• Faith,  Marriage

    I Prayed For These Moments

    Happy Monday! I hope you guys had a nice and relaxing weekend. I wanted to write a post that was inspired by this quote:

    I wanted to write this post because some days I forget how amazing it is that God really did answer my prayers. Some days I forget how desperately I wanted this life. Some days I forget all the tears and pain that led me here. I wanted to be a bit vulnerable and try my best to let you in on how my life used to be, because I know that by posting only positive things, it can be easy to display the wrong message to my readers. I don’t write about how blessed and happy and grateful I am for my marriage and the way my life is because it’s perfect or because it’s the reason behind my joy. I write about these things because I am grateful to God for this life, and I never want to forget that, or to display anything otherwise on this blog.

    I prayed for these moments and it was a hard, tough road to get me to where I am today.

    Because on that day I sat in my car back in 2012, crying in my driveway because I couldn’t understand what God was doing, because all I wanted was someone to love and God wasn’t allowing that then. I couldn’t see it back then, but all those prayers would be answered and it would lead me to this:

    A life where all those tears are way outnumbered by all the laughs shared with my best friend, all the laughs because of silly things he does, like falling asleep in the most bizarre ways.

    Because on the day that I moved out of my mother’s home at 18, wondering why life had to be this way, it led me here to this:

    My heart leaping with joy at just the sight of a tiny, little, one bedroom apartment because it is a place to call my own.

    Because on those days that I spent growing up, wondering why my family was so different, wondering why my dad wasn’t around or why we didn’t have the money to do things like the other kids did, it led me here to this:

    To a man who works so hard to provide for his family, even if that means his only family right now is me. To a man who I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, will provide and be there for his kids when that day comes.

    Because on those many nights that I ate dinner by myself, feeling desperately alone, and wondering why God wouldn’t answer my prayer for a family to eat dinner with, it led me here to this:

    A man who I know will be my forever dinner date, who I know is in it for the long haul.

    Because through all the breakups and the tears and heartache that followed, through all of the confusion and the what ifs, they let me here to this:

    To a man who will do anything to put a smile on my face. To someone I know that God hand-picked for me because of his commitment to do what is right and to love me the way that God commanded. I couldn’t see it then but God was protecting me and saving me for a guy who was worth it.

    Because on the nights where I sat literally crying out to God, not understanding why he wouldn’t take the pain away, led me here to this:

    A life that I wouldn’t trade for the world and a faith so much stronger because of the hard times. I have the confidence of knowing that I did not rush ahead of God and that this is his best for me. I have confidence that all those tears cried were seen and all those prayers prayed were heard. Back then I couldn’t see it, because the pain and heartbreak and confusion were so blinding, but that pain had a purpose and taught me to appreciate just how much of a gift this life truly is.

  • Faith

    8 Verses To Show There Is Hope In Suffering

    I wanted to share with you some verses that have recently helped me get through a hard time. I’ve shared here before that I struggle with anxiety and specifically, health anxiety. I’ve had weird aches and pains for about the past three years now. They seem to come and go, but the times when they are there, it feels as if I’ve been struggling with it for three years straight. I can get very discouraged and feel as if the trial is never-ending. I just recently marked out verses in my Bible to help me through these times when I feel like God isn’t there or that he will never rescue me from the pain. I want to share them with you in hopes that they will encourage you if you are going through a trial that feels never-ending, or if it feels as if God isn’t there.

    I would really encourage you to look these up in your own Bible too because there is something about searching for them yourself and reading them in my Bible that is really comforting. Even mark them off with a post-it for next time you are feeling overwhelmed.

    1 | PSALM 37:23-24

    The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

    2 | ISAIAH 40:28B-31

    The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

    3 | ROMANS 8:18

    I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.

    4 | 2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9

    We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

    5 | 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10

    But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak; then I am strong.

    6 | JAMES 1:3

    Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

    7 | 1 PETER 5:10

    And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.

    8 | LAMENTATIONS 3:31-33

    For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

     

    I really hope these are as encouraging to you as they were for me. What do you do when you are feeling overwhelmed or far from God?

  • Faith,  Wedding

    Zinhobls Say I Do: Ceremony Pictures

    I’m back this week to continue on with our wedding series. I am still so excited to share all of these pictures with you. Our ceremony was my favorite part of our whole day and funny enough it was the part of the day that I was most anxious for. I thought standing in front of all of our friends and families and saying our vows was going to be terrifying but in the moment I could care less that everyone was watching. The only thing I cared about was that I was committing my life to my best friend. I could feel God’s presence so well that day as well and I’m sure that helped a bunch. All the decorations you see were brought there by me and I bought most of them off Etsy. It was really fun to get to personalize the details so much, which is one of the reasons why we picked this venue to get married at. We were married at The Conservatory on May 22, 2016.
    The black sign says “I have found the one whom my soul loves. Song of Solomon 3:4”

    It’s All Starting!

    Our First Kiss As Husband and Wife!

    My Mom and Brother Dylan
    Tommy’s Parents

    I also wanted to share our wedding vows here because our main goal of the day was to show our friends and family that our relationship is centered around Jesus and one way we did that was by using special wedding vows. We did not write these, our church had us pick from different ones but we felt they were perfect to get across the message we wanted and how we viewed marriage.

    I, Tommy, take you, Ashley, to be my wedded wife. I love you and know that this love is from God. Because of this, I want to be your husband so that we might serve Christ together. Through all of the uncertainties and trials of the present and future, I promise to be faithful to you and love you. I promise to guide and protect you as Christ does his church, as long as we both shall live. God’s Word gives us the perfect example of this love in Christ’s death for the Church. I shall try always, with God’s help, to show you this same kind of love, for I know that in His sight we will both be one.

    I, Ashley, take you, Tommy, to be my wedded husband. I love you. I prayed that God would lead me to his choice. I praise Him that tonight His will is being fulfilled. Through the pressures of the present and uncertainties of the future I promise my faithfulness, to follow you through all of life’s experiences as you follow God, that together we may grow in the likeness of Christ and our home be a praise to Him.

    What I can remember most about this day is how I felt. I was just so happy and grateful that it was all happening. If I could go back to that day I would in a heartbeat. It was such a special day!

  • Life

    Monthly Goals: February

    January was a really great month. It had its ups and downs just like any other month, but overall it was really nice. The weather wasn’t anywhere near as cold as January usually is, which I think helped my mood out a lot. I can say going into February though that I feel like I have finally transitioned over into being used to “working from home”. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride trying to find a nice groove again, but I feel really encouraged and happy with where I’m currently at. So let’s take a look at how I did on my January goals, shall we? 🙂

    • Workout 2-3x per week – Nope, but I will keep adding this to my goals until it happens!
    • Read two books I’m kind of cheating on this one, but I am ALMOST finished with the two books, and I definitely carved out way more time to read this month than I normally do so I’m counting that as a win!
    • Spend time with God every day I need to work on staying on track on the weekends, but I’m pretty proud of myself overall. I just finished the book of Isaiah today.
    • Complete the Wife After God Devotional While I still do have a few days left, I spent almost every day in January going through this study and it’s been awesome.
    • Clean out the bedroom closet YES. I finally had the time to get to this and it has made all the difference. I talked about it in this post if you’re interested.
    • Journal more Having more time in the mornings has definitely helped me with this one.
    • Blog at least 2-3x a week Yay, I’m super happy to say that since I announced that I am blogging full-time, I have stuck to posting Monday-Friday!
    • Celebrate mine and Tommy’s birthday See post here.
    • Take more baths

    Not too bad! I will admit that I stretched a few of those to say that they were actually completed but I am really learning to give myself some grace lately and realize that not everything is going to be perfect. I’m learning to be okay with that!

    February Goals

    • Celebrate our first married Valentines Day!
    • Read two books
    • Clean out the pantry
    • Clean out our drawers
    • Finish crocheting the blanket I’m working on
    • Consistently blog Monday-Friday
    • Pray for Tommy every day
    • Create a cleaning schedule
    • Create a blogging schedule for the month
    • Workout 2-3x’s per month
    • Get used to waking up at 7 am

    I’m feeling hopeful this month. I’m a little worried about the working out goal but I really need to get into a habit of working out so there it is. Maybe this will be the lucky month that I actually stick to it. 😉 I need all of your helpful workout tips! I’m linking up with Autumn for #MonthlyGold. Come join us!

    What are your goals for February?

  • Faith,  Marriage

    How To Pray For Your Husband

    As I’ve mentioned in my January Goals, I am working on completing the Wife After God: Drawing Closer to God & Your Husband (aff.) devotional this month. It has been a huge encouragement to me and I think I will probably do a complete book review on the whole book once I’m finished. But what I wanted to share with you guys today is just from one of the chapters, praying for your husband. And honestly, you can pray these things for your husband even if you haven’t met him yet! Or if you are just dating someone too. I hope it will encourage you like it has encouraged me.

    Thank God For Your Husband

    Pray and just thank God for gifting your husband to you. Try to always see your husband as a gift from God. Pray specifically why you are thankful for him. Thank God for your husband’s heart, his health, and for his love for you.

    Pray For His Walk With God

    Pray that God will give your husband an increased desire to know him. Pray for your husband to experience extraordinary intimacy with God. Pray for him to learn more about God’s ways. Also that your husband will have a desire to spend consistent time in God’s word.

    Pray For His Leadership

    Pray that your husband will follow God’s lead wherever he may call you as a couple. Pray that God’s will for your relationship is clear to your husband. Pray that he will have the courage to lead you well. Also pray that your heart will be in line with your husband’s and Gods and you will be able to be submissive to where your husband is leading.

    Pray For Protection

    I pray this for Tommy almost every day. He works in a place that is dangerous and can very easily be hurt so I always pray that he will be protected and safe. Also pray for his protection from the enemy. Ask God to cover your husband in Jesus’ name that he will not be exposed to the evils of this world.

    Pray For Temptation

    Pray that your husband will be protected from tempting situations. Pray that he will be a man who doesn’t fall for what the world says is okay. This world is a hard place for a man when it comes to the sexual culture that is around us. Pray for a sound mind and heart against sin.

    Pray For God’s Blessing

    Pray that God will bless your husband. Ask God how you can bless your husband specifically. Pray that God himself will fill your husband’s heart with joy. This is a good time to pray for specific things that you know your husband might be struggling with. I know that Tommy desires a close Christian friend so I will pray that God will bless him with one. God says that whatever we pray for, if it is in the will of God, that he will answer it. He also says that we have not because we do not ask. Take full advantage of being a child of God, and on behalf of your husband, petition God for your husband’s blessings. God will delight in answering these prayers.

    Pray For Encouragement

    Pray that you will be an encouragement to your husband. Pray that you notice and focus on the good attributes that your husband has. Pray for God to help you not dwell on any area of weakness in your husband’s life. Pray that God will put other people around your husband to encourage him. Also pray that God himself will encourage your husband.

    Pray For His Weaknesses

    Pray for your husband’s weaknesses, that he will rely on God and not himself. Pray that God will strengthen him. Pray for God to help him improve in these areas and that they will not be a foothold for the devil.

    Pray For Wisdom

    This is another specific area that God tells us to ask him for. Pray that God will give your husband wisdom, wisdom to understand God’s word, wisdom in his specific field of work, and wisdom to make good choices.

    Lastly Pray For Your Role As His Wife

    Pray that you will display the fruits of the spirit to your husband. Pray that you will quickly forgive your husband when he wrongs you. Pray that you will always see your husband in a positive light. Also pray for God’s protection over your marriage.

    It is an absolute joy that we get to bring our husband’s before the Lord and pray for them. Let’s always remember how much of a blessing this is to be able to do this and thank God for the opportunity. It is important to pray for our husbands daily. Let’s commit to doing this together. I think it will make a huge difference in our marriages.


     

  • Book Reviews,  Faith,  Marriage

    8 Books To Read Before Getting Married

    Getting engaged and married is such a fun time. I would even argue that it is the most anticipated and exciting time of your life. There’s just something so special about finally finding the one that you will spend the rest of your life with that makes you look forward to whatever life may throw at you. Now you have your best friend by your side to go through it with you. If I’m being completely honest, you really don’t realize just how hard marriage is going to be because of these new rose-colored glasses you are now wearing.

    There are also so many emotions that go along with getting married. Aside from the absolute joy that you are now experiencing from finding your soul mate, there very well may be some other feelings trying to creep in as well. Like anxiety. Or doubt. Or being overwhelmed. These feelings are normal, so instead of just trying to ignore them, I think it’s important to educate yourself on what will make a marriage work so that you can limit these feelings as much as possible.

    One way to do this is to attend Pre-martial Counseling through your church (if you attend one). This is a really great way to safeguard your marriage before you even enter into it. It’s a way to make sure that your marriage will be lined up with biblical principles. Another way to get great advice on marriage that you know you can trust is to read marriage books. I loved doing this when I was engaged, and even before I got engaged. I want to share with you 8 books that I read before I got married. These books were full of helpful advice that made me feel more prepared to walk down the aisle, confident in my decision to marry Tommy.

    This post contains affiliate links. This means that the price of the item won’t change for you, but I receive a small commission of the sale if you choose to buy. Thanks for your support!

    1 | Preparing for Marriage

    Tommy and I each received a copy of this book from our pastor during our pre-marital counseling. It was a really great book to go through to help us get on the same page about things that we wouldn’t have thought to talk about or ask each other. Some topics that it covered were Household Chores, Finances, Purity, Conflict Resolution, and Sex. The way the chapters were set up were that you read a little section about whatever the topic for the chapter was, answered the questions, and then at the end of each chapter you met with your fiancé and did a Couples Project, where you would go over your answers together and answer more questions together. It was super fun to set dates and do the couples project together. Each chapter made me super excited to get married.

    2 | You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity

    This was such an awesome, eye-opening book. It was super convicting (as I shared in this recap of it) because it goes into so much detail about how marriage is for God’s glory. Francis Chan is a great pastor and author and he really challenges you that marriage is only secondary to God and his call on your life. He reminds you that you should love God first and use marriage to glorify him, not ourselves by pursuing the American Dream. It was a really great book and definitely helped me set my priorities for getting married straight.

    3 | Love and Respect

    I’ve talked about this book so many times on my blog because it is just that good. (I shared here where I wrote a whole book review on it, and again here recently when I shared about something I learned from the book in another blog post.) This book is full of knowledge about what men and women need from each other, which is biblically based.

    4 | The Mingling of Souls: God’s Design for Love, Marriage, Sex, and Redemption

    I absolutely loved this book. I read it while we were in the Bahamas on vacation before I was even engaged and it taught me so much. Matt Chandler is a pastor from Texas, who I love listening to because he’s got so much wisdom but is also really funny. He is also like that in this book, while he goes through studying Song of Solomon in the Bible. It was so good I’m planning on reading it again.

    5 | For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men

    This book is similar to Love and Respect in the sense that it teaches you what men need from their wives. It was a really fun read because it literally does exactly what the title suggests. It teaches you all about how men operate and it has been read and approved by men so it is definitely accurate. 😉 This book could really be a good read for anyone honestly. It’s very interesting.

    These next few books I would say are more helpful for girls who haven’t yet met their husbands or are not engaged yet, but are still really helpful if you have. They are just geared more toward helping you while you wait for God to answer your prayer for a husband, while the books above are more about marriage wisdom.

    6 | Praying for Your Future Husband: Preparing Your Heart for His

    This was the first marriage book I ever read back in 2012. This was a time when I was really struggling with waiting on God’s timing for dating and this book really encouraged me through it. It’s a light read, but was really fun to pray over my husband before I even knew him. It also encourages you to write letters to your husband to give to him once you are married, which I did also and it was a super special time. If you are single and waiting for God to answer your prayer to bring someone into your life to date, this book is for you.

    7 | When God Writes Your Love Story

    This was another really encouraging book that I read while waiting on a husband. It gives you plenty of wisdom for what a biblical marriage and dating relationship should look like. It’s really helpful because it reminds you how important it is to wait on God, and that it is so worth it in the end.

    8 | Lady in Waiting: Becoming God’s Best While Waiting for Mr. Right

    I loved this book because it took the focus off of waiting and onto myself and how I can prepare to be my best. This was the most helpful thing I did while waiting for a boyfriend because sometimes just focusing on waiting made it impossible. When I could do something active, like prepare my heart to be a wife, it made the waiting more bearable. This book is more of a devotional type book, rather than just a quick read with other people’s stories or advice. It’s a more hands-on type book, so if you are really struggling through the waiting, this might be a huge help to you.

    I hope these books will help you on your journey to becoming a wife. I know they really did for me, no matter what stage of life I was in, whether I was single as a Pringle, dating but just not quite ready to be married, or engaged and waiting to say “I Do”, these books were huge encouragers for me. They set up realistic expectations of marriage and encouraged me to wait on God above all else, even when it felt like I couldn’t wait another second.

    What books do you recommend that helped you with marriage? I’m always looking for more to read.