Marriage conference 9/24/11 FBC Pearland

The conference started Friday at 6:45 pm and ended Saturday at 1:15 at FBC.  Mandy and Swaim went with Vince and me.  Saturday morning we went to Kelly's for breakfast.  It was great.

The DVD was on Love and Respect.  It was very eye opening.  It is based on scripture.  The speaker did a great job with personal stories, verses, and God's plan for His children.  Men are made differently than women in so many ways. Men need to feel respected, especially by their wives.  They are willing to lay down their lives, if need be, to protect their family.  Women need to feel loved by their husbands.  When men feel respected they are more loving and willing to serve more.  When women feel loved they are more willing to be respectful to their husbands.

Men need to provide for their families, protect them and need to be the head of their homes.  When they feel disrespected they close down like a turtle, and shut down.  Men need to have shoulder to shoulder companionship, without much conversation.

Women need face to face conversation.  They need conversation, connection and affection.  Sometimes they need to clarify when they just want to be listened to or if they want their husbands to fix something.  Try not to point out problems, like dirty dishes, floor, etc.  Don't grumble.  We are responsible for our own actions and it does not depend on what anyone else did or did not.  Our goal is to be Christ-like.  Do everything as unto the Lord.  It does not matter what was done that is hurtful.  We can choose to be quiet and pray or we can choose start a fight.

Women need to take care of their appearance, first because we are His temple, second because our husbands are visually oriented.   I definitely need to work on this area and ask God and my husband for forgiveness.

I Love to use this prayer I learned in BSF.  Lord if I have done something wrong, please show me: if he has done something wrong, please show him.  

We need to start or day with prayer: praising God for all His blessings, provisions, health, children, His love and forgiveness for us, etc.  Then ask the Lord to wash us and forgive us for all our sins.  Pray a watch keep over our mouths and put on the Armor of God.  When I make a decision to put God first, my days go so much better.  When I feel down I put on praise music, which always makes me feel better.  God promises to inhabit the praises of His children.

Serenity

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the Courage to change the things I can,
and the Wisdom to know the difference.

That's a tough prayer. Wisdom is scarce and Courage often lacking.

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Often misunderstood, God promises to give us the desires of our heart. There are two shades of meaning to that, though. I once wanted to be a cowboy - that was the desire of my heart. I was then a child, but am now a man, and when I asked God into my heart He gave me the desires of my heart. I'll probably never be a cowboy (and part of me is sad for that, maybe) but the chief desire of my heart is to do the will of my Lord and God and not cause Him any more pain. That's the desire He gave me, and the desire He will grant, as long as I delight in Him.

Hi Lord

Hi Lord, its me. We are getting older and things are getting bad here. Gas prices are too high, no jobs, food and heating costs too high. I know some have taken you out of our schools, government and even Christmas, but Lord I'm asking you to come back And re-bless America . We really need you! There are more of us who want you than those who don't! Thank You Lord, I Love you.

First Post

Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Shallow men believe in luck...strong men believe in cause and effect."

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. What are you doing now? What results do you want? Make a plan from that. Work backwards and figure out what you need to do to get the results you want. God answers prayer, but He also imbued in each person strength and skill and will and spirit to accomplish things FOR God's people.