Rainbows

This week has been very much like the beauty of a rainbow and the plentiful of blessings from prayers. The week starting of course last Saturday. C's change in attitude toward me and our intimate conversations along with a deeper renewal of hope among other feelings toward our walk together as friends and with the hope for more to be restored someday in the future with God's blessing. Then there was the rainbow yesterday over the canal & the mountains (not picture to the left but similar) that you could see as you were descending down the hill into our town as the sunlight came out just long enough to bless us with. Again there was a rainbow today that I noticed as I was driving down the hill on my way to the deli. Today's blessing was in the form of a temp job assignment for me starting tomorrow in Oly for the next few to several months. I truely feel like God is listening and am grateful but humbled by all this. You know I can't explain how happy I have been all week. I hope and pray that God continues to hear my prayers.
Tuesday Day 18-Love Seeks to Understand
"How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding." Proverbs 3:13
Tuesday's Dare: Prepare a special dinner at home, just for the two of you. The dinner can be as nice as you prefer. Focus this time on getting to know your spouse better, perhaps in areas you've rarely talked about. Determine to make it an enjoyable evening for you and your mate.
"What did you learn about your spouse that you didn't know before? How could you continue this process of discovery in other ways, at other times? What were some of the moments that made this evening memorable?"
Well I had inquired if you would be available last night to have dinner with but you said you didn't know and that you might be busy. I said ok and could we plan to have dinner soon as I would like to cook for you. When you came home this morning I found out you were really busy last night running calls all night from the storm we had with the wind and rain. I think what I learned about C, even though we didn't do dinner last night, is that by listening to him all week, truely listening, is that there are a lot of times where he would like to do things with me but is not able to because of his work and that he truely does want me to understand this. By understand I mean that when he says he is busy he really is busy and not trying to blow me off as at times I used to have those kinds of thoughts in the past. By continuing to actively listen for discovery in other ways at other times, I think a closer deeper bond will be in place for a healthier relationship down the road in our near future. Actively listening to your mate shows that you honor and respect them and love them that much more. Moments that made last night memorable was that I listened to him, understood, and didn't go to bed angry.

Day 19-Love Is Impossible
"Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7
Today's Dare: Look back over the dares from previous days. Were there some that seemed impossible to you? Have you realized your need for God to change your heart and to give you the ability to love? Ask Him to show you were you stand with Him, and ask for the strength and grace to settle your eternal destination.
"What do you believe God is saying to you? Is there a stirring in your heart? What decision have you made in response to this?"
In looking back over the dares from previous days, yes there were some that seemed impossible to me at times. I think one of them was the dare where you picked one positive attribute off the list you had made to try to tell your mate. That day things were hard, communicating was hard. I made C a card to express to him the one attribute that I had chosen to let him know and to this day that card sits upon his dresser where he sees it and can appreciate the love that went into it. Somewhere in the last 19 days along this journey I have realized that I need God and that He is changing my heart to give and receive the ability of unconditional love. I always thought I knew what love was but since starting this journey I realize I didn't understand love as well as I thought. I prayed that God would show me where I stand with Him and I asked for the strength and grace to settle my eternal destination. I believe God is saying to me that I am to lean on Him instead of my own understanding of everything and to make time for Him daily to strengthen my heart and mind to be able to handle the trials & temptations daily. Yes there is a stirring in my heart and my decision in response is to continue with staying in God's word, as well as encouraging C & myself to take a more active role individually but also together to have God play a greater role in our relationship. I can do that by actively trying to pick different verses to memorize by writing them down on flash cards and putting them up on the frig, the bathroom mirror, in the laundry room, just different places that we normally go in the house. That way we both are better equipped to handle stressful situations when they arise because we will have filled our mind & heart with positive words instead of critical ones. C has been encouraging me in attending church and bible study and eventually it would be amazing to be able to do those things together with him.