Every Secret Prayer..Every Fancy Free..they were YOU!

Have I told you how much I love my husband? How everyday is a jolly holiday with Commodore? How he so beautifully shines Christ on me which turns me radiant with joy?

I longed for a husband for a long time, and went looking in all the wrong places. This longing was my deepest fear and my deepest hope. And contrary to me trying to force my way with several jerks, the Fulfillment of all hope just wouldn't let it happen.

Jesus knew my heart even when I didn't, and angels worked overtime to guard my soul and body!

My hubby and I went through lots of yucky before God gave us to each other. So now we make a great big deal out of even the littlest wonderful thing!!! Bursts of deep belly laughter light our days!!! Love fireworks are a regular occurrence in our bedroom!!!

The sacred, the sexy, and the silly are the recipe for our happiness!

Here is how my husband feels about me. He tagged this with the picture for me on Facebook. Yes, he shouts our love from the rooftops!

"Have you met my wife? My Bonnie?"

"Mend The Bond, Torn By Pride"

The wise woman builds her home; precious and pleasant feelings, ideas, words, things, bodies and souls saturate that atmosphere.

The foolish woman plucks her house down with her very own fingers.

Doesn't this sound like a Grimm's fairy tale? The very anatomy of good versus evil. "Pluck", gosh it makes me for some reason think of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Nagging whining, incessant roughness, bent on tearing down..but tiny piece by tiny piece, deceptively, secretly..so no one knows before it's too late and the foundation is already destroyed.

In every family there are times of strain. So many times the answer I hear comes from the Disney/Pixar movie Brave: "Mend the bond torn by pride."

Sometimes I react and think it's someone else's pride, anger, annoyance, self centeredness, or self righteousness.

But every argument has two sides. No one is ever perfectly right except God Himself. And if just one person takes that step to mend the bond, peace is very likely to take over.

The Surgeon, the Prince of Peace, the Life Saver, the One who ultimately heals all can take back His reigning spot and pour Light over everyone, making love cover a multitude of yuckiness.

Doctors and nurses must declare that they will "first, do no harm." As kids of the ultimate Physician, we are bound to this oath as well.

We will mess up because like a doctor, we are still just practicing this thing called "a Christ follower"; our perfection will only be fully realized in the next life.

But we press on while Christ Himself lives inside us and transforms us into His beauty. We seek to heal, to do no harm, to sew up the tear that was lanced by pride.

Picture Credit: 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A0MF1m8CUAA496U.jpg

Channeling Lady Wisdom

I hear people say, "I channel this person or these people." I think I found who I want to channel. She speaks by way of proverbs. She is gentle and strong and completely honest. She is a companion to God and His greatest fan.

Lady Wisdom is her name. She has a beautiful home with savory foods on the table and fresh flowers as the centerpiece. Her home is a haven of life. She welcomes God's creation there with comfort and joy and mercy that triumphs over judgment.

Her very being is a luscious tree of life. She anchors herself in the authority God gave her and blooms profusely from this place. She creates beauty from chaos, helps root others in truth, and relieves thirst through fountains of living water.

She applauds those she loves! He crowns her loves with compassion and loyalty! And she stays by their sides, constantly!

She cherishes her home; she lives wrapped up in her husband; she creatively mothers the children God gives her. Her home is not immaculate because she's a messy cook, and there is tons of laundry, and sometimes her husband wants her just to stay next to him in bed while he naps cause he likes touching her (oh, but she's resourceful, cause sometimes she does yoga in bed while he naps and holds on to her ;)).

But none of these perfect "magazine ready" home things are important because from each room emmanates the richness of Spirit Fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, oh and sometimes peppermint essential oil, cause, let's be honest, her kids are a gaggle of cats and they can be a little stinky bunch at times ;).

Disclaimer: Some of this details the actual Lady Wisdom from the Bible's book of Proverbs, and some morphs into my crazy life as I look to Ms. Wisdom for inspiration.

Life with her has so many variations! And they all are abundantly satisfying, not always easy, but always as good as aged wine!

PROVERBS USED:

You’re blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom, when you make friends with Madame Insight. She’s worth far more than money in the bank; her friendship is better than a big salary. Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her. With one hand she gives long life, with the other she confers recognition. Her manner is beautiful, her life wonderfully complete. She’s the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her. Hold her tight—and be blessed! With Lady Wisdom, God formed Earth; with Madame Insight, he raised Heaven. They knew when to signal rivers and springs to the surface, and dew to descend from the night skies.

Proverbs 3:13‭-‬20 MSG

“God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic— before he did anything else. I was brought into being a long time ago, well before Earth got its start. I arrived on the scene before Ocean, yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes. Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape, I was already there, newborn; Long before God stretched out Earth’s Horizons, and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather, And set Sky firmly in place, I was there. When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean, built the vast vault of Heaven, and installed the fountains that fed Ocean, When he drew a boundary for Sea, posted a sign that said no trespassing , And then staked out Earth’s Foundations, I was right there with him, making sure everything fit. Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause, always enjoying his company, Delighted with the world of things and creatures, happily celebrating the human family.
Proverbs 8:22‭-‬31 MSG


Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home; it’s supported by seven hewn timbers. The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted, wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers. Having dismissed her serving maids, Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place, and invites everyone within sound of her voice: “Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on? Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me! I’ve prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread, roast lamb, carefully selected wines. Leave your impoverished confusion and live ! Walk up the street to a life with meaning.”
Proverbs 9:1‭-‬6 MSG

Picture credits:

http://pin.it/Dgbd3bs

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http://pin.it/8uCeFlz

Deadpool Redeemed

So here I am. A Jesus freak. And a huge advocate of the love story in the movie Deadpool. Yes, seriously. I think this is what "one flesh" passion looks like.

I love my husband so incredibly much, and I am crazy about our alone time together! I believe that "in love" sex is the glimpse God gave us to the Eden bliss we lost.

I will shout from the rooftops, as I grab my husband and kiss him in the middle of church or Walmart or anywhere, that husbands and wives who claim Jesus can be gropey, doe-eyed, teenager-y lovers.

Not only can be, but should be the superheroes in this labyrinth of wild romance!

Be that wife who takes her husband's breath away, who he can't stop thinking about day and night! Be the wife who is so wrapped up in the dang cuteness of her husband that she can't wait til they close the bedroom door for the night!

Find that blessed blend of couple craziness; the kind that celebrates life-giving vibrancy, creative playfulness, and all out glory!

Pictures found:
http://pin.it/Ge_lIA0
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An Easy Breezy Standing Stretch Sequence

So here's a little stretch sequence I did outside this week in between keeping an eye on my five kitty kids during supervised outside time. 

Put on music you enjoy. My husband introduced me to this song from Mo' Horizons this week. I love it! I gives me a sense of peace and sultriness ~ a great combo ;)

Neck rolls: My husband has a condition called lymphedema. This is when the lymph nodes don't pump fluids optimally, ie. the nutrients to the correct places or the toxins out. I have specifically studied this in my stretch training. I found out that, unlike the heart which unconsciously pumps blood, lymph fluid pumping is dependent on the use of our muscles and our breath. And, although lymph nodes are all over our insides, one third are in the neck. So neck rolls and stretches have become very important to us.

These standing side stretches flow into a forward fold (where it is perfectly okay to keep knees bent some and definitely not locked), then into a gentle standing back bend. I repeat these a few times and hold myself in poses, as long as it feels like a gentle tug. Stance is simple: feet hip distance apart, tail bone tucked, shoulders down and back.

Next, I practice plank (hands under shoulders, like in the up of a push up). Then to flow into downward facing dog, I lift my hips so my butt in pointing to the sky. I hold these poses or flow in and out of them. Sometimes in plank I will try and bend my elbows into a slight "down" of a push up (but right now I'm not strong enough to stay in the correct plank stance while lowering down. Will keep practicing). In downward dog, I sometimes pedal my feet or dance my feet side to side. And I repeat this plank-down dog flow a few times.

 

I love this sequence of grande plie in 2nd position (2nd position is where the legs are in a wide stance. I only do grande plies in this position, keeping knees in line with the ankles (make sure your knees do not reach over your toes as this is hard on the knees). Then I turn my feet forward and do a standing wide legged forward fold, walking my hands to each foot then back to center. I repeat this sequence several times.

Lastly, as I do in all my stretching, I end with a twist. Twists provide a balancing effect on the body after it has gone through a variety of stretches in different body parts. Twists are also excellent for digestion. Keeping the stance of feet hip distance apart, tail bone tucked, shoulders down and back, I twist from my waist looking behind as I twist side to side.

I try to not be in a hurry when doing these. I also take all the time I need to get good breaths during the stretches and in between stretches.

Pics found here:

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