Marriage is for Keeps

I thought this was a great message from church yesterday, so I just have to share it. From my notes:

MARRIAGE IS FOR KEEPS
Psalm 127:1 "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain."

Three things we can learn from relationships:
1. How to relate (Ephesians 4:32)
2. Character (Luke 2:52)
3. Values (Deut. 6:6-7)

Five things that make marriage tough:
1. Men and Women are Different
2. A worldly concept of marriage
3. Selfishness (James 4:1-2)
4. A lack of relational skills
5. Misplaced affections (Genesis 2:15)

Six secrets to a lasting marriage:
1. Communication (Proverbs 12:18)--Did you know that the average American couple spends 47 hours watching TV per week, and only 30 minutes conversing??
2. Consideration (Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 3:7)
3. Compromise (1 Corinthians 13:5)
4. Courtship--If there was more courting in marriage, there would be fewer marriages in court!
5. Committment (Malachi 2:16)
6. Christ (Philippians 2:2-5)

We were attacked...

by the Devil on Sunday morning. It seems like he was trying really hard to get us to stay home and not go to church. I was really tired, if the kids weren't fighting they were bickering with eachother, I went through about 5 wardrobe changes, and to top it off, I felt like we were running late. Luckily for me, I got dressed after Simon did a bug spit-up. But alas, the Devil didn't win, as he never does. We made it to church, with time to spare, and got to praise God and listen to an awesome message.

It's Wednesday, right?

I think I have the right day. Pretty sure we got paid today, if not, we're in for a shock when that check hits the bank account! Really confusing with the boys being out of school for spring break and Josh being at school. I'm amazed that the boys are even getting a spring break. Their school has the craziest school days this year. They were supposed to go to school on Labor Day, but thanks to a hurricane, the govenor cancelled school for Monday AND Tuesday-Ha! Take that!! But the biggest kicker is that the school district scheduled Memorial Day as a regular school day-and then even went further and scheduled the Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony for that day. I am beyond livid about this one. I'm also really glad that Caleb doesn't have to attend the ceremony to promote to 1st grade, because he and Elijah are getting an extra day off this year. :)

Besides that, we've had a great day today! We got our errands done with no fighting or anyone running off inside the store or the parking lots. A close friend brought us enough dinner for three nights-and it's really, really yummy. Then we went for a walk, Pete stepped in dog poop for the first time, and everyone went to bed with no problems!! Thank you Lord!

Week 2 Day 1-Appt

Monday-Never again, hopefully, will I take 2 Excedrin Migraine pills in the late afternoon, followed by a cup of coffee. I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night! That made getting up and going to Simon's two-month appt really fun. But we made it there none the less. The dr gave him some new meds for the acid reflux to see if they work out better than the other stuff.

After the appt, we left the base to rent some movies. The bridge was still closed on the way there, but on the way back it was open. Finally! I know it was only for a few days, but it caused quite a headache. I counted at least 11 uprooted oak trees along our base golf course. I've never see this much damage from a tornado in person before. I find it amazing what God can do with the elements.

Day 6-Returning Movies & Pizza

Friday-Still no power at 5:00 a.m. and it's nice and humid here. We left the house around 11:00 and drove around looking at the damage to the base, then went to return the movies. Bad idea!! The main gate was closed, the next closest gate was only allowing incoming traffic, so we had to go the gate farthest from our destination. On top of that, the bridge was closed, so I think it was the longest drive ever, just to return some movies and grab lunch, that we ate in the van. Total time was 2 hours!

At least by the time we got home the power was back on!! But it wasn't to last, at least our for our oven. Wen't to preheat the oven for our weekly pizza, and the oven only got up to 185 degrees after 10 minutes. And then Simon did a super-duper projectile puke. Yea. That sucked.

Did I mention that our church, Church at Red River, is awesome? I actually asked for help, and they brought us some pizza! Thanks so much!

Day 5-Safety Gate & Tornado

Thursday-Okay, our baby gate that's in between the dining room and the kitchen was already a bit broken, but still usable, until today. Peter got upset about something, opened the gate and proceeded to slam it, for the last time. One of the bars fell off, and then the rest of it got taken to the trash can.

We went to Baby Depot to get a new gate and then during naptime, I went to put it together before the older boys got home from school. Out comes the gate from the box, but the hardware to attach the gate to the wall and the pieces to hold the gate together weren't there. Lucky me, I get to return the gate and get a new one with all five kids this afternoon.

We retuned the gate and got a new one with no problems : ) But then I forgot to bring the movies that I wanted to return to Blockbuster.

Later that night, a tornado hit the base, causing the power to go out around 10:30 p.m. Just keeps getting better, doesn't it??

Day 4-Prescriptions & Patio

Wednesday-Call the dr's to get me new meds so that I can feed my son, and to get Simon in to be seen for his horrible spit-ups. Dr's are booked for the day so we have to wait for the nurses to call back in order to get referrals to be seen off base. Simon gets seen, has acid reflux, and gets a prescription.

Then we try to get the script filled on the base, guessing that they might not have it, which they don't. So we eat lunch, and make it to CVS an hour later. Was told that it would only be a "few minutes", but after an hour in the small store and Peter running off in the store, we storm out without the script. Now I have to come back later with all 5 kiddos.

Mr dr's finally gets ahold of me, and I have to go get a new script at the base pharmacy. After school, we make our rounds to the base pharmacy, and then to CVS, only to realize that Simon's script coust double what we expected!

Only after I'm back home and on the phone venting to my hubby, do I realize that the company that is hired to mow our lawn has broke our patio by driving up onto it, and they made it all uneven and wobbly! GRRRRR!