What I'm Loving Wednesday

I pretty much hate lots of things right now.

Like snow.

And winter.

And snow.

So I thought it might be a good idea to think up some things that I'm loving to try to help me forget how much I hate this season and its weather.

1. This guy:

We just celebrated our 4th Marriage Anniversary!  He never fails to make me laugh, and I love spending time with him.  :)

2. I'm a bit obsessed with this game:

via

You buy pens, animals, and grow crops.  Then you can complete orders that are delivered by truck or by boat.  Honestly?  I don't know why I like it so much, but when I woke up in the middle of the night recently, I checked on some products that I was producing to fill a boat order on time.  I might have a problem.

3. These people:

New Year's Eve 2013

We have the greatest group of friends!  We all have such a good time together, and I just love being around them.  (Which is saying a lot for someone like me who prefers to stay at home with her iPad....)

4. Leggings.  I can't get enough.  I wear them almost every day.

I was going to share pictures of some outfits with leggings, but for some reason, Blogger doesn't want to embed my Instagram pics.  SO if you're really curious....head over to my Instagram to check out my legging problem outfits.

What are you loving right now?

Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to remember and reflect on the things we are thankful for.  Today, I'm sharing the things that I am thankful for, and tomorrow, I'll be linking up with Susannah from Simple Moments Stick to talk more about thankfulness. 

I am thankful for...

...my husband.

Scott works so hard.  He makes me laugh.  We have so much fun together, and I am so glad that I married him!

...my family.

I am so blessed to have a family that is so close.  My cousins have always been like my brothers and sisters.  Their kids are like MY kids!  We genuinely love (AND LIKE!) each other.  We have had a difficult year this year, but it has just brought us closer and reminded us how special our family is. 

...my furbabies.

Left: Abbie // Right: Allie

I promise, I'm not a crazy cat lady, but these are my babies.  :)  They are sweet and cuddly, and they make me smile.  I often tell Abbie she's my best buddy.  You can often find her curled up on my lap, or sleeping right next to me in bed at night. 

 

...my job.

 

While it can be difficult at times, I ultimately do love teaching.  I am so thankful to have a job in a world where it's not always guaranteed that you'll get a job in the field that you studied in college.

 

...my friends.

 

I may not get to see my friends as often as I would like, as some of them live far away, but I am so blessed to have them in my life.  It's great to know that even after a lot of time goes by without talking or seeing each other that we can pick up right where we left off.  :)

 

The Bride of Christ

Have you met, Susannah?  She is a wonderful girl who blogs over at Simple Moments Stick.  I love reading her blog.  She truly has a heart that follows after the Lord, and she inspires me.  Last month, I linked up with her for "In His Image."  This month, the topic is The Bride of Christ.

One of the first things that came to mind when I saw the topic for this month's link up was a passage from Ephesians.  It likens marriage between a man and woman to that of the relationship with Christ and the church:

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself." Ephesians 5:21-28

That can be a lot to take in...especially all of that "submitting" stuff, but all you strong-willed women, don't go running out on me just yet.

I do not think that God intends for us to be doormats.  I do not believe that this passage suggests that we bite our tongues, lay down, and get walked all over.  Don't forget that after we are told to submit to our husbands, the husbands are told to love their wives.  What I do think we are being told is to respect our husbands as we respect Christ.  No one but Christ is perfect.  Sure, we get mad at all of the stupid some of the things our husbands say or do.  We're HUMAN.  But if we truly love him, we learn to accept those things, forgive, and keep on loving him anyway.

Think about how many times Christ does that for us.

It really puts things into perspective doesn't it?

Each day is a new day to start with a clean slate.  Those dirty clothes in the middle of the floor?  Pick them up, and go on.  Christ erases our slate each time we humble ourselves, come before him, and ask for forgiveness.  If He can do this for us, so undeserving, it is certainly something we can do for a person we pledged to love "for better or for worse," isn't it?