My word this year is brave, I want to be brave and courageous not be fearful of what man can do to me. I want to only fear the Lord. Martin Luther described two different types of fear;  FILIAL fear of the Lord means to have respect and reverence to the Lord and have a healthy fear of the consequences of disobeying Him. Think of the respect that a child has for his/her parents. That child fears disobeying their parents, not just because they are scared of punishment, but because they have such respect for them and the thought of hurting them by disobedience is disheartening. SERVILE fear is the fear that martyrs have or those who are tortured and jailed. It’s the fear and anxiety of the harm that they are going to thrust upon you.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

The Gospel message should be the most beautiful and terrifying message. It is beautiful the undeserved grace and mercy that the Lord shown upon us, but terrifying in the sense of the depth of our sins and the punishment that we deserve for them. Our faith in the Lord will show if we do, or do not, have a healthy relationship with the Lord. How do we respond when things go wrong? Do we whine and complain, or do we turn to the Lord? I struggle with anxiety and know that it is worse when I am not diving into the Word and surrounding myself with the Truth of God’s Word. I worry the most when I listen to the world!

George Muller said The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

Obedience will be another evidence of a healthy fear of the Lord. When we are obedient and following the Lord instead of the ways of the world we show our fear of the Lord through that. How do we respond when we sin? Do we go directly to the one who forgives us of our sins or try and hide hoping that we can get away with it? We are silly and foolish to think that God doesn’t see our sins… That alone should strike some sort of fear in us!

When someone says that something is “mismatched” what words come to your mind? The first words that I thought of was wrong, or incompatible, but you know what? That isn’t necessarily true, though. What about when it comes to marriage?

So, on Saturday Ruben and I will celebrate our six-year anniversary. I am astounded at how fast time has gone by already. Our marriage was one of those that you hear about on tv, but hardly ever see or meet the couple in real life. When we tell people we met on the internet we are usually faced with the typical oh? or hmm…

These past six years have taught me much about myself and made me even more thankful for my Ruben. He completes me! I am the more free-spirited one, and he is the nerd, he needs help loosening up, and I need help reigning in. We have different tastes in music, movies, and tv shows, but we still find common ground, and sometimes, sometimes I like the things he listens to,  but don’t tell him I said that 😉

Marriage is not a fifty-fifty relationship it is one hundred percent from both of you. You have to give it your all to make it work! The Lord knew the areas in my life that I needed to be molded and made more into the likeness of Him and my spouse had helped challenge me. Here are Six things that Six years of marriage has taught me:

1. Life is not about me it’s about the Lord and how we can Glorify and serve Him together through our marriage and family.
2. Contentment When things don’t go my way I need to accept that and not get mad. This is still a painful lesson for me!
3. Listen more I love when we get a moment to sit down together and listen to each others hearts and what our days entailed. I know that I can take over a conversation sometimes, and I am learning to sit and listen to my husband when he pours his heart out to me.
4. Patience is a virtue and one that I am always working on. I am a go-getter, when I want to do something, I do it. Ruben is not, he thinks through things before he acts on them. I am thankful for his patience and have learned much from him.
5. Be in the Word daily! When I study the Word, my responses toward my husband and children are more patient and understanding. I am a better wife and mother when I am immersed in God’s Word.
6. Respect- How do we talk to our husbands in public and private? Do we build him up, or tear him down? Our words are so powerful! Be careful with how you use them.

When I was single, I had a dream of what the perfect life would be like when I got married. My dream is nothing like reality; it’s better! I am thankful for the Lord and how He intervened in my dreams and made them better than I ever could have imagined. I wouldn’t trade any of it, ever!