Spring cleaning...inside...and out.

It seems like now that I have my own home, I want things to be much more clean. I don't want those baseboards to go unnoticed....or the fridge or microwave...and then there's the walls that seem to have some water drips that have made a home there. And I LOVE IT! Being newly married, we wanted to go through the different roles and duties that need to be done now that there are two of us, and I willingly volunteered to be the little housewife I feel that God created me to be. We do share many of the tasks when it comes to cleaning and picking up around the house, but when it comes down to it, I do the deep cleaning and Jason does the finances and well his list could go on:) It was fun and frustrating at time figuring out our roles. I noticed myself using the word "fair" quite often, and that just wasn't quite right either. In reading 'The Excellent Wife', I learned that God has given me as the wife a role to make this home comforting and welcoming. Especially for my family, which is Jason right now:) Each couple works through the way they want to figure out the roles, and I know of some marriages that the man does the cooking and cleaning. It's all what you both work well with.

But for me. I like to clean:) Which brings me back to reality.

Sometimes I can be a naggy wife, a grumpy wife, a wife with selfish expectaitions, and a wife that can just be plain annoying. I was reading through Proverbs this morning while eating breakfast. This is something that I was challenged with by Pastor Carman, and it's something I treasure. I leave for work being reminded of something specific each day. Here's what rocked me this morning:)

"A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping." Prov.19:13

Ha...OOPS!

Over the last few weeks I've noticed myself quite...well..."quarrelsome".

I'll come home from a great day at work, and be just a bit grumpy, naggy, wishing the house was spotless. (Even though I was blessed to marry a man that is really quite clean:) But I can have such high expectations for myself in that area, or I just like things to be a certain way, so its one of my flaws. And I need to work on that. I was convicted, which I always say is a blessing and a curse. A curse because it always makes you feel like DANG I'm a dork. And I need to change something that is so natural. A blessing because it reminds me that I cannot be lazy in my walk. I cannot be lazy in my attitude. When I get in these attitudes...and can still literally hear Mary saying to me (my high school youth pastor's wife, and great mentor at that time) Brit, you need an attitude adjustment." With a smile on her face. And I love it.

I love it!

I love that God's work hits me like it does and reminds me how I can be a better wife. It reminds me how I can be a blessing to my husband, rather than an annoying sounds like the constant drip of a faucet.

So thank you God! I pray that I can be constantly remembering this verse, and taking it seriously in my life.

Thank you Mary, for telling me over and over when I needed it in high school, and when I STILL need it, to get that attitude adjusted!

Blessings to you today. I hope you are encouraged that even though being a newlywed is wonderful, beautiful, and bliss. There are still struggles, arguments, and quarrelsome attitudes that need to be adjusted. You are not alone.

Britt