Let's Celebrate

Today is a day to celebrate your marriage because I do not think it is celebrated enough :)  I thought it would be great to honor what we have with our husbands or to honor someone else for the commitment you see in their marriage.  I just really love the beautiful and challenging man/woman relationship God has given us to navigate.
Please share your story!!  I want to start the week off being encouraged about other beautiful and refining marriage stories.  My hope is that the tides are changing and more marriages would stay together than to fall apart.

Our Story

I have been married to Big Daddy B for 6 years now and it has been anything but easy.  We have definitely had to work very hard at the relationship we now have today and I am sure we are going to have to keep working hard for the years to come.  We go through so many seasons that we need to continually work through the new season we have come into.  We have both had to eat alot of humble pie!!!  Most of the time the things that anger me about him are the very things I do myself.  I have chosen to let God work on me and to make me a better spouse instead wasting my time trying to change my husband.  It's a hard thing to do because you have to put down your pride, but it is most definitely worth it.

I want to take a second and honor both of our parents.  Big Daddy B's parents have been married over 30 years and mine just celebrated their 30th this year.  What a blessing it has been in our lives showing us what it looks like to work at marriage and stick it out through the thick and the thin.  My parents have weathered many storms and there is one decision that trumps all the rest.  That one decision they made has impacted the rest of my life so deeply that I do not have words to express to them the gratitude in my heart.  Big Daddy B and I have had some great examples of commitment, not perfect marriages because they do not exist.

I am really looking forward to hearing your story...please share it by posting a comment.  Below is a beloved group that God has brought together for the past year and a half.  We all did the bible study Fireproof together here at our house. (Highly recommend the movie "Fireproof")  They are five more examples of committed relationships in the sight of a Holy God that are being refined even as we speak.

Your Super Power

Being a mother of four very vibrant children always leaves me thinking of the super powers I wish I had to be able maintain sanity in our home :) Here are my top two:

1. To see through walls....I would know where each kid is at all times and what they were doing
2. To multiply 2 arms into 8 (the key here is that I can go back to 2 arms whenever I wanted to)....I would be able to be the ultimate multitasker :)

I would love to hear all of your creative responses so please share your Super Power if you have ever thought of it.

Fall in Ohio

Isn't this just beautiful? Its just one of God's amazing fingerprints here on this earth.

I have to admit I love Ohio for its four seasons of weather and at the same time sometimes I really dislike the four seasons of weather. I love when the season changes the most but the winters get kind of long. I was kind of sad this year as Ohio seemed to almost skip Fall and go right into Winter...it has just been so cold already. But God gave us a beautiful break in the weather today and tomorrow. Here are some fun pictures of the kiddos enjoying our Fall weather while it lasts for two days :)

Look how cute Little Bub and Big Daddy B are....just precious.

Above is our cute little home and below is our neighbors house. I just had to take a picture of it with the beautiful red trees.

The 60's Party

My mom and dad had their a Halloween/Fall party this year. The theme...the 60's! We originally we going to go as the Flinstones but it was way to cold to go walking around with no shoes and a sleeveless costumes so I resorted to a more creative costume. Since there are 6 of us we decided to go a the "Six" T's" to the Sixties party :) We had a fun time painting our faces and watching everyone try to figure out what we were. Good party Kone Family!!!

Below is a short little video of a couple of games the kiddos played. The doughnut on the string game is classic :)

As a Christian family, each year we are confronted with trying to figure out how to celebrate Halloween when we know its roots and with some of our convictions. My friend Kristi posted a great blog on this issue that I really appreciated.

http://runwatchplaywait.blogspot.com/2009/10/navigating-through-halloween.html

I also really liked and I identified the most with the Classic Housewife.

She said, For the past few years, we’ve put more effort into celebrating Autumn as a whole. God is sovereign over all seasons. He causes the trees and plants to die so that their seed may spread, hibernate over the winter and grow again in the spring. Not only is this symbolic of our lives in general (change is necessary, the “death” of some things is necessary for the life and growth of others) but this is also symbolic of the greatest sacrifice ever made. Jesus had to die (autumn), spend three days in the tomb (winter) in order to rise to life again (spring.) There are so many wonderful things to make, see, do, enjoy during this time of year. Many wonderful crafts to be made, activities to be done, places to go– devotionals ready at your fingertips.
The kids and I will bake cookies, do crafts, enjoy the great outdoors, and Halloween will come and go pretty much like another day. We’ll indulge in some candy, we’ll spend time with family. But we will not attend parties on that day, because for us, it’s not about Halloween itself. We all know that actions speak louder than words. Our actions and our words show what is in the heart. I want my actions and my words to show what I am celebrating, what I am truly worshiping. Not only on that day, but on every day. To that end, the Halloween “holiday” really has no true place there, you know?'

Here is more from the rest of her post:

http://www.classichousewife.com/holidays/2009/10/19/halloween-at-our-house/

Courtney posted this that I thought was helpful also.

http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2009/10/christian-view-on-halloween.html

I love how Courtney says, " So that's what we do - but like I said - I believe this is a matter of conscience so do not follow my lead here - follow your husband and the Holy Spirit. Pray and do what God lays on your heart this Halloween."

My main goal is to honor the God I love, I don't do it perfectly but it is what I want to strive for and I am trying to see where Halloween fits into this goal.