The Finished Product

The reason I don't mind doing a little house work, is the way things look when I am done. I love the look and feel of a clean house. It makes me feel comfortable and at ease. It makes me want to sit back and relax. I do understand that the work is never really done, there is always a little maintaining to be done.
Our Families are a lot like that as well. We have to do the initial cleaning; seeking those things that are messy and removing them. Some times we need a little help to get that done and God will always help us. Once the hard part is done, maintaining should make it easier on life. The problem is we don't maintain, we try to sit back and relax too much and let thing go.
There is not a person out there that would say they don't want a happy family life. So if we are willing to work hard enough to get it all cleaned out, then we need to go a little farther to make sure it stays cleaned out. We need to take the steps necessary to ensure that things to go back the way they were. That may mean we have to sacrifice a little to do that, but remember the work it took to get to this place.
Ask God to give you the power and strength you need to do this; without Him none of it is possible. Have a great Journey this week.

Jon

Date Night

They say, to keep the romance alive, you have to take your spouse out every once in awhile. It is supposed help get things back in alignment. To help you focus just on each other. It is the "stop and smell the roses"action in marriage. With all that life throws at us guys, we find it difficult to do just that. Be patient ladies, in case you had forgotten your man is not perfect. Chances are he does love you and wants to show you, but he gets a little side tracked sometimes.

Guys, we have to get our priorities in line. Your job is important, but when you put it before your wife, your headed for disaster. Another mistake we sometimes make is putting our kids before the wife. You do know, that without her their would be no kids, right!

Come on guys, ask her out. Take her to her favorite restaurant, go see that chick flick with her, let her know she is the most important thing in your life. It'll make the Journey just a little sweeter.

What did you expect?

If you had the perfect wedding; I mean no hitches, no problems, then raise your hand. Did the groomsmen play a trick with the ring, or did the preacher mess up the words? Maybe your 5 yr old nephew, the ring bearer, wet his pants (that was me). Needless to say, none of us had a perfect, fairy tale wedding. They don't exist! If you expect something to go wrong, when it does, it won't surprise you.
That same principle goes for our marriages too. Our expectations are different than reality. The truth is, things will go wrong in your marriage, you will fight and you'll get mad at each other. Your expectations should be to that affect. Know that those things will happen, then when they do, you won't be caught off guard. The GI Joe motto says," knowing is half the battle", and that is true for you.
Be ready for what ever comes to you this week, and handle it with the grace of Christ. Have a great Journey this week.