“..think about such things”

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phillippians 4:8

A lot has happened since I last posted! I started dating my friend Allen who I had a major crush on a couple months before my last post, and low and behold, he was the one I had been waiting for. We were married a year and a half later and every day has been a joyful, heart-felt adventure with this man. My outlet for spiritual thoughts has mostly been through a Wednesday night Worship service at church which I co-lead along with an amazing team. There’s more on that to come later I’m sure. What has inspired my blog renaissance was a moment with my husband this past weekend. I’m going to give y’all some advice in the wisdom of my almost three years of marriage 😂.. Marry someone who cares about what you care about, even if it’s not what they care about. If that seems like it doesn’t make sense, please keep reading. Actually, even if it does, please keep reading.

I looove makeover shows. Any kind. HGTV home makeovers, What Not to Wear, Extreme Weight Loss.. I love seeing the old being made new, restoration, people meet their goals to improve their lives and families. Allen does not give a HOOT 🦉 about these shows! He’s usually playing on one of his handheld game systems and sitting with me while I watch, throwing in a comment here and there when it catches his attention.

Last week we were, ehem, I was watching an episode of Extreme Weight Loss. In this show physical trainer and life coach Chris Powell selects one person from the many video submissions of people requesting his help to lose the weight that has caused them much suffering. Sometimes people are missing limbs, experienced great tragedy, or are so giving to the needs of their loved ones that they let their weight get out of control. Still, one by one, with Chris’ help, their lives are forever changed as they engage in a one year commitment of diet, exercise, and emotional health. They overcome obstacle after obstacle.

I was, as usual, really engaged.. this time in the story of a morbidly obese woman who wanted to be healthier so she could better take care of her young physically disabled daughter.

During a show-end commercial I was checking on our dinner in the kitchen when the show must have come back on, because Allen yelled from the living room, “Babe!! Babe!!! Come back!!!! SHE’S WEARING HEELS!!!!!!” I dropped what I was doing and ran back into the living room to see this woman whose year of transformation I had just witnessed present herself to her friends and family, looking beautiful, healthy and empowered. I felt proud of her, this stranger, in this moment.

I looked at Allen and he was smiling, looking at me. He felt joy from witnessing me experiencing joy. That is the goal of us.. to enrich the other person’s life as much as possible. Y’all there are ALWAYS dirty dishes that need to be washed and garbage that needs to be taken out in this house, but there is always kindness, too, and I’m so grateful 😊❤️

Now this brings me to the Scripture verse I posted above. I encourage you, whether it is in your marriage, friendships, or any other relationship, to “think about such things.” This verse doesn’t say what NOT to focus on.. It explains what TO focus on. Paul did not want us to get trapped among the things that disappoint us! Sometimes it is too easy to focus on what’s not going right or the habits you can’t stand. Choose to see the admirable, the lovely. Don’t let the negative distract you from experiencing and sharing joy. There are many people who may repay your kindness by using or mistreating you. That’s on them. But the good ones, if you treat them right, will always be good to you.

In Christ’s Joy,
Christina