everything else
Today’s Bible Thought by Malinda Edgell
“I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.” Psalm 108:3-4 NLT
I already hear the murmuring…
Oh, Malinda, I couldn’t speak out loud before a crowd.
Malinda, I can’t sing.
Good grief, Malinda! In front of people?
The choir? All the way at the front of the church?
Testify? You mean with all eyes and attention on me?
Give a praise report in Sunday School, me?
Re-read the verse. Go ahead, re-read it.
Does it say anything, anything at all, about ‘what’ you can do?
Do the verses even bring into question your abilities, talents or even gifts?
Is there any mention, of any sort, of how well you do it, how pretty it sounds or how easy it is to do it?
No. No, it only refers to the ’why’ of the matter!
Why should we do it? Because His love is higher than our wildest expectations.
Why should we do it? Because His faithfulness exceeds our needs.
Why should we do it? Because God deserves every ounce of praise we can give Him–and more, much more!
No more excuses, friend. Praise, whether in song or by just opening your mouth, is expected, deserved and what will bring a smile to the Lord’s face faster than anything.
But YOU Picked the Dresses!
I like to plan ahead. I like to anticipate problems and try to avoid them if at all possible. It was no different with my wedding. I had seen enough sitcoms and movies to know that all bridesmaids hate their dresses. I mean ALL bridesmaids. It never fails, the bride picks a color that looks great on her but awful on the girls that are actually going to be wearing the dresses. Or the bride chooses a type of dress that does nothing but accentuate the bulges and bumps that the bridesmaids have tried to diet off or cover up for years. And I have never heard a bridesmaid say, “I know I used my life savings to buy this dress for the wedding, but it is ok because I will wear it ALL the time!”
Since I am a plan-ahead type of person and I knew that ALL bridesmaids hate the dresses the brides choose for them to wear, I decided to do things a little differently. I decided to choose a color that I knew my bridesmaids could wear again. I choose black. Who doesn’t need a nice black dress? And I also left the style up to them. I told them that the dresses didn’t have to all match each other. Each girl could choose a black dress in a style that would flatter her own body and that she would feel good in. I thought I was being the perfect bride. How much nicer could I be? They could set the price and the style and get a dress that they would be able to wear again and again. I was ready to receive my Bride of the Year award any day.
But instead of an award, I got complaints. Although I said they didn’t have to match, my bridesmaids disagreed. They decided to get together and choose the same dress. My two best friends looked through countless magazines and narrowed it down to 3 styles. Then they met with my sister to see which dress she wanted. She made her choice and they ordered them. I thought they all looked lovely. But I never saw one of them wear their dress again. Once I made the mistake of asking why. What I heard made my blood boil. My best friends said the dreaded words that I had taken great pains to avoid, “We didn’t really like the dresses.” I looked at them with incredulity. “YOU picked out the dresses in the first place, how could YOU not like them?” Here I chose black for a summer wedding color so they could have something to wear again, I allowed them to choose the style, the dress, the price, everything and they didn’t really like the dresses.
So here is my take home message…you can’t please everyone. (or in my case anyone!)
I have to watch what I say!
I was reminded last week that I have to very closely watch what I say around my husband. I mentioned in passing that I would like to have a laptop sometime so I could work at night while he was working on our desktop. He went out and bought me one the very next day!
I am not complaining, mind you, I am just awed again at the amazing man I married. He so wants to do nice things for me that I have to be careful to only mention things I want when I am ready to purchase them (or have them purchased for me).
How can you encourage your man to be this generous, you ask?
Well, I will let you in on a little secret. It is a secret that I have only told my closest friends so far, so you are now a part of a very privileged group. Are you ready?
I have absolutely no idea. That’s it. When I started writing this blog post I wanted to come up with the reason behind why he is so generous with me. I wanted to tell you what you could do to earn that type of love and attention. But the truth is that I don’t earn it. Of course I do nice things for him and I show him my respect for him all the time, but those things should be standard in a marriage. His generosity goes way beyond the norm. He spoils me for no apparent reason other than he loves me.
Sorry I couldn’t share some deep secret with you this time. Maybe I will have to ask him the reason. That’s what I will do. I will ask him the reason and I will let you know. Keep watch for the rest of the story…
I Owe Lubbock an Apology!
When my husband decided to take a job in Lubbock, Texas, I was devastated. All I could picture in my mind was flat earth, dust storms, and weeds galore. We have lived here for a little over 7 months now, and I love it! I absolutely love it!
I can’t get enough of the huge skies and cotton fields as far as the eye can see. I love to sit out on my back porch at night and see the city lights twinkling in the distance. The people are friendly, and the schools are good. It is a land of hope–of potential. Just being here makes me confident of a bright future for my family.
One day your husband may need to move you to a new location. If that happens, please take the following advice…
1. Cry in private. You will need to weep for the life, people, and places you are leaving behind. But letting your husband see all your tears will only make him feel bad for hurting you.
2. Pray for your new home. Start praying immediately for God to prepare a place for you there. Pray that He would create a spirit of revival in that town like they have never seen before. It is hard to hate a place you are praying for.
3. Plug in quickly. Don’t take forever to find a church. Start right away and get involved. Meet people, have them over, and start to connect.
4. Explore your new area. Take drives and see sights. Find out what is unique about your new area and learn about it and experience it.
5. Open your eyes and heart to the beauty around you. Don’t let homesickness cloud your view and keep you from enjoying your new home.
God has created a big, beautiful, and varied land. If you have to move, look at it as an opportunity to experience more of God’s creation. It can be your chance to learn more about God and meet more of His people. If you go into a move with an open heart from the start, you may find that you won’t have to apologize to your new city!
Time is Slipping Away!
I just realized that my last post was Sunday. It seems like time just gets away from me so quickly.
As a bride trying to get everything ready for your big day, you may be feeling the same time pressure. My suggestion to you is to get organized. My husband and kids make fun of the lists I create for everything. But after we took our baby daughter to the beach without any sunscreen or towels, I realized that I needed to get organized. Now I create lists for things to take on vacation, grocery shopping lists, lists for errands I have to run, and lists for what we intend to buy for Christmas.
You too may need some lists. Write and tell me which lists would be most helpful, and I will see if I can get them posted for you. In the meantime, you can start with my FREE wedding registry checklist.
Happy list making!
Glory and Grace Can’t Be Separated
Our youth pastor preached today and said some pretty profound things that he had been learning. Here is the gist of what he said…
God’s grace and His glory can’t be separated. God extends grace in order to extend His glory. The result of grace is more glory for God. Too often we like the grace part. We want to know we are forgiven and redeemed. But we don’t think about the glory part. Our salvation is proof that God has a purpose for our life. Since He extended grace to us, He plans to use our life to receive Glory for Himself.
Is my life truly bringing God glory? Is my salvation about more than MY forgiveness and MY encouragement and MY eternal future? Am I consciously making decisions that would bring God glory or would bring me happiness and comfort?
This will be something I ponder this week.
How a Stereo Nearly Blew our Relationship!
I have been happily married for 13 years now. But it was all almost ruined by a stereo before it even began.
I met my husband the day before Thanksgiving and our first date was two days later. We attended different colleges, so we corresponded mainly through e-mail, snail mail, and telephone. After that first date, we went out a time or two before I left school to go home for Christmas break. Although things were going really well between us, we still really didn’t know each other. That fact was never more evident than the day Toby brought me my Christmas gift.
The first clue that he didn’t know me very well yet was that he brought it early. I know some kids who can’t wait until Christmas. They sneak around trying to overhear their parents talking about their gift. They unwrap presents and shake and measure and rattle to see if they can guess what the present is. That was the type of kid Toby was. I am the exact opposite. If my parents were talking about Christmas, I would plug my ears and hum so I wouldn’t accidentally overhear. I never wanted to pick up a gift before Christmas morning so I wouldn’t accidentally guess what it was. I never begged to open gifts on Christmas Eve. I want to prolong the excitement as long as I can so I never open presents early. Never. Yet here was my boyfriend at my dorm room with a cheesy grin and a gift he wants me to open right away. So I do.
My second clue was the type of gift. He bought me a 3-disc changer stereo system. Toby loves music. He always listens to music while he works, drives, studies, and relaxes. He is also very ADD with his music. He listens to a minute or two of a song and is on to the next. Then he might stay on the next song to hear a drum intro and then he is off to another disc for snippets of that one. Not me. I listen to an entire CD from start to finish. I can’t have music on when I read or talk with friends. I like to listen so I can sing along, not just to have background noise. Since I don’t move from CD to CD, a 3 disc changer was very unnecessary for me.
Now before you think I am a total jerk, let me assure you I didn’t say any of this to Toby. I never let on that his gift was much more suited to him than to me (until he read this article that is). I was a very gracious receiver. But then I found out how much it cost.
The granddaddy of all clues that my new love and I didn’t know each other very well was that he bought me such an expensive gift. Some girls want the biggest diamonds they can get. They choose clothing more for the designer label than functionality. They love to shop at the mall. I am nothing like that. Toby laughed at how tiny all the diamonds were in the engagement rings I said I liked. I couldn’t name more than 3 designers if my life depended on it. At that time, I had never spent more than $40 for any item of clothing-ever. I hate shopping and especially at malls. I am a saver who would rather see my savings account grow than to spend money on things that will clutter up my house.
So when I realized that this guy I had known for almost a month had spent over $300 on me for Christmas, I figured the relationship was doomed. After he left that night I showed the stereo to my friends. They knew immediately that I would be uncomfortable with the gift. How could my frugal heart ever match a gift of that magnitude? Was he trying to buy my affection with an expensive gift? Would he always spend money so frivolously?
As these questions plagued me, I realized I needed to talk to him about the gift. We talked that night about how I loved the stereo and the thought behind it, but I was uncomfortable about the cost and the meaning. He assured me there was no meaning behind it besides wanting to get me something nice that we could use when we got married. (Yes, we had talked about marriage less than one month into our relationship!) He also assured me he wouldn’t spend that much again on gifts. I assured him that I wasn’t like other girls he might have dated. I liked simple and heartfelt gifts, preferably homemade.
While he still routinely spends more on me than I do on him, he has made some really amazing, heart-felt gifts that mean more to me than any expensive ones could have. I could have let that stereo ruin an amazing relationship, but I chose instead to be upfront with him about my concerns. You too will need to talk honestly with your fiancé or husband about things. Don’t expect him to know exactly what you will like or be able to read your mind. It takes years for those things to develop. But don’t give up!
So what about you? What has threatened your relationship? Has anything almost ended a great connection that would have been a big mistake?
Out of the Swing of Things
As I sit at a picnic table watching my kids and their cousin on the swings, I feel out of the swing of things myself. It seems like forever since I have done any work on my website. While a vacation from reality is needed every once in a while, there is something to be said for momentum.
What about you?
As you plan your wedding, do you work better by completing a few tasks each day or by setting aside an entire day to get everything done at once?
Let me know how you work best—leave your comments below.
