Tuesday, April 11, 2006

life is good

okay, so I am now gonna do something. .. that I usually don't find attractive in others..
You know , when people go on and on about how great their life is... and they have no problems.. and they want all this "atta girl/guy" praise from people..
We all know someone like this.. and we all know that it is not real.

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strenght or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight" Jer. 9 23-24

It is in my thoughts, that one does not have to boast about the good in their life, yet, the good will be evident by the way the conduct themselves.
Plus, the fact, that if everything is always just super duper, than it would be easy to conclude that all is not super, and that overcompensating the good is to cover up the bad..
and we ALL have the bad..

I share this, because so often, I look at relationships,(marraiges) and think.. "how do they do it" .. or "they are so in love".. "how come its working for them"...
the truth is that it usually is not.. more often than not there are struggles, fights, distrust, selfishness, isolation, and unhappiness going on that the "world" can't see.

We are all very good at putting on outward appearances.. but what I really admire, is when those people who open up and say.."we have problems".
This weekend, I sat among 1400 people who were confident enough to stand up and say...
"the most diffucult years of marriage, are those following the ceremony"
My Husband of 2 years and I attended the most incredible weekend and probably the most important . We spent three days in downtown Indianapolis at A Weekend to Remember..
this is an amazing conference put on by http://www.familylife.com.
We had the most dynamic speakers.. couples, sharing what 23 and 35 years of marriage is really like.
Andrew and I really got to talk.. and we hit some big topics. We focused on timeless blue prints for marriage, about committment, and communication.. romance, and of course resolving conflict.
Having gotten my degree from Purdue in Management, I thought I knew all about these big topics.. from my classes, well except the romance part..( I learned about that one on my own!!)
Funny, how all the basic principals go out the window when you are dealing with the one you love.
In business, you are lacking one thing.. EMOTIONS!!!
What an amazing time for Andrew and I to share, and laugh and cry.. and really reconnect.
We had so many of our friends and parents praying for us during this time, and it was really evident.
From the fact that an annonymous donor(from our church) and dear friends of ours, committed to financially enabling us to attend( the conference and hotel were over $600) simply through the power of prayer..
We are so grateful to have had the opportunity this past weekend and are committing to invest in not only ours, but marriages of others.. as we start up a HOMEBUILDERS couple series.
If you are married and have not heard of this.. you need to run.. not walk to the website I already mentioned.. and discover how to make your relationship all that God intended it to be.

So why is life good??
*absolutely because, I got to attend this conference with Andrew.
*and we got to eat like kings..(really splurge) for every meal in some awesome restaurants
*we got to enjoy the beautiful spring weather on the Canal Walk..














* Seeing the beauty of nature, as my flowers are all coming up!














*God is good
*my little guy peed on the potty while staying at my moms over the weekend.
Yay for grandma, getting him to do it!!
*My dad performed Sun. at our church Traveling light which is a modernday, 38 monoluge, drama depicting parts of Christ's life.. and leading up to the reserection... very powerful.
*my brother"s recently ex-wife is pregnant..(thankfully not my brothers).. GOD is GOOD.
*I only have five days, until I can indulge in that sweet sweet substance!
*Experiencing holy week with my family
*my husband is going to a concert tonight, so I will be free to Scrap!!

Have an awesome Tuesday!!

12 comments:

Kat said...

i cannot wait for the chocolate! i'll probably make myself sick.......
have so much fun scrapping tonight!
sounds like you had an amazing weekend : )

Unknown said...

That weekend sounds amazing. I have heard of them but never been to a conference. I recently started having heart to hearts with my hubbie...not something he does naturally and we have had some great conversations. I am loving it. We start teaching sunday school together this weekend. he is so good with kids, I can't wait.

So glad that you are having a great time....this easter season is such a time of reflecting on the blessings we have and what Christ did for us...enjoy it and share it with others...thanks for sharing with us...the blessing you have.

Anonymous said...

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Mt 7:1

"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." 1Peter 2:21

Elizabeth said...

good comment Mr or Ms anonymous..
stop speaking w/o a face!!!
I agree 100% with what scripture says. though I am not sure to what relevence this comment has to my post today. You have inspired me though(pat yourself on the back).. and stay tuned to my next update.
"So do not throw away your confidence;it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised"(Heb. 10 35-36)
Please step forward and reveal yourself..I am glad you've found my blog, but stand up for your words. thanks =)

Anonymous said...

hi elizabeth! :)
i'm replying to your post on my blog asking for previous challenges. :)
so far we have done:
1. a page where nothing but the photo can touch the background paper. and there can only be one sheet of background paper.
2. create a page with at least 3 photos slanted on the page.
3.Create a page about someone who you didn't really know or weren't really close to and wouldn't normally scrapbook about that said or did something that made an impact on your life (good or bad). This challenge will be judged based not only on design but journaling also. We want pages that will make us feel your pain, sorrow, or happiness.
4. a page inspired by this (http://cherylmanz.typepad.com/weblog/2006/03/ss_challenge_nu.html#comments) ad.
5. a page with the title spinning out of control.

:) -Cheryl

RACHEL =) said...

Wow, sounds like such an AWESOME weekend, girl!! I have heard of that conference before, too!!!! Good stuff!
Gorgeous pictures, I LOVE the flowers and am so glad it's starting to show signs of Spring... FINALLY!!!! Hurray! =)

RACHEL =) said...

Oh, and WOO-HOO for him going pee-pee on the potty!!!! YAY!!!
And I wanted to say... ATTA GIRL! tee hee! So happy everything is going so well for you guys! =)

Unknown said...

What an awesome experience!! I'm so glad for you that you were able to go to it and gain so much from it.

Your flowers look great and WAY TO GO BRIGHAM!!!

Thanks for sharing and have a great Wed., it's so nice outside!

Jill H said...

nothing wrong w/enjoying big & small blessings =)
glad you had a great experience w/the marriage weekend, it sounds very cool.

Anonymous said...

I was reading your blog today, and I found myself a little embaressed for you. The scripture that you are spouting seems to be taken out of context to fit your needs. Congratulations. you are a HUGE reason that most people your age avoid religion. because of the bashing with scripture and the judgements from your pedastle. I think that you have GREAT things to share, and wonderful celebrations to convey, but you always put this "I am the Way, I am always RIGHT" tone on your intent. Are you sure you are following the Lord, or are you waiting for him to see the light and follow you? As I said before, I think you have really good thoughts, and you make me look at my life...as an example of how NOT to be.
Dont bother bashing me, as you do everyone else, I wont be back. I can not handle the two faced opinions. If you really knew jesus christ, I think he would show you how sharp your tongue can be and how harsh your insinuations are. I can deal with your negativity and after my own reflection, have delt with it by saying good-bye, but wanted to share my thoughts with you. I am not signing this, because I would not want you to turn your ugliness on me as you have SO many others in previous posts. You seem like you could be a nice girl Elizabeth, and I will be praying for your heart.
anonymous II

Unknown said...

I feel your pain on the anonymous/stalker blog comments. I deleted my blog to avoid it, but I will still check out everyone's postings!

Jenn said...

I'm going to that conference tonight. I hope it's as good for us as so many people are saying it will be. Looking forward to it.

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