How My Husband Shepherds Me (Part 1)
How My Husband Shepherds Me (Part 2)
How My Husband Shepherds Me (Part 3)
What a Man Can Do to Lead His Wife Spiritually
Fringe Benefits of Shepherding Your Wife
Is Family Devotions Mandatory?
A Perfect Example of Submission
Expectations Cause Disappointment
The Story Behind the Love Story
One of the best dates of all time with my husband would have to be eating at Clinkerdagger. Even though the meal itself was special, it was the events leading up to the date that were a sweet gift from God. It was my birthday, and countless times we’ve done nothing for my birthday. I don’t expect to be honored like most women do. I’m not bratty that way. If my birthday comes and goes, I tell my husband what I want, and he gets it for me. There has never been something I’ve asked for that my husband hasn’t gotten for me, no matter what the cost. Of course, being a tightwad myself, I only ask for things I’ve wanted for a long time, and that is within our price range.
I’d seen women fuming and resentful at their husbands for getting them something stupid for their birthdays. The women mope around and say their men don’t love them. Just so you women know, men can’t read minds. They’re not clairvoyant. So if you want something, tell them. I don’t know what’s so hard about this. But let’s get back to the Clinkerdagger story.
I had gone to a yard sale, and I found a gorgeous evening dress that was a sparkling dark red. Because the yard sale was at a park, there was no way for me to try it on. Having grown up in a third world country, I knew how to bargain, so I said I’d buy the dress for fifty cents. The lady said yes. When I took the dress home, I tried it on, and it fit me perfectly.
We had no money. My husband sold something in his office for $80. Then he went to Costo and got a $100 gift card for $80 for Clinkerdagger. So God supplied the money and made it stretch. We got a babysitter (my parents) and made a reservation.
The reservation was later than we’d hoped for, so we went to the hot tub first. That was at the gym we used to be members of back then, which my husband got a discount for through his work. So whenever we went on a date, we would end at the hot tub. But this time we started there. Hot tubs are wonderful. They relax your muscles, and your body actually feels better afterwards.
So I was changing into my evening gown at the gym, and I hadn’t decided whether to wear sandals or high heels. I asked a random woman in the locker room. She said, “Definitely the sandals.” She raved about how awesome the dress looked and asked me where I bought it. “I got it at a yard sale for fifty cents.” “Shut up!” she said in surprise. I laughed.
When we got to Clinkerdagger, we were seated. I looked around at the medieval decorations. This is definitely my favorite restaurant. Bummer that it’s so expensive. After ordering our food, I went to use the restroom. As I was walking back from the restroom, my husband looked at me. I could tell in his eyes that he really liked the dress.
After eating a delicious meal, I just sat there looking at my husband. The entire date was wonderful from start to finish, a sweet gift from God.
No Resentment – Zumba is an aerobic exercise that tones the whole body. The hour goes by fast. It’s the only exercise that I look forward to. There is no dreaded workout, no watching the clock because I wish it was over, and no resentment that I have to exercise to keep my body in shape for my husband. None of that. I do Zumba for me, and it benefits my body, my health, and my husband with no down side.
I recently read an article where a woman cut her hair short because she was now a mom. Her husband hated her new haircut and was disappointed that his opinion didn’t matter whatsoever. The writer of the article said, “Grow up,” to this man. She wrote that there is nothing wrong with a mom looking like a mom, which translated means, go ahead and look frumpy because who the heck cares what your husband thinks. This entire mindset is sin.
Let me start by saying that my best friend from childhood is a woman. Let’s say I did something somewhat superficial that would affect her life, disregarding her opinion, even when she had to live with the ramifications of what I did. Then she asks me, “How come you didn’t even ask me?” and I answered, “Who cares what you think?” This would be disrespectful to my friend, who is a woman. How much more so if you’re doing this to your husband?
“The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” (I Corinthians 7:4)
At marriage, a woman’s body belongs to her husband, and a man’s body belongs to his wife. You don’t rule your own body, believe it or not. And it cuts both ways. Let’s say you don’t want your husband to have a long, scraggly beard that is smelly and disgusting. Because even though that is a superficial thing, it affects your attraction to your spouse.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to withdraw from my husband if he looks ugly. I’m not. And I’m not a superficial person. If he gets into a car crash and looks all mangled like a monster, I will love and cherish him and kiss his sweet face til the day I die. But that is no excuse for him to purposely look ugly for me.
You should also be willing to live with the consequences of your actions. The woman who cut her hair short and didn’t care what her husband thought now has to live with the fact that she is not as attractive to her husband. Likewise, if my husband shaves off the close clipped beard that I love, he is not as appealing to me, even though of course I will still love him. But the bedroom ought to matter. If the bedroom doesn’t matter to the woman, then her husband is not her priority. Her marriage will suffer because she doesn’t care about pleasing her husband, and her marriage has taken a back seat.
“Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling.” Psalm 2:11
“If He is so great, place your mouth in the dust before Him, for He is the most powerful of all kings… Heaven obeys Him cheerfully, hell trembles at His frown, and earth is constrained to yield Him worship, willingly or unwillingly. His power can create or destroy. My soul, be sure that when you draw near to the Omnipotent, who is a consuming fire, put your shoes from off your feet and worship Him with lowliest humility.” -Spurgeon
God is everything, and we are nothing. Until we understand that, we will not pray the way we ought to pray.
“For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:3
Read Isaiah 6:1-7, and it will put you in the right frame of mind. When Isaiah (or anyone else for that matter) was in the presence of God, he fell prostrate on the ground before God. Moses took off his sandals and smashed his face in the dirt before God. The wisest man of all time, King Solomon, said in his wisdom books that the bottom line was to “Fear God and keep His commandments.” Fear is reverence that involves trembling.
For some reason we see God as a big sweetie pie (which is also true), almost like a teddy bear. But He strikes people dead, and they fall down. Remember Ananias and Saphira? God’s fire also lashed out and killed lots of Israelites when they were complaining in the wilderness. And Jesus rides a white horse in Revelation, with a scythe in His hand – everyone in that field will experience terror when He strikes them dead. God is dangerous.
God is not to be trifled with. Either He rules or He doesn’t. Eventually everyone will bow the knee, whether they like it or not, because He is indeed God. For every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Philippians 2:10)
When we pray, we should have lowly reverence and complete submission. And yes, we can walk boldly to the throne of God to receive help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16), but this does not negate the absolute, staggering power of the Creator of the universe, and our need to hold the Lord God in reverence.
Parenting Humor
You Know You’re the Mother of Boys When…
Homeschool Humor
Growing Older Humor
You Know You’re Growing Older When…
Travel Humor
Susan’s Wacky Travel Tips (Airplane Edition)
Susan’s Wacky Travel Tips (Road Trip Edition)
Marriage Humor
The Story Behind the Love Story
Toilet Humor
Social Media Humor
You Know You’re a Newbie to Twitter When…
Random Humor
Top 10 Reasons Sickness Isn’t So Bad
Business Humor
Workshop Went Well (Miraculously)
Christmas Humor
Susan’s Wacky Gingerbread House Tips
Stealing Ornaments and Christmas Memories
World’s Worst Stocking Stuffers
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could find out where the real ark of the covenant is located? Or Noah’s ark? Or even Mt. Sinai? The Bible Explorer Series is a set of three DVD’s that chronicle the modern search for these three things. This series is a professionally done, truly fascinating exploration of where on earth these are located. Each DVD starts out as a mystery, and each new piece of evidence leads to a greater understanding of the location of these items. (I know a mountain isn’t an item, but I’ll call it an item anyway.)
In the Ark of the Covenant DVD, there is evidence that the ark was removed from Jerusalem during King Manasseh’s reign, because he placed a stone idol in the Holy of Holies, which would have been an abomination to the priesthood. There is an island (Elephantine Island) in the middle of the Nile River in Egypt, close to Aswan, where a temple was built by the priests who had rescued the ark away from the defilement of Manasseh. Evidence of the Jewish priests from Manasseh’s reign being on the island is conclusive. From there, the Egyptians were horrified that the Jews were sacrificing rams, because the Egyptians worshiped rams. A strong disagreement resulted in the Jewish priests leaving Egypt with the ark and going to Ethiopia, of all places. First it was put on an island in Ethiopia, and there is evidence that the ark might have rested there for hundreds of years.
Finally a Christian Ethiopian king came and stole it from the island, placing it in a church in Ethiopia, where it stands today. Unfortunately the object is so holy that nobody is allowed to look at it. In my mind, this is actually a good thing, because if it’s truly the ark of the covenant, the Israelites would want their possession back, which would cause violence, since many major religions consider this to be a holy relic, and they would all fight over it, taking it away from the Ethiopians. Based on eyewitness accounts, after seeing this DVD, I think it’s highly likely that the ark is actually located in Ethiopia today. Isn’t that frieken’ cool?
The other two DVD’s are equally interesting. Suffice it to say that all my kids were fascinated just as much as I was with this series. So in my opinion, this DVD set is worth buying.
I’ve heard people say th
at by clipping coupons, you can save up to $100 a month on your grocery bill. Back when I had no money at all and couldn’t use my time to earn any income, I learned how to do coupons just to survive. And what people say is true, but it is also tedious. Right now in my life, if I can spend an hour recording a workshop instead of clipping coupons, that hour will yield me money for the rest of my life instead of a few measly dollars for just one week.
When you’re desperate to feed your kids, you’re not as irritated by having to clip coupons. Ideally, you want the item to go on sale before you use the coupon. This way you can sometimes get the item for free. Strangely, sometimes I even came out ahead, with the grocery store paying me to get the item. I know it seems weird, but the manufacturer pays some of it, so the grocery store still gets money even when you didn’t pay a penny.
Coupons expire. And if you’re not a die-hard coupon person, if you’ve already spent money on gasoline to get to the store, you might as well use all your coupons on the spot and be done with it. To wait for every single thing to be on sale would take forever, and who wants to do that? Not me.
Instead of using coupons now, I just follow the major sales in grocery stores, called loss leaders. For example, a local grocery store has a cereal sale where Cheerios and other well-known cereals sell for $1.69 a box. I buy 70 boxes. Yes, you heard me right. If you find the rock bottom price, stock up. Your grocery bill will be lower for the next few months because you are buying no cereal. You’re saving a ton of money.
Despite the fact that I don’t do heavy couponing any more, I still use coupons to my advantage with virtually no work on my part:
1. I use Costco coupons. While my husband drives to Costco, I flip through the booklet of coupons we’re sent in the mail, and I tear them out. These are coupons for toilet paper and other things we buy all the time, and it’s always several dollars off, not just 25 cents. And since I’m sitting in the car doing nothing anyway, it doesn’t take up time.
2. Resale shop coupons are fun. There are five resale shops in my neighborhood that are quite good. (I realize that Goodwill-type stores in some towns are nasty, icky, and musty, but other cities have awesome, expensive name-brand stuff for a dollar or two.) Whenever I have a coupon for a resale store, I use it. The item I’m buying, like a new-looking jacket for my son for $4, ends up costing only $2 with a 50% off coupon. If a whole stack of clothes are 50% off, you can get a fresh wardrobe for your children for the new school year for just pennies to the dollar.
3. Coupons for going to an expensive place are also worth using. Places with roller coasters, for example, often have coupons for $10 off. Sometimes it’s buy one, get one free, and if the ticket to get in is $38, you’ve just had fun for a lot less money if you wanted to go there anyway.
These three types of coupons (Costco, resale shops, and expensive places) are the only coupons I do now. So to answer the initial question, “Are coupons worth the bother?”, when I had babies and toddlers and was in a mental fog and had no money; yes, it was. But now that I’m not in that situation, my answer is no, they’re not worth the bother.
Hi! I'm Susan Evans, a homeschooling mom of four children. If you like my blog, you will love my website, which is full of free unit study ideas!
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