Day 1990 – My Your Heart Be Light – My Thoughts On Lightheartedness

Posted on December 22, 2014 by 365 days of marriage

The other day, I heard the song “Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” and a line stuck out.

Let your heart be light.

I wonder how often we think about what that actually means. There is so much that can cause us to be heavy hearted. Just in the last hour I was bombarded with a lot to be so sorrowful about. Right before I started writing, the weight of a few things really tired to weigh me down. (For reals dudes, I almost lost it in CFA. The big ol’ fat tears, ugly cry kind of losing it).

At first I thought, well, that’s ironic. I had been planning on writing on this topic since last night or so. But I still felt strongly about writing this, because it’s almost like a secret.

Ok, so here we go. Merriam-Webster defines it as:

having or showing a cheerful and happy nature
not serious
free from care, anxiety, or seriousness
cheerfully optimistic and hopeful

I think a better definition is this:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:25-27

I think of myself as a light hearted person. And it’s not because I’ve had an easy life. I’ve walked through some really hard circumstances. I have had extreme sorrow. Little known fact, one of my biggest struggles is depression.

But I have so much reason for having a light heart. One of my favorite parts about Christmas is that the radio, the malls, the stores, everywhere, are filled with Christmas songs….and a good portion of them have lyrics that point to or totally praise Jesus Christ. The world is singing His praise! I love it! The source of my lightheartedness comes because Christ was born with the sole purpose of dying. The sacrifice brings me peace. My eternal salvation and destination are secure. There is nothing this world can throw at me that will change that or take away that peace.

If I’m late to something because of traffic, it’s ok, eternal salvation secure.
If money is tight, it’s ok, as He tells us in Matthew, he clothes and feeds the birds of the air, how much more will he care for me, his child?
If I lose a vehicle, it’s ok, I have another, it’s more than I need anyways.
If I have a poor relationship with someone, if they treat me bad, my Father in heaven loves me.

The end of the matter is this, Christ is more. Christ is my source of joy. In a way, how can I NOT be lighthearted? How can I NOT skip around and shout and laugh for joy? How can you be held down?

Let your heart be light friends, let your heart be light.

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Day 1987 – Everything In Life Is A Puzzle

Posted on December 19, 2014 by 365 days of marriage

One thing about me not everyone knows is that I LOVE puzzles. Give me a puzzle, and I’m happy. Kid’s puzzle, happy. 3D puzzle, happy. Computer puzzle, happy. My personal favorite puzzle brand is Springbok. They are sold online and through Hallmark stores. I have hundreds of them (not an exaggeration). What I love about them is that they have a thick, cardboard backing. This means that when the puzzle is complete, you can pick up the whole thing. They also have lots of different types of pieces. It’s not your typical two innies and two outties, etc. type. No, there are circles with innies, jagged pieces.

I have a mind that loves puzzles. I love tossing the whole box out, spreading out the pieces, flipping them over and starting to methodically put them together. Sometimes I start with the edges, sometimes it’s a color, sometimes it’s upside down.

This morning, I listened to several sermons while putting together puzzles on the computer. It hit me how there are a lot of life lessons to be found in the process of putting a puzzle together.

When you’re overwhelmed – look at the big picture.
When you don’t know where to start, dump everything out and sort it out.
Start with one small section and work from there.
If you’re stuck, move to another section.
Sort things into categories.
To know what you’re working with, figure out the boundaries first.
Ask a friend for help.
There IS a place for everything.
When it’s all done, take a few minutes to appreciate how far you’ve come.

And here’s a small sample of my collection. 🙂

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Day 1976 – It Still Brings Tears To My Eyes

Posted on December 8, 2014 by 365 days of marriage

You know finances are a regular topic here, mostly because God has taught and continues to teach us A LOT. (Read that as – God has taken us through some rough financial times.)

Today, I’m catching up on emails and tasks. One of the big things was our bills. I was a little nervous because we had a few big expenses over the last two weeks. So as I’m moving all the money around, I see the balance of the credit card and I’m thinking, oh great, there’s no way, guess I’ll have to leave a balance. I decided to not put money in a few accounts, our biggest thing is not holding a balance on the card.

After I did the transfer, I looked at the actual total balance and I had about 13 bucks left over after paying the full balance.

That’s when the tears started. I sit here and think, how can I STILL doubt that God will take care of us? How can I doubt that He’ll provide for something He’s commanded (“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7)??? But God (two of the most beautiful word combinations!) is rich in grace to me and warmly reminded me (again….77×7, am I right?), He’s got this. What’s interesting about this particular “session” paying the bills is that I actually read the verse and quote I have on both of my check books. And I put my trust in God’s truth and not my fear of “making ends meet.”

Here’s what I have on my checkbooks:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8-9

I will not trust in riches but in Him who richly provides. – Andy Stanley

Be satisfied in your Daily Bread! (Me)

I find I have trouble trusting in just my daily bread. I want to trust in the savings account. I want to see the balance growing. But my daily bread (at least for right now) is a credit card at $0….not a growing savings account for the things I don’t need yet.

Man I’m glad God doesn’t give up on me and my silly human fears. 🙂

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Day 1970 – “I Will Sing To The Lord, Because He Has Dealt Bountifully With Me”

Posted on December 2, 2014 by 365 days of marriage

I think I’ve gotten a little “expectant” with God’s blessings recently and He graciously reminded me of this last night. God has given us SO much and kept us in a wonderful season of blessings! Just yesterday, I was freaking out a bit about cash flow. Most of what we purchase is done on our credit card (to rack up rewards!), but there are a few things that have to come out as cash or check. I had been worrying about having enough cash to do these things…and wouldn’t you know it…when I finally sat down to do the transactions, I had $10 to spare! It was another gentle reminder from God that He’s got this. It made me think about some other wonderful blessings He’s given us recently.

First, we are still out of debt. There have been a few tighter months where the balance stayed on the credit card for a week or two longer than I’d like, but no late fees. I know I blogged that we paid off $30,000 in the first 3.5 years of our marriage…But what I didn’t say was that before I met Bret, I might have been up to $50,000-60,000! That’s a lot of money to pay off…..and to have spent. Shesh. It boggles my mind that it’s finally gone. There is nothing like that feeling of paying it off. (Side note: we were not making a lot of money during this time. We made a lot of sacrifices to do this….if you want some tips, comment below and I’ll write them up in another blog post!)

Second, we got a total surprise bonus pay and it was nearly enough to pay for our flights to visit Bret’s family. California at Christmas is not the cheapest destination….by a long shot.

Third, we are in a place of being able to start investing in our retirement and an emergency fund.

Fourth, I have a new client that is a consistent, monthly guaranteed income. I mean, what???

I say these things not to say, hey, look at how great our situation is. But to say, God has dealt bountifully with us. He has continually kept us in a place of having “just enough” so we HAVE to look to Him for help. While it was super hard to go through the process of paying off our debt, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I think the most life changing moment was when I had to pay a set of bills and I had less than a dollar left over after paying for them…actually, it may have been pennies…So, if you’re walking through this now, know that someone has walked the road before you and there is hope!!

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Day 1962 – “I Got Your Back” – How Marriage Is A Battlefield

Posted on November 24, 2014 by 365 days of marriage

As we settle under the covers, with our backs to one another, we say, “I love you, I got your back.” This started after reading Love & War by John & Stasi Eldredge (I think….we’ve read a LOT of marriage books!)

Anyways, the idea is that marriage is like a battlefield. It’s tough. There are constant obstacles and trials to face. You can try and walk through it alone or together. It’s a great reminder as we fall asleep that we are on the same team, that at the end of the day, it’s our spouse we’re protecting. After God, we place each other over every other thing in our lives. Job? Friends? Family? Bret wins out every time. Part of having his back means looking for areas of weakness in his life. Knowing him more than any other person knows him allows me to see when he’s struggling with something before even he knows it. It goes both ways. Just today he pointed out another way to look at something we’re walking through…in one of those “you’re so right, but I hate that you’re right AND I didn’t see it before……but thank you for helping me with this.”

What about you? How do you have your spouse’s back? Are you putting them above everyone and everything else in your life?

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Photo credit: Nilepoc Media

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365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Category Archives: Christianity

Day 1990 – My Your Heart Be Light – My Thoughts On Lightheartedness

Day 1987 – Everything In Life Is A Puzzle

Day 1976 – It Still Brings Tears To My Eyes

Day 1970 – “I Will Sing To The Lord, Because He Has Dealt Bountifully With Me”

Day 1962 – “I Got Your Back” – How Marriage Is A Battlefield