain. This is a good way to give unselfishly, especially when you do not have a money, like us.

What are your thoughts about blood donating? Have you done it? Are you scared to do it?

Things I Am Loving

I like seeing people's blog posts on what they are loving (or wanting) right now. I haven't done one yet, but I thought today was a good day. I'm not sure but it feels like a fun post, and something unlike anything I've done.

This pretty flower is from Petunia Blooms. I have quite a few of the flowers. I love them for my hair with alligator clips, but you can also get them as pins. They add  fun, cute flair to your outfit. It also helps that my best friend makes them. 

I love creative hair pins. These are from Nomsa. So super cute.

I love these necklaces from The Vintage Pearl. They personalize the necklaces with your names or whatever you want. So cute.

I met Laurel through her blog Create. Her shop, Laurelleecreativity has so many creative cute ideas! 

I love this dining set from Target. I love the black wood, and have dreamed of a dining room set in black wood. Its so pretty. 

We have a sofa, but its not my style. I love this sleeper sofa from CSN Stores. You could do a lot with throw pillows for it.

I love Vera Bradley, and this is my favorite purse and colors right now. Its so pretty.

So here are some of my favorite things. Hope it gave you some fun ideas. What are some things you are loving right now?

Makeover

So I made a blog makeover. I didn't do much, but I am trying out a new look. I hope you like it. It was time for a little bit of change. Sometimes I like to mix things up a little. Its not perfect, but its getting there. The header needs help but it was my first time trying to figure out. Its one of those things that down the road I will probably do much better and look back and be ashamed at this one, but its a start. Please let me know how you like it.

Taking Time to Rest

On Sunday I somehow put my back out. It was BAD! Sunday night I could not roll over without help from Isaiah. So Isaiah told me I was to rest my back and not get work done around the house. I'm on spring break so I didn't have homework (or want to do homework on my spring break) so I stayed in bed and rested. It was weird. I don't rest well. At all.

Something I realized while I was resting was that women do not rest well. I have never met a woman who just rests well. I think about the women I know and its rare to see them just sit and relax. They are always going, going, going. My mother is a prime example. She never just sits down with the family and does something. She is always cooking or cleaning or something.

But we women need to rest. Its not a want. Its a need. Even Jesus took time to rest. He would go off on His own and rest and pray. He is able to take time to rest but yet we as wives can't?

Isaiah has been helping me realize that taking time to rest and do something I enjoy (like blogging) is not selfish. Its not wrong. Its what I need to do. It makes me relax and be happier, and that makes my family (cats included) less stressed. Humans need time to do things they enjoy, that is not work for them. Its how we are made.

God set up a Sabbath day of rest for us. He knew that we needed a day free from work to relax and worship Him. For us, our Sundays are so busy that it is almost stressful. So we try to make sure to take some time during the week to rest and spend time together. When we do, our stress level is down and our marriage is just better.

Think about Mary and Martha. Martha was so busy fixing her home and preparing the food that she missed out on resting and spending time with Jesus. She was rebuked. Her sister Mary rested at Jesus' feet and spent time listening to Him and she was praised. I don't want to be a Martha. I don't want to get so caught up in taking care of the home that my relationship with God is hurt.

I also don't want to spend so much time being a homemaker that I can't be a good wife. I have spent evenings when I could be with my husband cleaning and doing laundry.

I know the feeling as a homemaker. There is always more to be done. No matter how much time you spend doing laundry there will always be more. And its not like a regular job where you can leave it at work. Its always right in front of you. Staring you in the face. Taunting you. But sometimes you have to just say no.

So take time to rest. Take time to spend with your Savior and your family. And take time to do something you enjoy. Its really ok to do. I promise.

Mentoring

Something that has always been near to my heart has been mentoring, both doing and receiving. Mentoring is laid out in the Bible clearly, not as a suggestion, but as a commandment for women and I think its something very much lost in most churches today.

So many times we stay in our little groups of people who are like us, such as the youth staying together and the young married couples staying together. We all stay with people who are like us. We say hi to the older and younger people, and even talk. But who do we get close to? Naturally we, especially us women, get close to those who are going through the same things we are at this stage of life, and that is natural. 

I'm not saying its bad or it should never be like that. I have a few good friends who are young married wives like me, and we share stuff we are going through. Its a good thing to do. I am saying that so many times we miss out on the opportunity to be in a mentoring relationship like is laid out in Titus 3:3-5.

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

This talks about the older women teaching the younger to be good Christians. Notice it does not say the older wives only teach the younger wives. It says for older women to teach younger women. I think it means for us to start mentoring girls at a young age to do these things. Even before they are married we could be teaching them how to be sober (this does not mean just not drinking alcohol, but also means having a quiet spirit or demeanor or showing self-control), love their husbands etc. Before girls are ready to be married how about we teach them how to be good wives? What a change that could bring?

I have known so many girls who did not prepare for marriage, or taught about being a good wife, until they were engaged, or even married. What if an older women started mentoring the younger women before them? What a change that could bring in marriages!

I look around at some of the older women in the church and respect them so much. There are two in particular that I have gotten to know pretty well and as I watch them I respect them more and more. I watch how they are with their husband and its how I want to be with my husband. Their children are respectful and kind and most importantly obviously love the Lord. But most of all I can see their relationship with Christ. Its evident in all they do. I would love to learn from them. I could learn so much from them.

So I guess this is something to think about. Look around the women you know. Is there an older woman you really respect that you could learn from? Is there a  younger woman who you could help teach these things? Lets start something. Lets start living this Scripture out. I think it could change some things. 

He's Still God

February has been a very rough month for us, and I'm not ready to tell everything that happened but I can say that it has been a life changing month for Isaiah and I. I am so thankful its over now and hopefully life will be a little easier for a while, but I can say that my faith has grown so much through everything that has happened. I have felt His grace first hand and it has kept me going.

I don't have a strong faith. I tend to be more wavering. Isaiah though has a very strong faith. God is still God no matter what we go through. He has never questioned God as to why something happens the way it does or why God would do this to us, but I have to admit that I do. I question and wonder and my faith falters sometimes. I wonder how a God who loves me could put me through this, but this month God has really been showing me that even when I do not understand why He does something, He is still God, and what He does is best. I cannot tell you why still, but I know it.

I wish I could tell anyone who is going through something right now why they are. I wish I could tell you why we have been going through all we went through this month, but I can't. I have no clue. I just know that my loving Father will never put me through something just to hurt me. He has a bigger plan I can see and I can rest in that knowledge. I can't see what He can see, and I may never see it, but I can have peace knowing that whatever I'm going through its for good in my life.

That gives you peace but it does not make the intense pain go away. It does not mean that as a Christian you will never hurt or never cry. God's plan can hurt and I have to say I do struggle with wondering why He makes me go through these things. Why can't He teach us what we are supposed to learn without hurting us? I don't fully have an answer to that. I can just say that I can never know His plan, I can just know Him.

This month has brought my faith to a whole new level. I can say that I come out of this terrible month with a much bigger faith than I went into it. That is something good that comes out of our trials. They grow us. They bring us closer to God. But they are not fun.

This month has been very rough. But God has made Himself known. I have felt His love in such a great way that its indescribable. My faith in His plan and His wisdom is so much greater. I cannot tell you why we went through what we went through, but I can say that my God is still God.