The Joy In Choosing The Hard (Mother-Giving)

I was in Barnes and Noble (love this store! I could spend all day there) reading this morning and I saw a woman and 2 small school-aged children sitting at a table with many books open as they were deep in study. I saw that and new immediately what it was. My heart smiled. I know this scene very well, and anytime I run-across this beautiful picture joy fills my heart and I just watch for a moment. The mother looks tired and looks as if she is running on empty, and its only Monday. She helps the smallest child with a question and I continue to watch. I see the love in the mothers eyes as she gives loving attention to the little one. She does this because she is THERE. There is contentment at that table and memories rush back. I am most certain those sweet little children don't understand yet the gift their mother is giving them. She is giving herself to them. She chose the hard. But when the little one smiles with understanding as she gets the concept they are studying, the hard is so rewarding. I inwardly thank the mother for her selflessness for choosing to be there and to GIVE. I have seen first hand the hard of it, and as I grow older and look back, everyday I am thankful more and more.

I have learned a new understanding of my own mothers sacrifice now that it has been a few years since I flew the coop. She chose from the beginning to STAY. To teach. To be THERE. I advocate this kind of mother-giving to the core. I pray often that the Lord will allow me to give of myself like this one day - this special kind of mother-giving. It is precious. It is a gift.

I stand to leave my table, and one of the little ones smile at me, I see the joy in that adorable face. On a Monday, on a school day, she sits across from her mother. What happiness :)

Perspective

These last couple of days I have been reading a wonderful book you might have heard of or even read yourself, Kisses from Katie. My eyes have been blood-shot and weepy. I'm soaking it all in of this girls selfless heart of a servant. If you haven't read this book or even heard about Katie's story, you can read more about it here, http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ . She is so giving and humble. Go read her book.
As I have read this book, I had a recent different perspective on my life and how easy and spoiled it is. I went to the store to buy groceries today and I walked into a huge building that had A/C and worked so well that most of my time in there I froze. I also was able to use a buggy for my groceries, so I wouldn't have to carry everything around, every item is neatly situated and organized on the shelves. Something as simple as  beans come in a can or a simple bag in a freezer section... I just pick them up and sit them in my buggy. I check out and hand the lady a debit card to pay for my groceries. I hand her a card. So many of us have these cards because we have been blessed with a generous amount of money that we save in a bank. Are you following me here? I come home a little later and work on paying some bills. That adult thing that's always hovering over you. I was BLESSED to pay the water bill, the power bill, and a medical bill (yes, 4 months after I broke my leg they're still coming, but that's okay). I walk to the bathroom to wash my hands and the clean warm water and soap cleanses them. Anytime I want I can go flip on a switch or turn the nozzle on and blessings turn on or flow out. It so simple isn't it?
I hope I can do a better job of being thankful for the everyday things. Its unreal how much we take for granted so often. This isn't a deep blog post, but I hope it will get you thinking. Just thank the One who blesses you over and over and we don't deserve any of it. Now, I'm feeling quite muggy from this Alabama heat, so I have the capability to go turn on our cool air, and I will be thankful because He continues to bless me though I fail Him often.

Being Married to a Christian.

I haven't posted anything in a good while, I just haven't had much I wanted to talk about I guess. But Saturday night as I was trying to fall asleep, I couldn't stop smiling....

Marriage is truly FUN. There are so many wonderful things about marriage that I could talk about it all day. But one really important thing had me grinning ear to ear as I thought about it the other night. Sometimes we take things for granted and we don't just sit and take things in. We are so busy that we don't let the simple - wonderful sink in. Being married to a Christian.... to a faithful Christian, is truly a gift. I know so many amazing Christians that have a solid faithful Christ-like marriage. But do we ever just sit and think about that? Just thank God for this gift? It really separates us from others, there is an understanding of a more deeper, precious joy within it. One of the many blessings of being married to a Christian man brought tears to my eyes just a few days ago. Trent was preparing to lead singing at services on Sunday morning and we were sitting on the couch talking about the songs he could lead the next morning. Its a really simple moment, but when you think about it, how lovely it is! You can share something like this together. There was a song title he was thinking of and couldn't think of the melody. I knew exactly what he was thinking of and started humming the melody. I began to think about what it would be like if my husband wasn't a follower of Christ, or if I wasn't one, we would never have these moments. I couldn't imagine. I'm thankful everyday for a husband who loves the Lord more than me and is a leader for our family. Men like that are far and few these days. Thankful for those men who choose to follow the Lord and be courageous men. Praying for growth as a learning Christian wife, it is not easy, but when you share a life with someone wanting to head in the same direction, it sure does help! Being married to a Christian sets a certain path for your marriage, there's no question who is the CENTER and Who you will look to for answers, Who you will pray to always, and Who you will thank for the good and bad. Thankful for the little things, there's so much joy in the simple :)

When Your Spouse Isn't a Morning Person.....

When we got married I knew that Trent wasn't a morning person, but I didn't know how MUCH of a morning person he just was NOT. I am a morning person. I love to start my day early even if I don't have work or anywhere to be. Sometimes its a struggle getting him out of the bed in the mornings. And for those of you who might have a spouse who isn't a morning person, you might understand this a whole lot more. I thought I might share some funny ways I have tried to get Trent out of bed in the morning....

1) 'The Nice Wife' approach: The first month after we got married, I tried making him a nice breakfast each morning with eggs and bacon or sausage, or pancakes/waffles.... But then, I realized that it was only aiding in  the problem. He would just sit in bed and eat the food. He also informed me that  he isn't even much of a breakfast person. Fail.

2) 'The Earthquake' approach: This is when you just jump on the bed as violently as you can and maybe even sing very loudly. This has worked only a couple of times.

3) 'His Favorite Jam' approach: When you turn his favorite song on very loudly (Any Pentatonix song). This has also worked several times.

4) 'The Cold Cruelty' approach: This is, like it says, very cruel.... When you turn the fan on HIGH and pull all the covers off. Mwahahaha! (This can also put them in a grumpy mood, so I use with caution).

5) 'The Video Game' approach: If your husband is a big gamer, and really loves it when you show interest in it or play video games with him, this is when you get smart. A few times I have started playing a PC game and turn the sound up just enough where he can hear it from the bedroom, and in no time at all he walks into the living room with a puzzled look on his face wondering WHY I have voluntarily, in the early morning, started playing a video game. Works. Every. Time.

Anyways, this is just a silly post about the struggle of having a spouse who isn't a morning person. And to make things clear, I'm not bashing my husband.  Most of the time Trent does it to be stubborn and mess with me. And I love that he isn't a morning person because it balances out my morning hyper-self :)

Domesticity.

First off, I would like to share some pretty super-duper exciting news: I was released from Physical Therapy on Friday morning! Woohoo! I will still continue to work-out my leg at home with exercises and such, but I no longer have to endure the "house of pain"!

With some contemplating and debating and some Pinterest reads, I decided to start making homemade laundry detergent, and in the near future, homemade dishwasher detergent as well. Yes, you might think I'm being a little radical or hippie-like, but it really does make sense for us to do. We are young and married and my husband is still in college so we have a limited income. It would only make sense to come up with the best ways to save money and make money. For us, this is one of the ways we do SAVE money.
I was using a regular liquid laundry detergent that cost about $12.39 at Target and could do about "50 loads", and that was for not a named brand. Laundry detergent can be really expensive, unfortunately.

This is what I used to make the laundry detergent:

8 cups of Borax ($3.69 for a 4lb. box at Target)
5 cups Baking Soda ($1.79 for a 2lb. box at Target)
1 cup of dried lavender. Fortunately, I had some dried lavender left over from our wedding so I used that. But you can also use (and what I plan to use eventually) lavender scented Epsom salts ($4.69 at Target).
Mix the Borax, Baking Soda and lavender up really well.
For about a medium load of laundry, I use 1 cup of the mixture. It was amazing at how much cleaner our clothes were when I used this compared the regular liquid laundry detergent! They also smelt a whole lot better! This was a success for sure.
After I made the detergent I had almost HALF the box of Borax left, and a little less than half the box of Baking Soda left, both of which can be used for other household needs.

Hope this was maybe helpful to anyone who has considered this before and was just skeptical of trying it. :)

Engagements, Marriage and Such...

So excited we don't have to hold it in any longer! It's been quite a task keeping such a happy secret.... Alicia, Trent's sister, is engaged!!! We are incredibly happy for her and Taylor (her fiance). This is such a fun time for them indeed! Now begins planning the wedding, what most every girl dreams about since she was little. I'm just thrilled to bits for Alicia, she is going to have such a blast planning her wedding and I know it will turn out lovely!
It's truly a giddy time - engagements.  And it feels like you are floating on a cloud. I remember waking up the next morning after Trent and mines engagement and looking down at my ring, it was very REAL. And for the next several months I would find myself staring at my left hand and sometimes playing with my ring. If I was having a bad day, Id just stare at it and couldn't help but smile. After almost a year of marriage, I still do the same thing. Now understand, it has nothing to do with the physicality of the shiny ring, its what it MEANS, what it represents: a commitment and a covenant....which become much deeper once you say. "I do". It's binding. "...and the two shall become one flesh" (Matt. 19:6). Life is not about MY needs any longer, it's about Trent's needs. Its about serving the Lord together. Now, I am no expert of marriage and surely don't understand it fully, but it's fascinating and I enjoy learning more about it. Lots of our friends from Florida College have gotten or will get married over this Summer. It's encouraging to see so many godly marriages and exciting to know that there are many couples out there of the Faith.
To wrap this up, here's part of a verse from Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage should be honored by all...".
Lots of happiness in the Faris family and Jones family :)

Oh No, It's a Blog....

Yeah, we created a blog, you can now throw us into that "stereotype". But it's kinda fun to tell about our life and our ideas, not that anyone really cares, but why not?  We are getting back into the swing of things. For about 2 months we took a detour because I had broken my leg hiking over spring break. I spent most of my time in the house, on the couch, or on the bed just waiting on my leg to heal. My sweet husband was caring and patient as he had to do most everything.  He had to juggle school, work, teaching a Bible class at church, laundry, dishes, making meals, and the first immediate weeks after the accident he even had to help me take showers and sometimes get dressed. We were very blessed to have some help from friends and family who brought us food, and we are forever grateful. As I watched my husband through all this, I fell in love with him all over again, like it was the first time.  I had one person say to me, "It's a shame this happened during the first year of your marriage, kinda puts a damper on things", I was really taken aback by this persons comment. I just kinda laughed and shrugged it off because at the time I didn't know how to quite explain that this whole situation was anything but a "damper". It was really a blessing. No one really prepares themselves to have to take care of their spouse in THIS way until they are old and gray. For us, this happened much sooner that planned. If anything it brought us closer, it made our love stronger, and taught us both about sacrifice. Marriage has its ups and downs, but what would it teach us if there wasn't those challenging times? I would never say that breaking a leg within the first year of marriage is a "shame", its an opportunity. It's an opportunity for growth, not just as a couple but as individuals as well. And I sure couldn't have made it through all that without him. He is my rock. Now that I am up and about and doing my normal daily activities and continuing to take Physical Therapy, I sure am more thankful for two working legs, and my ability to care for my husband now. I won't take for granted being able to do the laundry or make dinner, or do the grocery shopping. Before I broke my leg I loved doing all those things, but now it means much more. There's a couple of passages I wanted to share...one that I can now understand in a whole new way and one that my Mom shared with me. Have a blessed Monday! 

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor, for if they fall, one will lift up his companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up."
                                                                                                       - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.

"Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make strait paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed."

                                                                                                       - Hebrews 12:12-13