Revive Your Marriage! (no matter what state it's in)

I don't know about you, but I've the tendency to get all excited about new bible studies or devotionals and then fizzle off after the first week. It's easy to brush things aside and prioritize what seems more important. But time with my God is the MOST important thing I can do every day, throughout my days. I want/need to be more like Mary who sat at Jesus' feet listing to His teachings. My tendency is to be more like Martha and look at my daily to-do list and make that my focus. My goal in life these days (and it has been for the past couple years if you've known me long) is to find the happy medium of the two!

So this study is my new path to that this month. It's only a month long so I really don't have any excuse to put it off. AND there's only ONE new challenge/focus a week so I can meditate and study the scriptures deeper on that topic every week! Join me won't you! You don't have to have  a marriage that is falling apart to want to "revive" it! I think my marriage is doing pretty good right now (we all have our ups and downs), but I want to always be bettering myself and my walk with the Lord to be the best wife I can be for my husband today and daughter to my King. Life is a continuing journey to sanctification!

Here’s the topic schedule for those who want to link up each week:
September 3rd – Revive Your Prayers
September 9th – Revive Your Attitude
September 16th – Revive Your  Friendship
September 23rd - Revive Your Praise
September 30th - Revive Your Sex Life

Courtney From WomenLivingWell.org, Darlene from TimeWarpWife.com, Sheila from ToLoveHonorandVacuum.com and Jennifer from UnveiledWife.com are all writing on the same topic each week on Mondays! Check out each of their blogs for wonderful encouragement!!!

Our first Kansas date night!

We got to have our first date night our second week here! Dad got to have the evening with Karis while we got to go out! We drove to Lindsborg, but as is common is this area, most of the town shuts down at 5pm! There was ONE place open for dinner...a Mexican place. We decided to walk around the town anyways, and even in the heat (100) it was nice to walk around just the two of us! We then drove around the town! It's a really cute little Swedish town, and there's another small Christian college (Bethany College) there too! Afterwards, we drove out of town up to Coronado Heights, where we got to see an amazing view of the area!!!

They have sno here too!!!

My handsome husband!

Driving up to Coronado Heights!

The "castle"!!!

There were these decorated horses all over town!

the photographer!

Out just US!!!

Exploring Lindsborg

Picking up our girl after she had a fun time at her Papa's!!!!

Snap Shots of our life

So it's been a while since I posted. :) Life has been filled with emotional ups and downs from all this change and setting down new roots. God has been continually faithful!

Here are some more snap shots of our past few weeks!!!

 

Karis opening a sunshine gift! Cheyenne's dad Dean put together a big box of mysterious presents that on hard, sad or homesick days we get to pick a gift and hopefully it'll bring a ray of sunshine into our day! We've opened, snacks, caramel, paper napkins, silly toys for K, Central Christian College shirts for Chy, and pull-ups!!! Dad definitely succeeded in sharing sunshine!!

Helping Dad rearrange furniture!

We put our canvas photo prints up!!

Opening another sunshine gift! Pull ups!! One can never be too over prepared!! Thank you Papa Dean!!!

Karis now has decided she likes watching TV! Yo Gabba Gabba!

When one is homesick...we tune into Compass Bible Church online for their Sunday service!!!!!!

Putting our touches on this house as we make it our home!

At 7:25 in the evening....it's still 100!!!!!

My laundry helper!!! She loves to play with her clothes!!!

Waiting for the train to pass in front of our house!!!

We had our fist date night!!! We explored!

folding laundry!

Enjoying water from a big girl cup!!

Another sunshine gift! This time a basil greenhouse!

One of our new favorite shops! Glen's! All kinds of great natural foods, fruits and snacks! Cheyenne found the candy isle!

Watching CBC's Sunday service!!

The weather forecast

This painting hung in our dining room in CA! It was a wedding gift from Cheyenne to me! My favorite. It's now officially our home now that's it's hung in our new dining room!!!

There's no place like Home

"There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"

I'm sitting in my nice big kitchen waiting for my first Kansas Pie to finish baking so that I can go to bed! I'm getting back to my roots of late night baking and loving it!! I'm also joined by a million and one tiny bugs flying around that managed to escape INTO my nice safe home through the space in the doggie door seal. I hate bugs. I think I might throw my elbow or shoulder out trying to swat them all away. Did I mention that I STRONGLY dislike bugs??!! 

We are coming up on nearly 2 weeks here. TWO weeks here, wow that's absolutely nuts, crazy and who-would-have-thought, definitely different to hear myself say. 

I'd say we jumped right in, making this house our home. More and more boxes are disappearing every day, as shelves and cupboards are being filled. We still have a couple rooms that are basically empty, still waiting for a strike of genius to magically decorate them!! :) Fairy godmother where are you? 

I know that none of the promised pictures are being shared and posted, but I've good reason! My computer hard drive is full and I can't download my phone picture or camera in order to and I've too many to upload directly from phone to blog! So that's my project for this week! Amongst other productive activities!

Today is the first day I'm starting to feel like myself. I came down with some sort of virus when we arrived (Karis too sadly), and between feeling like I'd been run over by the train (it literally runs along our driveway), and throat so sore I couldn't swallow easily, not to mention the awesome spots that showed up all over me that made me look like a walking poster for either measles or chicken pox (don't worry folks they weren't anything serious!), I was NOT feeling like Alison. Last night I finally could swallow for the first time in 10 days that didn't feel like I was trying to swallow a softball, and today I had enough energy to enjoy Karis finally walking around (yippee!!!!) and baked a pie!

Well, pie is out! My arms hurt from swatting away bugs, and I should get to sleep!!!  

Goodnight world!

Finding a new "normal"

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)  

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."

I've decided that there is no such thing as "normal"!!! :) I had decided this years ago, but every time major change happens in my life it solidifies it even more.

I had plans...big plans! When I was 14 I knew I was called to serve children, so I started making "plans". I planned that I wanted to work in an orphanage, preferably in Asia, and to never go back to the States except for necessary college education, but then again online was becoming more common! :) I planned to marry someone other than American (because at that point most American guys I knew didn't get what I was about - what 14-16 yr old does?!). I planned to live overseas for as long as I could. I planned to get married young. I planned to have at least 2 kids by the time I was 25. I planned to adopt 4 more by the time I turned 30. I planned and planned and planned.

So...how's all that planning turn out??!! :)

So most of my plans haven't come to fruition, but you know what? The Lord's purpose has changed them. I've talked lots with my friends about how in my life my expectations have always been needing to change to align with what God has purposed. Sure I can plan the best life I'd like, what my hopes and dreams are, what I feel God calling me to do. But if they are NOT God's PURPOSE, they will not stand. In spite of my planning and dreaming, God still had full authority over my life! I held my plans loosely and allowed HIM to ultimately guide my steps.  And as you can see, I do not work in an orphanage (currently), I DID marry an American (an American MK), I do not live overseas (currently), I did however get married young (I was 20), I did not have 2 kids by the time I was 20 nor adopt all 4 by 30 (I've still got another year for the 3!!! - do I hear a set of siblings through fostering possibly??!!). But what the Lord purposed was SOOOOO much better than I could have even imagined! I'm incredibly blessed! If I'd gotten my selfish way, I'd most likely have missed out on all this wonderfulness! Now my life isn't glamorful or one to be the envy of others, but it's the purpose God has ordained for me and my life. And I'm thankful. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

So in good times and in hard; I give thanks. I live in obedience! And as I do, I find JOY!!!

I count my blessings each day and thank my Lord for my wonderful life!!! And I find a new "normal"!!!

A few pictures!!!

Moving in

So tonight is our second day here in our new house! It's been a process! But so good! :)
We are up to our ears setting up and unpacking so I'll have to fill y'all in on our drive out later this week!

Thank you for all your prayers, love and excitement for us!