twentyfour

Yesterday was my 24th birthday! {Thanks for all the wishes!}

I can't believe I am 24! I still think I am like 21- I don't even remember being 23! lol Crazy!

We got a visit from the decorating fairy, but that post will come tomorrow or later in the weekend. Intrigued aren't you... you should be! ;) lol {also will post about my 24th bday!}




With all the stuff with the boys, I have backlogged many posts. Here is one from a few weeks ago that I am finally getting on to posting.



When we get married, we are told our marriage is a symbol of Christ and the Church. {Christ= husband and Church= wife} Ok, well that is all fine and dandy, but what does that look like in real life? After being married for 3 years, I have learned many lessons, and this is one of them.

When I met Mr. Incredible, I KNEW he was THE ONE. Seriously, I did.

You see, I was waiting for my Prince Charming, and he just wasn't coming. So, I joined Yahoo Personals to see if he was waiting there for me. After a month of hearing from frogs, I realized that I joined this site to FIND him, not be found. So one day, I began searching through pages and pages of men to find him. After literally page 20, I was about to throw in the towel, and I saw Mr. Incredible. Now, on this site, you bolded 4 things that were most important to you and that is how you were matched, I guess. {HAD to be Christian, HAD to be conservative, COULD NOT drink, and HAD to want kids} Mr. Incredible fit all those things and more, and in spite our 6 year age difference and 6 hour time difference, (which was actually longer- he said he was in Dallas when he was actually in Lubbock- total God thing!), I clicked on his profile. He was pretty near perfect in all the short answer sections. Then I got to the "about me" section where you can write whatever you want. I kick myself to this day that I did not save what he wrote!!! He wrote about what he was looking for in a wife, and what God meant to him. Oh yes, he was perfect! I immediately contacted him. After a few days of trying to figure out the kinks of online dating- we "met" on April 6, 2006 around 6PM. By 5AM the next morning, (April 7 for those of you keeping track), I KNEW I would marry him.

It was that sudden. That obvious. No questions asked. When you know, you know, (When You Know by Shawn Colvin was played at our wedding for this reason). :)

Fast forward to ONE YEAR later, and we were married. People thought we were crazy. They thought I was pregnant. They thought we were stupid. They thought I just wanted to be a bride.

They were all dead wrong.

I would have married him even sooner than that. We live in a society that is so different from what God has intended it to be. We knew we were created to be together. We knew His hands were in on this. Not everyone else did.

Being husband and wife is so amazing. Everyone always says they marry their best friend, but I do not think you are truly best friends till you get into the marriage. Mr. Incredible is my best friend. We just really truly understood this in the past few months.

So what about the lesson on Christ and the Church??

Ok, a few weeks ago I was shopping with some people and I saw a shrug that I needed, yes needed. As my usual, I called Mr. Incredible to see if I could buy it. He said sure, and that was that. I later called him to say I didn't buy it and he and I would later return to the mall to buy it together, (there were other items I wanted to buy as well so I decided to wait).

I can assume what the people I was with were thinking, as well as anyone else in ear shot of my conversation.

"Oh, her husband is so controlling. Oh, this is so sad." etc etc etc

WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.

You see, I have the freedom to do whatever I want. Out of love and respect for my husband, I call him in regards to finances. A. He cares about our finances, so I do it our of respect for him. B. He balances the checkbook, so He KNOWS how much money we have and if I CAN spend anything. C. I love any excuse to call him during the day, (which is what, at least 5 times lol).

That is when it hit me. This is EXACTLY like our relationship with God. Many people say that Christians serve a "controlling" God and that we are slaves to Him. It is just like with Mr. Incredible- we have the freedom to do whatever we want, but we have love and respect for God that we consult Him first, (through prayer or the Bible). He knows what is best and He can see things that we cannot, (our checkbook).

This was probably the biggest lesson on submitting to our husbands as to Christ that I have ever seen. I hope to you believers out there that this is a tangible example, and to the unbelievers out there, that this shows you that we are not slaves to our husbands or God.

Everyone assumes that Mr. Incredible is controlling. I submit to him out of love, but he never once has MADE me do anything- just like God. He created us with a free will, and even when He knows it is not a good choice, He still allows us to make it. No controlling there.

Here are a few areas Mr. Incredible has been accused of controlling me which I will elaborate on:

1. Being a Housewife
2. Not wearing makeup
3. Adoption


1. I went to college and got my degree with the intent on STAYING AT HOME! I got the degree as an "in case of emergency." How many of you out there would really prefer working over staying at home. Seriously think about it, and you will find that staying at home is such a blessing and you would want it too. As I have joked about before, Mr. Incredible is cheap. Don't you think he would prefer that I worked?? If he WAS controlling me- he would MAKE ME WORK, not make me stay home. Come on, an extra 40K a year doesn't sound good?? No, he graciously allowed me to stay home because I WANTED to. We felt it was what God wanted us to do, and it has turned into a huge blessing. I will leave it at that today, but if you would like me to elaborate on it, just let me know and I will. :)

2. I had the worst self esteem for most of my life. I always thought I was so fat and I never left the house without makeup. When I got married, I would be without makeup at times and Mr. Incredible didn't mind. Do you know how freeing that is?? I started going without it more, and now I only wear makeup on special occasions or if I am in the mood to dress up. I have asked him numerous times which he prefers, and you know what? He prefers me sans makeup!! He agrees that it is nice on special occasions, but likes me better natural! Gee, he loves me for me, and it saves me the work of having to put on my face everyday. Yeah, he is REAL controlling. Pshhh.

3. Even from our first meeting, we discussed adoption. It was always part of our family plan. 2 years ago, I felt God was calling us to only adopt and forgo birth children. Now, that is a big decision, and one that both people had to agree on. I went to him and do you know what his response was? "If that is what you feel God is calling us to do then lets go for it!" No arguing. No "I'm the man- I'll make this decision, not you," No, I came to him and he agreed to follow God after MY PROMPTING. Many times in those first few months he would ask me if that is what I truly wanted. He constantly wanted to make sure I was happy in MY decision. If he had been controlling, he would not have cared or asked so much.


It is such a blessing to me to see my marriage reflect Christ and the Church. It seems like such a daunting thing to achieve, but really we didn't have to work at it. With Christ at the head of our marriage, it fell right into place!

This lesson has made me love Mr. Incredible more, and it has made me love God more. It has shown me what it means to SUBMIT myself FREELY to both my husband and God.


Here is a little walk down memory lane for your viewing pleasure:
November 2006- thought we were best friends- really had no idea what that meant till now!! :)
April 7th 2007 ***
***
June 2007 ***
November 2008
March 2009 ***
2nd anniversary, April 7, 2009
March 2010, my book signing. I have this pic cropped and framed- I love it cause to me we look like we are married- does that make sense?? lol Like to me we don't just look like a couple of kids dating, we look like two married adults. I am silly, I know.
Our 3rd Anniversary, April 7 2010 in Boston
Both Boston pics taken by Jaymes Levitt Photography


*** indicates pictures taken by Steven Leonard Photography