You only have to be silent...

(And Moses said to the people), “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV)

What a great reminder during my quiet time this morning. We shouldn't be afraid of what the adversary is doing in our lives because God is so much more mighty and powerful. Moses told this to the Israelites before God parted the Red Sea that killed the Egyptian army coming after them.

God asks us to stand firm in our faith and watch to see what he will do. Take heart! He will fight for you... and you only have to be silent. Wow! What a blessing. Hit me like a brick this morning. So thankful for this promise.

The Virtuous Wife - A trustful heart & the freedom we have through Christ

Okay guys... my apologies for being so horrible with being timely on the blog! This post below I have had saved in drafts for about two months and it was 3/4 complete I just never had time to finish it ... until now! And so continues the Proverbs 31 series. Sorry it's taking so long! More to come about anniversary trip, fall recipes, etc! Thanks for your patience!!

It's September 6th (again sorry for the delay... it is now October 25th) which means it's one month until Michael and I's one year anniversary and my second Proverbs 31 deep dive blog post. For those of you who may have missed out on the first one you can read it here - (A Virtuous Wife - "a woman of strength"). I've decided to re-read and dive into Proverbs 31 to remind myself of what being a virtuous wife really means and to keep myself accountable.

The verse I'm focusing on today is:

"The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain." Proverbs 31:11(NKJV)

I've been thinking a lot about this verse over the last month. It's a beautiful verse for sure but what does it mean? Other translations always seem to help a bit so I've listed them below.

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." (NIV)

"Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life." (NLT)

"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain." (ESV)


I tend to favor the NKJV and the NLT versions because I think they most accurately depict what the author is trying to portray. And just who is the author anyway? King Solomon wrote the majority of Proverbs but King Lemuel is thought to have written Proverbs 31. The funny thing is that no one is sure who King Lemuel is and many think that he was a fictional character that Solomon used and that Solomon himself may have written Proverbs 31 or maybe even Solomon's mother which would have been Queen Bathsheba. Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs when he was at the height of his power. Perhaps, his mother had some words of wisdom for him so he wouldn't make the same mistakes his father, King David, made? Who knows. I am just specultating. But one thing I do think for sure is that a woman wrote Provers 31.

Back to the verse. :) The reason I favor the NKJV and the NLT versions is because of the key word in them - trust. I truly believe that this is the root of a marriage and any relationship for that matter. I've found that it's can be easier for a woman to trust and open her heart than a man. I decided to do a little research of my own and try to be sneaky so I asked Michael one day, "Why do you trust me?". He thought I was crazy and said, "I don't know Rach, I just do". That's a man for ya isn't it? But to be honest a lot of times men don't know why they open up that spot in their heart and begin to fully trust you. He also proceeded to say, "You've never given me a reason not to." Now we come to the reasoning of a man's brain. :) Women tend to think and act on how they feel and their emotions while men are much more reasonable and think about facts and what they can justify. Neither way is wrong & both have it's pros and cons... we are just very different.

So when I think of why he trusts me (and I'm probably overanalyzing like most of us tend to do) I think it's because I have been there for him. I'm there in the good times and the bad. I ask questions that tug at his heart strings and sometimes make him discuss the hard stuff. In the end, I think it does us both good because he gets things off of his chest and I get to know what's on his heart. He knows that he can come home from a bad day and tell me anything and his secret and the secrets of his heart are safe with me. That's how he "safely" trusts me like the verse says. Some women I've known tell everything about what's going on in their relationships and while I think it's wonderful to have girlfriends and discuss your marriages and relationships I also think a marriage is supposed to be intimate and precious so I hold many things close to my heart that I don't share with anyone. There are private things that I only know about Michael and he only knows about me. We talk about our problems to each other not to everyone else... not even my mom although I must admit that is hard. :) But I've found that when we communicate with each other and sit down to discuss things we end up solving it within 5 minutes and the rest of the night is snuggles and laughter! So, ladies, I encourage you to communicate with your husbands, boyfriends and in any relationship you have. Communication and keeping things personal are key to trust, especially for a man.

The verse also says in the NLT version that she "will greatly enrich his life". Now, this I hope I am doing but I think it wouldn't be as easy to do if he wasn't enriching mine. I'm so thankful and so blessed to be in a marriage that works two ways. My favorite place in the whole world is to be at home with Michael. I think that my happiness naturally enriches his life because I am happy and willing to do the things that enrich his. I don't think it's always about doing things like having dinner ready or laundry done, but what I really have noticed is my personal state affects him. If I haven't been in the word and I am stressed out, he is stressed out. If there is something not right with me, there is something not quite right with him. It is so important for me to focus on my relationship with God first in order to enrich my life and his. This also works two ways. First and foremost, it's about your personal relationship with Christ. That is the key to true fullfillment and joy. Happiness is fleeting but joy is constant and our Savior provides that to anyone who is willing to accept it. So, I lean on God to be joyful in my home so that Michael will see that and after first leaning on God, he can also lean on me as well.

Enriching his life is more than being the best cook (THANK GOODNESS!)... although I think this cake for his last birthday turned out pretty good!

I'm doing this Proverbs 31 series because I think it's important for us to know these attributes that God finds precious about us. However, one thing I didn't realize until last night when I attended the Abingdon Women speakers at our church and heard Kim Dunnam Reisman speak event was that Proverbs 31 wasn't written for instruction. We (and I mean especially ME) have turned it in to a "to-do" list. It's meant to be an ode to women, not a list that we have to live up to. It bogs me down and makes me exhausted just thinking about doing everything this women did. But you know what? It doesn't tell us about her hard days does it? The days that she thinks she can't go on and she can't possibly do one more thing. But I think it sums it up nicely at the end. No matter what she does or how "perfect" she seems to be... it doesn't matter to God. What truly matters is that she fears the Lord. That's why she is praised. Not because she's the best wife, mother, philanthropist, etc.

One thing I'm realizing more and more is that I truly am free in Christ. I can read His word and strive to live up to those things that will glorify Him but at the end of the day I don't need to beat myself up and neither do you. I'm going to leave you with 2 things.

1) You are beautiful, smart, love and cherished by the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the name above all names. A friend of mine shared this video with me and I think you'll like it. Ladies, this is what God feels for you regardless of how "perfect" you are (thank goodness)!

Click here to see the video!

2) A verse that has been on my heart. We are free in Christ and I hope you can live that way today!

"But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."
Romans 7:6

I promise the next blog will come sooner rather than later and to speed things up a bit I'm going to do verses 12-15. Until next time.

In our sweet & precious Savior,
Rachel

The Virtuous Wife - "a woman of strength"

Here I am nine months after my husband, Michael, and I said our vows. It's amazing to me what God has done with our marriage in that short time. And not only during that 9 months but I have felt Him working in our lives since we were engaged two years ago. From not having a church home, to finally finding a church that we really enjoyed, to joining, coaching basketball (Mike), attending the Marriage and Laughter seminar in January and finally to God leading us and a few other couples to start our own Young Married Sunday School class, He has truly been working. I have seen one of the biggest changes in my husband's heart which completely melts my own. The man that used to be on a time frame in church and didn't like to read the bible, now beats me getting up and ready for church and is probably more consistent with his quiet time than I am. I say all of this to show you how God is truly working because it is through Him that we have found this undescribable joy and fullness in our lives. Our marriage is only complete in Christ.

I have really taken pride and joy in being Michael's wife. I say in my letter to Michael on our wedding day that I was never the girl that dreamed about her wedding day. I dreamed about having a "big girl job", traveling, and life but that I could all of that and have the man of my dreams. Looking back, how silly was I to not dream about being married? I guess I was afraid of being fully reliant and dependent on A MAN. I mean, come on... they are just men. But God had assured me time and time again why I fell in love with Michael and why he is my partner and why I should be reliant on him. So, I strive to be the best wife I can be. In the beginning, that meant doing all the laundry (still try to do this because let's face it I don't want him doing mine :)), cooking most nights during the week, and other "wifely duties". However, it was soon clear to me that those things didn't make a home. It wasn't going to feed my husband's heart and I started thinking was I really living the life of a Christian wife and doing the things God called me to do?

This is really when we began to get more involved in church. We bought Michael a bible, we began having quiet time together one Monday mornings to reflect on what we learned during the sermon on Sunday, and we've tried to do a bible memory verse each month. We also try (although we have been really bad lately) to read from a couple's devotional, "The Love Dare" each night before we go to bed. Also, little things such a prayer before every meal, even out at restaurant has become a staple in our marriage and something that him and I look forward to.

As I continue to think about what it means to be a Godly woman and wife, I decided I was going to reflect back on one of my favorite chapters in the bible - Proverbs 31 (specifically vs 10-31). I'd like to do this on the 6th of each month (Michael and I were married on October 6, 2013) as a reminder. You may be very familiar with this. It is the "token" Christian wife scripture. However, I think it is much more than that and can be applied to all women. There are so many things we can learn from this annonymous woman. Over the next couple of months I'm going to be writing about my journey through Proverbs 31 as I dive a little deeper. I have found this blog as an outlet for me but also if I can help any women, encourage just one of you, then that makes pleases God and makes me happy.

I'll begin by saying what in the world is a VIRTUOUS wife? It sounds pretty cool doesn't it? I feel like a little kid in class raising my hand saying "I want to be one! Pick me!". A virtous wife, in a literal sense, means "woman of strength". Now I'm really waving my hand in the air wanting God to pick me. But the truth is, God offers this to any woman, not just a select few. So why is this meaningful? And what does being a woman of strength mean?

1. I think this is meaningful because God said so. :) God has created Eve from Adam's flesh (or to be literal Adam's rib, Gen 2:21-22). Notice the key reasons God created women in the verse below (I've bolded them).

Genesis 2:18 – 24
18) Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." 19) Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20) The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21) So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22) The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23) The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." 24) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25) And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Adam couldn't do it alone. He needed a "helper sutiable for him". Notice that it didn't say just any ole helper or another man. He needed a woman, and the right woman at that. God knew exactly which woman Adam needed and he created Eve. And it's important that it was a woman, not a man, because God knew that men needed the kind of helper that would be emotionally supportaive and posses different qualities than a man.

God also says that a virtuous woman's worth is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10). Did you know that rubies are worth more than diamonds? Let's put it this way, if diamonds are a girls best friend, then rubies are a girls soul mate. :) I'm not a jewelry expert but I believe it is in part because they are so rare. Also in vs. 10 it states "Who can find a virtuous woman" indicating that virtuous women, like rubies, are also rare. In other words, a women who is virtuous is precious to God. So, we are VERY important to God's design, ladies.

2. What does being a woman of strength (a virtuous woman) mean? Does it mean strong in the literal sense? Probably not... although having a strong and healthy body does help you be more confident and more active which leads to being a healthier woman and wife. A woman of strength indicates the kind of woman that the woman in Proverbs 31 is. She knows what she believes. She loves the Lord and can handle anything that comes her way because she has the Lord on her side. She not only takes care of her family but she works, and works hard not only in her home but outside of her home as well - volunteering, working with her hands, making investments/ she makes thoughtful decisions on behalf of her family. Geez, she is pretty great. When it comes down to it I think it's all about her heart and her intentions to do what is pleasing to the Lord and what is right for her family. If you don't have your own family yet, that means to your parents and friends.

Over the next month I'll go through the verses and we'll see what all of her characteristics are. I'd like to focus on them one at a time to reflect on what they really mean and how to practice them in everyday life. The first part we'll be focusing on is the verses below:

"The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain." Proverbs 31:11

Until next time,
R &M

Dobie Update!

Big man, even bigger heart

On February 1, 2013 you may remember a post titled "Little Lady, Big Heart" about Michael's grandmother, Nanny. Now, on June 20th, only 4 and a half months later, I'd like to share with you about her husband and Michael's grandather, DD also known as Jim Reid, who passed away on Tuesday, June 18th after over 200 days in Methodist Hopsice and after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Jim Reid smile :)

Love this picture of nanny & DD at Christmas time... I'm pretty sure this was the Home Builders Christmas Gala.

"Jim Reid was respected throughout the building and business communities as a good, honest man who could wear his jeans and t-shirt with a cigar in his mouth to dig a home's foundation in the morning and then be in a suit and tie to meet with the bankers in the afternoon."

The quote above is one of my favorite parts of DD's obituary. DD was the kind of man that wrote love letters to his future wife every day, drove long hours to see nanny when they lived hours apart, started a family business bulding homes with a little bit of experience, a dream, and a lot of hard work, gave anything and everything to his family, came to every basketball game, graduation, and birthday party that any of the grandkids had, and knew that a simple life was a happy life. What an extrodinary person he was and what an extrodinary legacy he leaves with his sweet family. You can read his full obituary and see what rich life he lead, sweet pictures that serve as memories of who he was and who he has helped his children and grandchildren become, and memories that will always be in our hearts, here.

Here are a few of the pictures that I just love. You can tell how much these boys (Michael and Aaron) adored their DD even from a young age.

DD & Michael (love those little red curls :)

DD & Aaron (notice DD's got his popsicle in one hand and his cigar in another :)

The boys with nanny & DD

DD with his Reid Homes shirt that Michael & Aaron got him. This is exactly how I will remember DD... In his chair at home surrounded by famiy with a slight smile and big blue eyes peering up at us.

There are truly no words (although DD's obituary will give you insight on the kind of man he was and the type of family and business he built) that can describe him and his family. I am so blessed to be a part of his legacy through marriage to Michael. I can only hope that Michael and I can live like him, love like him, and raise a family like him.

We love you DD.

Love,
R&M

Next to me

We had the best time this weekend at our cousin's (Matthew & Sarah's) wedding! It was in Rogers, Arkansas which was just as pleasant as they said it was. Rogers is a smaller town, relatively speaking, with the cutest square, great shopping and beautiful scenery.

As I watched Matthew & Sarah say their vows I couldn't help but remember our own. Being with Michael in the chapel at our church in front of all of our friends and family, while saying our vows, was the hands down the sweetest and most intimate experience of my whole life. How wonderful is God and his gift of marriage?

We will be married 8 months this week. Life has never been sweeter. Yes, we have definitely had our share of ups and downs, believe me... there are times when I want to ring his neck for being on his phone all the time and leaving his golf stuff in our dining room and I know there are times he'd like to ring mine (although I have no clue what for... :)) but I do know this much - God gives you little glimpses of what heaven must be like when you find that one who your soul loves. Saturday night reminded me of just that. Although we were in the middle of his family celebrating Sarah and Matthew, we were also in our own little world... on the dance floor, at the bar, wherever we were at the reception. We had such a blast together! Sometimes you just need to dance and laugh and God knew exactly what we needed. I am so thankful for this gift of marriage and I thank my God for him.

On the dance floor. :)

As we were driving home and holding hands one of my favorite songs (as of late) came on. I couldn't help but smile as I looked down at his hand in mine as he was so sweetly rubbing my hand. In that moment I didn't want to move. I really just wanted to freeze in time and remember how much fun we had. It's hard to explain unless you've been there. Anyway, I want to remember it and want our future children to know how this feels, how their parents felt about each other and how love is supposed to feel... so I'm blogging it. :) The days of pen and paper are long over!

Without further ado... I'll let Emeli take it away. Click here for the music video of one of my favorite songs lately & the song that reminds me how blessed I am to have Michael next to me!

Love,
R&M

Chloe, our little spark

Well as most of you probably know by now (because I couldn't keep this news off of facebook and instagram), we have officially adopted Chloe. For those of you who may not know who Chloe is let me fill you in...

This is Chloe.

And this was her first night in our home. :)

She's a one year old doberman, one ear flops and the other stands straight up (one of many characteristics that I find adorable about her), she's a skinny petite little thing that loves more than anything to be close to you, put her big paws on your leg, arm or even face if you let her, who's cropped little tail is always wagging, sits directly on your feet and loves to gaze up at you with those big brown eyes, loves food of ANY kind (after all when you go without, you're up for anything) chew up toys (no matter how durable you may think they are), runs as fast as the wind, and has the most genuine and sweet little heart that I've ever seen in an animal (well besides my Bella girl, that is). I'm a little in love if you can't tell!

Chloe has consumed most of our lives this past month. If we weren't with her we were certainly always thinking about her. We were connected with Chloe through the dog rescue group that I volunteer with - Street Dog Foundation. They knew that we were doberman lovers (after all Bella is at least 1/2 of my heart) and called when they found her. She was dropped off at Shelby Forrest. We think she must have been living in the woods for weeks. When she was found her ribs showed, she had ticks, and worst of all (but we didn't know at the time), she was heart worm positive. How can someone dump such a sweet little girl? I mean look at this face!

I will never understand this and pray that those people are shown more mercy and grace by our God then they have given.

Michael and I just knew that we should foster Chloe from the minute we saw her. I'll never forget meeting this wild little skinny doberman and then looking down at Bella who's my calm, mature princess (who also has notably not skipped a meal.. :) and thinking WOW. How can we really go from this to that? We're so used to Bella who is for the most part poised, trained and in her little routine.

We thought and prayed about it and decided to take Chloe in and let me tell you it was an experience for the first 2 weeks. I've never realized how mentally and physically draining fostering is. It's something you just have to experience for yourself. It took some adjusting for Miss Bella too although now I don't think Bella could imagine being alone again.

After she started heart worm treatment, which was pretty rough on her for a couple of days, we found friends that were interested in taking Chloe for a 2 week trial. When the day came that they picked Chloe up I literally felt like I was giving away my own child. I was a hot mess the entire week... crying, calling Michael and my mom, etc. When it didn't work out with the family I couldn't wait to get her back. From the moment she walked back in that door (and we realized she was in heat... what an experience that was... never thought I'd go to Target to get Depends for a dog) we knew that we couldn't let her leave again. Bella was instantly happier. That week she had been moppy around the house. We also kind of felt like a little spark was missing.

In the 2 weeks since we've had her back she has learned to wait patiently for her food, share toys and even bones (which is a BIG deal around our house) with Bella, sit when commanded, walk on a leash, and give kisses. :) She took her last heart worm treatment yesterday so now she can really run and play again! Yesterday was also a big day because she was adopted into our family as Chloe Ann Jacques. (Oh yea Mike... I gave her a middle name too) :) We celebrated with a "Welcome Home Chloe" peanut butter cake from Three Dogs Bakery, a ceremony with Streetdog, a sweet poem and a bag full of goodies!

We are so happy to say she's ours. Here's some pictures from our little celebration.

Waiting on cake!

First family photo but certainly not the last. We love our girls!!!

So proud to be her mama!

First experience with cake was a success. She couldn't get enough. Don't worry, Bella got 1/2 too. :)

I hope we can give Chloe the forever home that she so deserves. We love her so much & think that she loves us too! If you are considering fostering or adopting, DO. You don't know how big of a difference you can make in a dog's life and how much it will impact yours.

Love,
R & M