Audacious Courage for Life

If you are consistently pushing your partner to do more and more and they never get to rest— stop.

If you are pushing your partner to do things they said they do not feel comfortable with— stop.

If you are constantly comparing what you do against what the other person does, as in a tit for tat—- stop.

If you are getting negative feedback from your partner on a regular basis- stop ignoring the feedback and listen.

If you are not allowing for your partner to stretch or grow—- stop. Let them grow and enjoy what they are interested in.

If you make plans without your partners input— stop.

If you dictate and demand to your partner— stop.

If you leave no choice making for your partner— stop.

If you believe that your money is only your own and is controlled and only financial decisions are made by you— stop.

If you believe you matter more than your partner— stop.

If you believe your work compared to your partners is valued more and believe yourself to be “the harder worker”- stop.

A relationship is a SHARED life between two individuals. A marriage is covenant SHARED. Love is to be a SHARED emotion.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

May we treat each other with respect and kindness. Knowing that these actions will yield good fruit in good time. Understanding that the negative actions cause rifts and are hard to repair. Be gentle, be gracious and trust God. 💙🙏

I was thinking about what extraordinary means the other day while working my second job. It means very unusual or remarkable.

I pondered the facts that I had never done anything extraordinary. I thought about what could I do that would be considered extraordinary. Then, I have this thought:

What if our ordinary is extraordinary? What if me working two jobs, cleaning my home, checking on my children, taking care of our dog… What if that actually IS extraordinary??

Sometimes we need to step back and reassess how we feel and think about ourselves. God said I am fully complete and perfect in Him. I’m already extraordinary! The world deems your hard work, skills, life living to be nothing but bland. Social media feeds you lies that you need to be constantly doing more than someone else to be worth more. It isn’t true…

You woke up today… maybe you made the bed… maybe started laundry… maybe not. Maybe all you were able to do was just wake for the day. Then, my dearest friend… that is extraordinary. Everyone will have a different perspective on extraordinary… no one person will always agree.

Let the truth be told— feeding the poor, helping the homeless… these are commendable and can be extraordinary actions. But, You — you just being You is incredibly extraordinary.

Don’t downplay or dismiss your worth. You were worth dying for… A Savior gave his physical life to raise each of us from the “dead”. His sacrifice was extraordinary and you too, are extraordinarily extraordinary. 💙🙏💙