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Blessed by the Best and Highly Favored

So dear friends things aren’t always easy when it comes to marriage. (If you haven’t figured that out yet.) However, if we choose to look at our blessings rather than our problems our perspective can entirely change.

I’ve been helping my friend Trina get a house ready for moving. Her friend lives in another state and the mom and grandma will be moving there soon to be closer to family. Trina was telling me how much she still had to do so I thought “hey I like to go through stuff.” Did I mention I love to go through antique stores to find treasures? Haha I love history and always wonder how something was used or who used it or how differently life was lived in the “good ole days.” I could spend time with my friend and learn some more history considering the grandma is 96.

The first day I got there I thought wow we do have a lot of work ahead of us, but being the optimist I generally am I thought no problem. (Insert face palm here.) What I didn’t count on was falling in love with this Italian family we were helping. I always wanted to be a part of an Italian family! I love her accent and the mom puts up with me trying to mimic it and totally butchering it. Haha So my friend and I worked ourselves ragged cause we love them and truly want God to bless them.

After nearly 2 weeks straight we got everything ready for our first sale. Trina was telling me how much she owes me but I was like isn’t this what we are supposed to do? Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. That’s what the Good Book says anyway.

After the first day of the sale I got home, took a much deserved shower, put on my pjs, ordered Chinese, my wonderful son picked it up and we ate. My husband, David, who’s on a shutdown at his plant right now came home not 30 minutes later, walked into the kitchen, and promptly asked, “What’s all this?”. I went to the kitchen and there was water all over the floor. Yikes!!!

About 3 weeks ago we had a major freeze here that pretty much crippled Texas. We are NOT built for that kind of weather. We managed to get through with no pipes bursting by the grace of God or so we thought. We immediately thought a pipe had burst and David turned of the water at the main then went to the attic to check. Fortunately, it was a small leak. Unfortunately, it had already dripped so much the sheetrock under the leak was destroyed. I thought, “I do not have time for this.” We still have much to do this week to finish up the move.

Now I could’ve stopped right there and just cried and had a pity party. Instead I was thankful this happened after my husband had gotten home and he was able to address it immediately. He gave it a temporary fix and decided to permanently fix it today after church.

I went to bed exhausted and considered skipping church but I knew I needed the refreshing of the Holy Spirit more than ever. It seemed God was speaking directly to me and Trina throughout the whole service. It was such an encouraging worship session and message that I felt so renewed as did Trina.

David took me to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. We came home, took a much needed nap, and then he got up to work on our pipe issue on his only day off. I walked into the kitchen, looked up, and cringed. I’ve been working on my kitchen to create a space where I would love to work and all I could see was the big hole in my ceiling plus all the old nasty insulation and sheet rock dust on the floor.

I sent a picture of the mess to Trina with the crying emoji. She sent me a much needed reply that it could’ve been much worse and to be thankful that David has the skills to take care of the problem.

So I walked back into the kitchen and took the pictures at the top of this page. Pictures of the man that has been nothing but supportive as my own house has gone awry while I helped my new Italian family with theirs. The man that works 13 days straight with one off in between during shutdowns to make sure we have not only what we need but also what we want. The man that loves God with all his heart and therefore loves me the way I should be loved. The man that has so many skills I can’t even keep count of them all. This man has flaws and sometimes drives me crazy, but definitely the one given to me by God. Recently, God has given me new eyes to see this man in a different light. It’s all about perspective. I could be bitter about my kitchen and the things David does that irritates me but I will choose to be thankful. And that fills my heart with love instead of bitterness which feels so much better!

Everyone that knows David knows his response when asked how he is doing. He always replies, “I’m blessed by the Best and highly favored!” So today I choose to count my blessings and remember that the God who saved me is also the God that will keep me.

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Marriage on Two Wheels

Recently I began riding with my husband on the back of his Harley. I was a little nervous at first, because…well quite frankly because I’ve ridden in a vehicle with him. We’ve had our share of disagreements aka full blown arguments over the way he drives. Sometimes I think he believes he’s a race car driver. That being said I’m not a scaredy-cat. I’m a tree climbing, rollercoaster riding, roof walking, taking chances kind of girl. But putting my life in the hands of my wannabe racer husband was a little out of my comfort zone. However, I began to notice how careful he was when he rode so I decided to take the plunge. Also, I thought how cute I would look in my leathers! So off we went!

This was not my first time on a bike, but it had been a few years. Ahem, maybe 25 or so. I also rode 3 wheelers as a teen so I understood the importance of shifting your weight and balancing. It seemed right away we worked well together on this huge bike of his. On one of our very first rides together I started thinking how this was great marriage counseling! Here’s a few things that I noticed.

David right after he bought his Harley. He was so excited!

First, I had to follow his lead. Anyone that knows me even a little knows how headstrong I can be. So in life I can tend to get out of my place in our relationship and try to take the lead. This causes so much discord and confusion. Now sometimes David wants me to take the lead on certain things. He is a smart man and knows my strengths. But by and large one of my major issues is following the lead of the husband God placed in my life. Before you say, “Dianne, that is old school!”, let me remind you how our Heavenly Father set up marriage and that the husband is the head of the home. God didn’t conjure this up to press women down. He set this in place so we would be protected. Husbands have a heavy load to bear when it comes to taking responsibility for their families. They will be judged accordingly one day. When we ride David is at the front and I’m behind him. I have to trust he knows where we are going and he knows best how to get us there. I have to admit it’s much easier to do this on a Harley than in real life. However, if I truly trust my husband then I can manage this in day to day happenings.

Secondly, we HAVE to work together! Remember that weight shifting thing I was talking about? If David leans to the left, I can’t lean to the right. Well I could, but it would be counterproductive and could even cause us to wreck. If we don’t move in harmony, it’s going to be a rough ride. The same principle applies to marriage. If we are constantly pulling in our own direction and moving towards different things our marriage is headed for a wreck. We need to have common goals and desires. And what a beautiful thing is a marriage where 2 people are working together!

Lastly, this brings us close, like real close! My primary love language is physical touch. When David spends time hugging me or putting his arm around me I’m flying high! This man of mine, however, sometimes forgets this since his love language is acts of service. He’s always on the go and rarely sits still longer than a few minutes at a time. I always joke about how most women complain that their husbands come home from work and just sit. I can’t get mine to sit down! He always has something he feels he needs to do. I am grateful though that he makes sure things around here are in working order. When we are on that Harley though…I get to hold on to him and sit close to him for as long as we’re riding! Bonus points because he enjoys our rides together. He will reach back and rub my leg and for someone that has physical touch for their primary love language it’s like a slice of heaven.

We’ve had people tell us to sell that Harley and buy a new car. There is no way we’re doing that! This is our fun time together that we BOTH enjoy and it brings us closer. That’s one thing we aren’t gonna wreck!