5 minutes on the word of the week: passion

The Marvelous Molly gave me two word options well over a month ago: passion or regret.  I didn't know what I would write about either (which is kind of the point of this little writing exercise....don't think, just write.  Or as Andy Dwyer says "don't think.  just stupid.")  So then I just didn't write. #regret  But this morning I have the time and space to write...so I'm gonna go with.....

Passion

Justine snapped this picture Tuesday night:

It may not look like a picture full of passion...it's a whole lot more parking lot than passion....but it's actually got passion written all over it.  This is us...heading out for a date.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing earth shattering or remarkable - except that it is remarkable.  I love the man I'm married to.  And, while I'm not sure that should actually be categorized as remarkable, I think it IS remarkable.  

We love our marriage...and date night has been a constant part of our marriage - even before we had kids.  We need date night.  I'd even go so far as to say we are passionate about date night.  The time to connect - and reconnect - with one another is essential in our friendship and in our passion.

Need more passion in your marriage?  Go on a date.

So much more could (and should!) be said on this subject...but my 5 minutes is long gone.

truth encounter

before i wrote it down, He told me to share it -- seemingly, before He would share it with me i had to agree to share it here...

raise your glass, a toast to obedience!

i've had the phrase "truth encounter" in my head the past little bit....as in "you're about to have a Truth encounter."  those aren't really words that i use - so i thought it might be wise to pay attention. 

as i sat down at our table today in the quiet of our sweet little cabin (i LOVE emma's nap time), i opened my journal and His word...i got ready to read...but He had something else in mind.

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He said, "Will you share it?"

Her response: "What do you want me to share?"

Lovingly, gently He said, "What I'm about to share with you, will you share it?"

With much hesitation and a little bit of sighing she said, "ummm...maybe...if it's not too hard or too personal or too blah blah blah." (does she not trust Him to hold her heart carefully and not ask her to something that is not good and right and best? oh that her response could be a quick & wholehearted "YES!  Whatever You ask, I'll do!")

Once again He patiently asked, "Will you share it?  You're about to encounter truth - will you share it?"

"ummm...........ok (deep breath in)......ok." she quietly replied as she picked up her pen and began to write...

"You are not here for you - you are not here for your children or your husband.  You are here for ME.  Are you going to live like that? Are you going to serve ME wholeheartedly?  Yes, in serving Me you will serve them - but DO NOT forget that it is Me you are serving.  That changes everything, doesn't it?"

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it may not seem like much to you but there's alot there for me to process.  thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

my husband is awesome. i like sleep.

I’m not quite sure how to brag on my husband without sounding boastful….but my heart is not boastful, just proud (proud in the best sense of the word…not in a “prideful” way! Is that possible?!? Ha). I’m so very thankful for my husband and his friendship…and honored that I get to be nick cash’s wife…and humbled because it’s not because of me that he’s so awesome – it’s because of Him (capital “H” intentional)…and it’s because of the way he (little “h”) seeks Him (big “H”). nick loves God…and I am the number one person who benefits from how he longs to honor God. nick seeks to love me as Christ loves the church….and he does a tremendous job of that. I have the amazing privilege of knowing and experiencing God’s love through my husband. What a gift. An undeserved gift of grace and kindness. My heart is a bit overwhelmed (in the best of ways) just thinking about it.

I didn’t start this blog entry intending to say all that. I intended to say something along the lines of “I am so very blessed to have a husband who remembers our anniversaries.” (plural of anniversary intentional) The typical man -or at least those portrayed on ye olde television and in the theaters - has a hard time remembering his wedding date (and maybe it’s that he has a hard time “remembering” his wife at all…but that may be another post for another day – or another blog altogether….). My dear fella not only faithfully, consistently and wonderfully celebrates our wedding anniversary….he also remembers and celebrates the anniversary of our first kiss…and our first date…and our engagement . He’s good at celebrating us.

This year celebrating the anniversary of our first kiss was especially sweet and memorable. I woke up in the middle of the night – or at least I thought it was the middle of the night…and I got up to go to the bathroom…and I met nick coming back to bed (or at least I thought he was coming back to bed)…and he took me and hugged me and I noticed that he had super fresh breath (not a normal occurrence in the middle of the night for any normal human being)…and then he kissed me – me and my not so fresh breath and all (that was brave of him)…and said something sweet about celebrating the anniversary of our first kiss (keep in mind, my mind wasn’t fully functioning….i was trying to stay in the “it’s the middle of the night, I’m going to the bathroom and going back to sleep without fully waking up” state of being). Somewhere in that moment I realized that not only was his breath fresh, his whole body was clean…and I thought “why did he take a shower in the middle of the night?” And as I’m thinking about how good he smells and how wonderful he is to remember our first kiss in the middle of the night (not that our first kiss was in the middle of the night), somehow I realized that it is not in fact the middle of the night but rather it is the morning and it’s time for me to take a shower and get ready to go to the first day of the Catalyst Conference…and, as exciting as that thought was, really I just wanted to go to the bathroom and then crawl back in bed for the rest of my night’s sleep…

All that to say, my husband is awesome. And I like sleep. Here’s to celebrating 11 years of kissing (feel free to raise your glass and say “cheers”) (toasting is quite the fun activity….).

my MOST favorite blog - THIS WEEK.

This is the link to my MOST FAVORITE blog this week:

http://www.ccccostarica2011.blogspot.com/

i'm not sure which of the Sheek girls is keeping this blog...but i'm thankful! this is a first for me...usually when nick is gone i don't really hear from him/know what's going on. we have a (terrific!) mutual understanding that it's really ok (and best!) for him to be fully present where he is. there's no need for him to try to find an internet cafe' or borrow a computer...no need to call or send emails. if any of those things happen to happen, wonderful! if not, that's ok! i KNOW that he loves me and misses me and can't wait to see me...but it's just not necessary to have contact (i know that if anything crazy happens i'll find out soon enough!). SOOOO it's been super fun and exciting to get to check this blog each day and see some pictures.

i especially like the picture of nick eating while will intently looks on. it's very flattering. what i really like about that picture is that his shoes are off and his jeans are rolled up. and i love love love seeing mi amiga lauren in one of the pictures!!! yes, pieces of my heart are certainly in costa rica this week.

so far our week has gone well...time with the kiddos has been quite enjoyable for the most part! AND nick has managed to love me and bless me daily (thanks for his magnificent thoughtfulness and organizational/pre-planning skillz) - maybe i'll blog about that later this week. one thing i will say now...this world would be such a better/sweeter/more awesome place if more women were loved by their husbands like i am loved by mine. i sure hope that comes out in the way it's supposed to -- from a heart overflowing with humble gratefulness....i don't understand why he loves me...i don't understand why i get to be so blessed and taken care of...i don't understand why i get to live in such security in my marriage -- it doesn't make sense why so much good has been heaped upon my head when so many live in circumstances that are quite contrary to mine....nick is not perfect - he needs God's grace as much as anyone....but i do believe that nick loves me as God intends for a husband to love his wife. and i am so very thankful. thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

wanted to make a list...5 favorite date night ideas

1st one is as inexpensive or expensive as you want it to be (dollar movie & dollar menu = cheap; "real movie" & fancy restaurant = not so inexpensive). bottom 3 are free.

• the classic dinner and a movie.
• a twist on the classic - progressive dinner (appetizer one place, meal one place, dessert one place)(but not all places that require a tip....) & redbox movie (for example last week we had wendy's new sea salt fries, accompanied with a thirst buster from the spectrum - btw - the spectrum on wynnton road has an AMAZING drink selection these days...complete with cherry coke....then we went to the mall and shared chinese - still working on the thirst buster.....then we went to chic-fil-a and got a brownie and icecream with coupons....then got a movie for $1...). total cost of date: less than $10
• go for a walk. just walk and walk and walk and talk and talk and talk.
• take a game to a public place and play it (checkers at the riverwalk, guess who at barnes & noble, scattergories at golden doughnuts, etc.)
• go to the children's section of the library or a bookstore, both pick a book, read to one another

post time: 2:12

colby caillat says it well...

"so lucky to be in love with my best friend
so lucky to have been where we have been
so lucky to be coming home again"

nick and i just had one of THE sweetest weekends of our married life...more than that, one of the sweetest weekends of my entire life!! we were given a marriage retreat at winshape on berry college's mountain campus....what a gift!!! God is so good to us. i knew i was looking forward to it - i have been since we were told about it close to a year ago. i just didn't realize that i was getting my IDEAL weekend in so many ways - the weekend i would dream up if someone said "what would your perfect weekend look like?" it would look like getting to be with nick...in a beautiful outdoors setting...getting to hike/exercise...getting to sleep in a comfy bed with the air turned really low...getting to take walks and sit in swings...getting to just BE with the one i love so much without much distraction...

if you're ever given a winshape marriage retreat, don't think twice about it...go. or if you want to save up for/spend your money on something worthwhile - this would be an excellent choice...or if you need an idea of what to ask for as a gift for your birthday or christmas - or if you need an idea of something to give as a gift (to your spouse or another couple!) - chose a winshape marriage retreat. if your marriage is wonderful, go. if your marriage is in trouble, go. if your marriage is somewhere in the middle, go. if you're about to get married, go - they've got a retreat for couples who are engaged...i've heard it's awesome!! i can't recommend winshape marriage retreats enough.

i am in awe at the way we were loved and blessed and served this weekend....from greeters in the parking lot who took our luggage to our room...to having peaceful music playing in our room when we walked in...to knowing that we were prayed for long before we even arrived...to the limitless coke (and dr. pepper!) and popcorn...to the fanastic meals (i even ate and enjoyed vegetables!)...to the hike to the reservoir...to the absence of tv, internet, phones (for the most part)....to the sweet worship around the bonfire....to the teaching...to the beautiful amazing setting...to the fun time on the ropes course...to the excellence that surrounded us all weekend (the thoughfulness of the "chic-fil-a industry" amazes me)...it was all so special and enjoyable.

but my favorite part - my most favorite thing - was getting to spend so much time with nick. he is my best friend. my favorite person to be around. you could have taken away everything else and just given me time with nick and i would have been more than satisfied. i am beyond thankful for him and for our marriage....why in the world did God choose to bless me in this way? He is so wonderful....so amazing....and He has given me someone who is so wonderful and so amazing.

i am so thankful to be in love with my best friend....so thankful to have been where we have been....and i am so thankful to be back home again...but, honestly, i'm trying to convince myself that i'm so thankful to be back home again -- at the moment, i'd rather be in a place that i don't have to clean...where i don't have to fix meals...where there's not much of anything to do except have conversations with my best friend and enjoy God's creation....but, really, i AM blessed to be back home...i am blessed that the same man that i enjoyed up on mountain campus is the same one i share a bed with here in columbus....so thankful that a weekend like this isn't the only time i feel connected, loved and appreciated.

(one of my other most favorite parts was discovering that eating chocolate chips with a chic-fil-a mint is a delightful combination!!)

(one other random note: not sure why but the "post time" for all of my posts are incorrect...this one says it's is 5:34 am. it's definitely not 5:34am. it's 8:37am. oh well.)

prayers that avail much - for my husband

Father, i confess i am a submitted wife simply because i want to be and because i recognize Your authority. in Jesus' name, i submit and adapt myself to nick as a service to You, Lord. i see that i respect and reverence Nick. that i notice him, regard him, honor him, prefer him, esteem him - that i defer to him, praise him, love and admire him exceedingly. i will comfort, encourage and do nick only good as long as there is life within me. as i seek counsel from nick, he will be my strength, my hiding place, my high tower, my intercessor - and we will stand side by side as we minister life, love and healing to those You send our way.