rockin' the mocassins

doesn't that sound like a fun title?!?! it has little to do with anything, really. it just sounds like something my husband would say.... "you are rockin' those mocassins, girl" i don't know about 'rockin' them', but they are comfortable... ahhh...

its been storming on and off all day here in nashville and i am lapping it up like a puppy on a hot day. it rains a lot in seattle, but it doesn't storm. i am a midwest girl...i love a good ole storm every now and then.

so its storming outside and i am watching the advancing dark clouds from the starbucks windows on main st. in fraknlin, tn. and drinking water 'with gas' as the Europeans would say. (its carbonated) and i am feeling thankful. really full and satisfied and thankful.

last night was a night i need to hold on to..one that i hope is burned into my mind. shawn took me shopping...now, i am probably the only girl in the world who would complain about that, but i do. i hate shopping with a passion..i hate trying clothes on (esp. with someone else there) and i often suffer from the common girl complex of feeling ugly in such situations. but my husband wanted to spoil me and i had to work at letting him. i would come out of the dressing room only to be handed another armful of things he thought would 'flatter my figure' (he's so funny *grin*) and i decided to just enjoy it...we laughed and i complained with a smile on my face and honestly, i felt beautiful. it was very unexpected. i guess there's a first time for everything! and there something about be looked at by someone who loves you- it changes things. so we took our new clothes and drove to a really nice resturaunt downtown Nashville. we ended up changing at a random mcdonalds...giggling the whole time over how silly we looked carrying our clothes in and walking out in different ones. i spurred him on with a confident "have no shame, babe" and then ducked in as quickly as possible. we went into flemmings and ordered an amazing dinner and a bottle of a great Spanish wine and we ate and talked and laughed for 3 hours. we even ate dessert and instead of feeling guilty like i normally do, i thoroughly enjoyed every bite of my cheesecake.

near the end of dinner, shawn smiled at me across the table, took my hand in his, and said "you know, its bustling in here all night...music and people everywhere, but the only thing i have been aware of is this...just you and me" and i blushed like a teenager on a first date. i don't know if he even knows the impact of his words on me...i don't know that he fully comprehends his ability to shape my day, but he did in that moment. you know adam named eve..God gave him that task and i think men ever since then having been 'naming' their wives. some endow their wives with names of beauty and grace and wantedness and sadly, others condemn their wives with names like burden and trap and bother. if any men read this blog, please take that to heart! its a sacred job God has given you..please take it seriously!

so i love my husband. and not just because he chose to name me something along the lines of 'captivating' last night (although it helps *grin*)..and that contentment with him has added into this full feeling i have today. but also, God spoke some things to me yesterday that have been blessing and freeing me all day...

---1.)
Matthew 11:28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." REST!!!

---2.)
Exodus 14: 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

I LOVE THIS PASSAGE AND GOD REMINDED ME OF IT...WE ARE SO AFRIAD TO LEAVE THE FAMILIAR SLAVERY OF OUR LIVES...AFRAID IT CAN'T BE OVERCOME AND ALL THE WHILE WE NEED ONLY BE STILL AND LET GOD FIGHT FOR US.

---3.
1 Peter 2: 19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22"He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth."[e] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

John 2:24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.

THIS ENCOURAGES ME TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT AND TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT...TO NOT DEFEND MYSELF, BUT TO KNOW THAT GOD IS MY DEFENDER. JESUS, THE MOST RIGHTEOUS AND ONLY SINLESS MAN, DIDN'T RETALIATE--HE DIDN'T MAKE THREATS AND INSTEAD HE "ENTRUSTED HIMSELF TO HIM WHO JUDGES JUSTLY"...JESUS DIDN'T ENTRUST HIMSELF TO MEN, BUT TO GOD. THE WORD ENTRUST HAS THE MEANING OF HANGING ONE'S SELF OVER TO BE APPROVED. JESUS KNEW WHERE TO GET HIS APPROVAL...I WANT TO LEARN THAT!

- a song by a new band called the "Robby Seay Band" called "10 Thousand Charms" the chorus goes like this "I will arise and go to Jesus and He will embrace me in His arms/ And in the arms of my Savior there are 10 Thousand Charms/ 10 Thousand charms" That's my prayer for each of you today!


GOD BLESS!