Without getting into the story, because Bret plans on writing a post about it at some point, Bret’s attempt at breaking the world record for carrying someone else wasn’t valid. So, he’s been training to attempt it again. I help out as much as I can, but I can’t handle being carried for too long. So he’ll carry me a quarter lap then carry a heavy bag.
Since I thought this would be a perfect blog post….I took a selfie! 🙂 Look at his focus!
When I try to figure out what to write about, I typically think through my day first….are we doing anything fun together? Am I doing anything interesting? Am I doing something photography and/or marriage related?
Today, I’m pretty much just prepping for a photo shoot for our March Madness winner….and I’m not going to lie, that’s pretty boring. I spend a few hours charging batteries, backing up images and clearing cards. *yawn*
I’m also trying to kick my to-do list’s butt….which, again, is boring stuff….like selling DVDs, redesigning my blog header, website updates and writing my book. Just. Not. Interesting.
So, when I’m stuck, one of the things I do is look over my lifetime stats and look at what have been the most popular posts. One of the highest is Bret’s guest post on losing his job.
I just reread it and am in awe of God’s goodness in our lives since then. Since that point, we have paid off our debt, shot a bunch of weddings, Bret finished college AND he got a job teaching. I can see how God had to break us of all our pride, all our reasons for trusting in ourselves. The only way we could look was up and we would never be the same.
While we struggle from time to time with trusting in God….our primary orientation is unwavering trust in God. He has cared for us before, how can we not trust in this or that circumstance? I think one of the biggest lessons I take away from this is documenting your journey. Whether it’s a blog, a journal or an Excel spreadsheet. Just keep track of the struggles and triumphs you’ve walked through.
What about you? How do you keep track? When was the last time you looked back?
Last August, I realized that my heart burns about the topic of marriage. At the time of my realization, I thought it was just for my photography business, that my goal was, more client marriages that last until ‘death do us part.’ It fueled my passion for work for a little while, but that thought has morphed beyond my photography business and extends to my friendships as well as YOU, my online reader. I realize I’m only 5 years young in the topic of marriage; I’m in no way an expert, at all. But I will do everything in my power to lift up marriages that last. I will share articles, stories, whatever I can to help others in their marriage. (If you’re a friend of mine on Facebook, you know I share a lot!)
While I think I have the perfect marriage, I really don’t. We hurt each other, we let the other down, we fail, we are far from perfect. But one of our “secrets” is this, we realize that we are both just two big, fat sinners. We have used the phrase countless times after a fight, an outburst, a cold brush off or an obscene amount of tears.
The phrase came from a very special book, When Sinners Say I Do (this is an affiliate link to purchase the book on Amazon. I have read the whole book myself and I highly recommend it! If you do purchase it or something else on Amazon using this link, we will get a small percentage of the purchase). Basically, it lays out that marriage is hard and recognizing that we are sinners helps SO much.
I’m currently rereading it because I do want to be “more of an expert” on this topic of marriage. I want to give sound advice when a friend has a marriage falling apart or when there is a fight that seems like the worst or they just want to make a good thing even better. Another reason for my deeper passion is I have seen so many marriages fall apart over the last 5 years…I guess it’s one of those things you pay closer attention to when you’re thinking about it….I’m sure there were other marriages that fell apart before I got married, but I don’t think I paid much heed.
Dear readers, know that I pray for your marriages. Know that I hope to bring encouragement and biblical truth. I desire to do all that I can to help marriages last until death. If you ever have a topic you want to me ramble about, comment below. Otherwise, I’ll ramble on my own….
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Have a great 1096th day of marriage!!!
I’ve read a lot of business books and articles. A trend I’ve noticed is they say, do this or that so you don’t end up living in your parents’ basement. I can’t think of a time when I read something that put this in a positive light. I understand it’s mostly a societal thing. It’s the “American Dream” to have your own home, a 9-5 job and money to go out on the weekends.
Just over two years ago, Bret lost his job. At the time, things weren’t going super hot with photography and it was clear that this change in our income meant a major change, so back to my parents’ house we went.
It would be easy to begrudgingly make this change. It would be easy to complain about it. But honestly, I’ve found over the last two years, it’s been an easy change. There were a few growing pains, but for the most part, it was a wonderful change. Since we moved in, we’ve both grown in our relationships with my family, each other and God. I can see God’s timing in the whole situation. We’ve been able to help out when major family emergencies were happening. We’ve been able to lend an ear when others are going through struggles. We’ve laughed a lot.
I encourage you today in this; if your life doesn’t look like the American Dream, don’t fret about it. YOU make YOUR dream. It doesn’t have to fit into someone else’s mold.
“Contentment means being satisfied and at peace with God’s will in all situations. It’s a state of the soul where your desires conform to wherever you find yourself.” ~ Dave Harvey
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