Loving My Husband, Loving God

Last week Ismael and I celebrated our third anniversary. He is a wonderful husband and he lets me publish goofy pictures of him. (I doctored-up this photo on pixlr.com/express/). He inspired me to write this a couple years ago:

I Love You More Than Cranberries

My husband likes to ask “Why do you love me?”  several times a day.  I come up with all kinds of fun answers, such as “because you drink coffee with me” or “because you don’t snore.”

Tonight at dinner he asked “how much do you love me?” As I was dipping a piece of chicken in my homemade cranberry sauce and savoring the flavor, I answered “I love you almost as much as I love cranberries.” 

I really do love cranberries, and being that fresh cranberries are only available seasonally, it makes them all the more special.  I really do love my husband, and he is available all four seasons, which makes him not as special as cranberries.  Just kidding!

If God were to say to me “Jamie, how much do you love me?”  Would I answer the same way I answered my husband?  “I love you almost as much as I love surfing the internet? Or shopping? Or reading novels?”  When I think of the things I put before spending time with God, the list could be endless. 

“Jamie, how much do you love me?”  I love you Lord more than all things, and I will show that to you by my actions and how I live out my life.

And to my husband, yes, I love you more than cranberries!

So he answered and said “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’, and, ‘ your neighbor as yourself.’”
And (Jesus) said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”  Luke 10:27-28

My Heart's Desire

I am thinking a lot lately. Thinking of what are my true heart's desires. The Bible tells me that if I delight myself in the Lord, he will give me the desires of my heart. But, what really are these desires?


1. To love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind.
2. To love myself.
3. To love others as Jesus loves others.

4. To raise my children to love the Lord and live Godly lives.
5. That my children will be happy and successful and content.
6. That my daily life would be one of service to others.
7. That my marriage remain strong and rooted in Christ.


Ok, those are my true heart's desires concerning my faith and my family. But what about beyond that, what do I want for myself as I live this life here on earth?  I ponder what God's will is for me beyond the above.

So I continue my list....
8. I want to be financially stable, yet I want to rely wholly on God for my provisions. 

I'll stop here. It is hard not to dream of success and making money and buying the things I want. But then would I really be depending on God?
Where do I draw that line? 

God has given me talents, like sewing, and (hopefully) writing. I write on this blog, not knowing where it is going, but hoping it will go somewhere. I am always dreaming up things to sew and sell (however, selling is not one of my talents).

I believe God gave me these talents and the desire to use them. I just want to make sure my desire for success and recognition doesn't take over. 

 

That said, I have started making scarves. It's been fun and they seem to be all the rage right now.  I would like to sell them, but not sure yet how I'll start.
For now I will keep my hands busy at work and pray God will lead me in the right direction.