He's So Forgetful!!

Please join me over at She Just Got Married today! I am writing about yet another fun truth I am trying to swallow when it comes to marriage!  The learning never stops!

I hope all of you are encouraged to love your man in a deeper way today.

Here's how it begins...

I normally don't go a day without hearing these phrases,

 "Do you know where my wallet is?"

                       "Have you seen my sunglasses?"

                                                "Where are the keys?"

I feel like I would have more compassion if it was my grandma. But  no- this is my husband I am talking about.  My genius husband sometimes  reminds me of Einstein. I have heard it said that he could not even find  his way home from the laboratory. Similarly, my husband is  consistently loosing track of everything from car keys and credit cards  to sunglasses and sweat jackets.

I have studied this phenomenon over the past year of marriage. I could have been a millionaire by now if I charged for all the times he's started a sentence with, "Do you know where..."

Fortunately, nothing has ever been truly lost, most of the time something has simply been misplaced or overlooked by my man's eyes. By now, I am sure many women can relate!


Pick up the rest over at She Just Got Married!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Today I have the honor of writing on Shannon Ethridge's Sexually Confident Wife Blog! 

Here's a little peek...

When I look in the mirror, I always lean in for a close-up. I am  discontent with the distance between me and that piece of glass. I want  to see details of my skin, please! Every pore. Blemish. Stray hair. 

The closer I get to the mirror, the more clearly I can hear its lies.
Look at those eyebrows…so dark and bushy. What about those little  hairs on your chin…how disgusting. And those wrinkles under your eyes…  your skin is getting old. And don’t forget those little red dots on your  face… blemishes are so ugly. 

Slowly, I begin to pick at every nook and cranny of my skin.  Inevitably, my five minutes in the bathroom to simply wash my face and  brush my teeth turns into fifteen minutes of surgery on my skin!  My  refreshing nightly ritual is easily ruined as I allow the mirror to  speak negativity into my life. As a result, all I want to do is jump  into bed for fear that someone might see my embarrassing home facial  job, my poor attempt to fix the flaws.

To read the rest click on over here!

Sexually Confident Wife Blog

Do You Feel Like Cinderella?

Hi Ladies!

I am not here, but here today! 

Here's a sneak peak...

I love my husband so much it hurts. 

Like today when I dropped him off at the airport. It's never easy to say goodbye to my best friend. We are on a journey of becoming one. When he's gone I limp and hobble for a few days, before I remember what it's like to be on my own again. Love hurts.  I was fine as a single, but now.... I don't know what to do for a weekend without him!

But for me, there is something that makes love hurt even more...

Join me over at She Just Got Married to find out the rest!

To- Do #21: Forget the Strike!

Sometimes I want to make a sign, put it on a stick, and stand outside my house, pacing back and forth, shouting, “No more laundry…no more food… I want more love and fun times too!” 

I want to go on a marriage strike! 

To be quite honest, sometimes I want to a little break from being married, from the responsibility of being a wife, taking care of our home, and from always having to consider my husband when making decisions. I want to independent and alone. Free to do whatever I please. 

A marriage strike would be my way to get my husband to take notice of all that I do for him. It would give me space to speak my heart, freely complain, and get the last word of an argument. I would have the liberty to be selfish and stingy. I can just think about myself, demand my own way, and consider only my needs. 

{I can’t believe I just said all that. I am cringing at the thoughts I sometimes think!}


Although I have never gone on an actual marriage strike, I have done it in my heart. There are moments where I just want to call it day, give up, and stop trying. If you have been married for any length of time you know that some days everything from communicating to intimacy takes HARD WORK; while, other times, marriage is full of roses and rainbows.


It is these times of constant tension that make most married couples want to pack up and leave. 

When my husband and I were dating and engaged there were moments where I wanted to break up, or at least just take my ring off and pretend as if I was single again…I did both! I was still clinging to my own life, where I could be selfish and moody without affecting someone else.  

Now that we are married unfortunately that hasn’t changed, except for this fact… we are in a covenant together.  Although the dirty side still comes out, when we yell at each other, hold grudges, or go to bed angry, I know that we both will never utter the words, “I quit!” 


Although divorce isn’t an option for us, a marriage strike would be a nice alternative!  A time where we can just vent, cling to our rights, and demand more love and respect.

Sure, I might look silly picketing outside my house, but I could at least feel better and get my point across more clearly.  However, it would never solve

A


N


Y


T


H


I


N


G.

I know because I have tried it. In my heart I declared, “No more laundry…no more food… I want more love and fun times too!” 

But God did not design marriage to be one-week- off, one-week-on kind of thing. It is all day, every day, for the rest of our lives. This commitment is not worth complaining about.  The hard work may be exhausting but it doesn’t do any good to moan and groan.

Hard work and commitment are actually the very two qualities that help us persevere through tense times and develop a stronger love for another.

It takes two people giving 100% to make a marriage flourish. Then the chant becomes two people in unison, “No more fighting… no more tears…  we are here to love and serve…each other!”

Before you shout the words, “I give up!” Try giving even when it’s most difficult. Try selflessness even when all you want is your own way.

  

Put the strike on hold and persevere in your covenant love towards your man!

A Little Secret...

Shhh... :) I am over here at this blog today, sharing a little secret about married life, in particular when it comes to our husband!

So to start off...

What's hard on the outside, but has a soft center? Hint: It's not a type of chocolate!

                I bet you'll never guess...

To find out the answer and a little tip for your marriage, pop on over here! Enjoy!

Freed by Love!

I'm not here... but here today!




Here's a sneak peak...

"Charissie...Do you know what?"

"What?"

He stares into my eyes with a look that only I am privileged to see, "I LOVE YOU."

A smile breaks across my face. We squeeze each other tightly, savoring the moment as if it were our first hug. Although held in his arms and wrapped in his love, my heart feels completely free.

Join me over at  She Just Got Married to read the rest!

A Real Wedding Dress.

We are honored to have my friend and newlywed wife, Laetitia King ,sharing her heart with us again! In this post she details a beautiful revelation she had about her wedding dress...  every woman can relate!

I didn’t want to take my wedding dress off! My sister warned me (after she got married) that every bride grows strangely attached to the piece of material wrapped around her body on her wedding day. Even though I only wore it for six hours, it felt as if it has been part of me all my life. Maybe it was because of all the effort that went into dreaming about it. Not that I am someone that thought of it since I was five, but when George asked me to marry him, I knew my dress had to be special. It had to be well-defined, unique, a dress that revealed my style, my taste, and made me beautiful.

In search of this perfect dress, many questions went through my mind.

If I was in a fairy tale, what would I wear...and what not?
                     Would my husband like what I choose?
         Will I make the right choice?

Luckily I knew the answer to that question long before my wedding day. I knew it the first time I saw the white ball gown in the old movie “My Fair Lady.” When I saw the dress in the movie it spoke to me.

It was a vintage dress with lace and pearls shimmering in the light. I was captivated as I watched an ordinary street lady walk down the stairs looking like a queen. The movie was my first real encounter with a make-over. Feelings of enchantment washed over me, when I saw the woman changed from an ugly duckling to a gracious swan. It was a scene worth remembering.


Every bride seems to hold her breath as she slips into her wedding dress for the first time. She gazes into the mirror. The power of the moment is overwhelming. A little girl turns into a woman, a commoner transforms into a Queen, a single woman becomes a wife! 

This is exactly what I felt when I became the wife of George King. Wow! When I saw everyone looking at me walking down the aisle, I felt like a queen. It wasn’t an unusual feeling...rather it was a very familiar feeling.

During my journey with God as a single He taught me the true value of being His bride. But when I put my wedding dress on that day, my spirit leaped within me. A new realization swept over me. I was exactly what God promised, exactly what God intended, exactly what God designed. 

But then... the time came where I had to take off the dress. It was dreadful. I felt stripped from the preciousness I felt during the wedding celebration. In just one breath, I became myself again.

A normal person.

In normal clothes.

A commoner.

A nobody.

There are many moments in life that want to strip us of our Royalty, and steal the preciousness of living. Times of anger, frustration, and confrontation often leave us feeling naked, common. Like a no-body.
Sometimes we look at our physical circumstances, and we are tempted to feel robbed. We may look at our bank account, the time we spend in traffic, our performance appraisal from our boss, or just the lack of romance in our marriage, and we wonder... who am I? We feel stripped of our crown.

Often times, we choose the wrong action. We become dissatisfied and lonely, depressed and downcast. Instead of feeling like a Queen in God’s kingdom we simply feel like a guest at a wedding.

But God has clothed us with Christ. In that powerful historic event of His crucifixion we were transformed to be a Child of God. A Queen. We can once again hold our breath, wrap ourselves in the character of Christ, and choose to put on His likeness. Our wedding dress of righteousness fits perfectly. We can be confident that we are the beautiful Bride of Jesus Christ.


What will the guests of earth say about us? Hopefully, they will be found saying...

Wow...where did you find such beautiful material? How did you manage to get all your flaws covered? How did you become so gorgeous? Who chose the material you are wearing? Why did you transform from a nobody to Royalty? 

And may your answer be...

Only those wrapped in Christ will know! 

In Christ, we get to wear a wedding dress every day and experience the same feelings we had on our wedding day! This revelation will impact our daily lives- from how we work, speak, and love our husbands. 

Have you chosen to put on this wedding dress that Jesus offers us?