I'm very honored and excited to present my guest today! I have had a great time getting to 'know' Jennifer through her blog, and being part of a Virtual Community Group we are both in. I have asked her to share a little bit on parenting and marriage, Her blog is full of encouragement. She challenges her readers with truth. I hope you enjoy her words and thoughts today! Welcome Jennifer, and Thank You!
Hi! Thanks
so much to Rebecca for having me on the blog. I'm so honored to be a
part of what she's doing here! My name is Jennifer and I'm a Pastor's
Wife, mommy, part-time worker, and lover of God and life. Just like so
many of you, I have days where I juggle things nicely and days where all
my roles mesh together in a pretty messy way. Rebecca asked me to blog a
little about marriage
during the child-rearing years and I'm in the trenches, so I'll keep it
real. I have a son Josiah (4) and a son Silas (3) and we're expecting
our first daughter in 4 weeks.
One
of my favorite movies is "The Princess Bride." You know you love it
too. The phrase "Marriage...marriage is what brings us together today,"
is a well-known line from the movie. And to be honest - many days in our
crazy, beautiful life: the fact that we're married is the only thing
that brings my husband and I together. We are absolutely crazy about
each other & adore parenting, but while the giddiness from long ago
dating years is tucked in our hearts, the chaos of potty training,
spaghetti fights, ministry, and work don't allow us to tap in to it as
often as we'd like. However, we realize that investing in our marriage
is
key to the other aspects of our lives running smoothly. So practically,
here's how we invest in marriage in our home:
1.
We pray together. (Not a ton of romance involved here, but we do try to
make sure we constantly share areas in which we are struggling or need
prayer. This creates an atmosphere of intimacy and trust. We'd love to
have scheduled lengthy prayer sessions, but sometimes our prayer time is
on the phone while the boys nap, or late at night after they've gone to
bed.)
2.
We prioritize our alone times. (From our firstborn's beginning, we have
stuck with an early bed time. We often have to bow out early from
social events or say no to
certain things because we realize that sleep is important to our kids,
but also, the evening down times are important to us. Some nights we veg
and watch tv, other nights we play board games together, and other
nights we date at home. These times are sacred to us and we are thankful
for them. Our schedule may not work for everyone, but setting aside
consistent alone time is soooo important)
3.
We flirt. (We have special hand signals that are silly, words that we
use to mean something deeper, and we love sending each other flirty text
messages and emails throughout the day. This keeps us both reminded of
our marriage relationship, and adds some fun into our days too.)
4.
We (try very hard to) support each other's dreams. (Jeremy is a
dreamer. He has a million ideas a day on how to improve the quality of
his work and our parenting. At times I've been the nagging wife, wanting
him home more, wanting his attention more, etc. etc. but I've found
that when I stop dolling out advice or arguing about something and
become his biggest fan, the rewards are manifested in our relationship).
Parenting
is awesome, fun, and tough. Marriage is amazing, revitalizing, and
work. But God has called us to both and I depend on this verse daily to
remind me that He is with me in both: Philippians 1:6 There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind
that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish
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