Hiya blog-loving girlfriends!! Are you all rested and refreshed after a wonderful Lord's Day? I am, or, was; but it's Monday night and I'm tired. Tired in a good way, I think. The kids and I had a busy day- grocery shopping and various errands combined with a full day of schoolwork and musical theater (or, theatre) class for Harrison- and now the "hub" (that's husband for future reference) and I are talking with a friend and blogging, respectively. By the way, how in the world does he do it? Blog on a regular basis, that is. I reckon I could ask him, being as how he is right here, but I am still blown away. Really, ladies, check out his blog; it is muy fantastico!!

Speaking of the Lord's Day (yesterday)- and we were, remember? right up at the top?- ours was a little unique. After the worship service, we were able to attend a birthday party of a friend, David (husband of Rebecca; father of Gabrielle, Noah and Luke). After all the festivities and after the kids hit that post-play comatose state, we all sat down for a time of honor toward and encouragement to David, the birthday boy, uh, man. This is so great- I am sooo stealing this idea- and it goes something like this: You think of a time when, say, you have seen evidences of grace in a person's life and just use that as a verbal expression of encouragement to that person. For example, many of us could remember times when David had sacrificed his comfort and convenience to minister to his wife, Becca. We could then encourage him that it is God's grace working in him to enable him to love his wife in this way. I think you get the picture. But do you see how we can use this in our everyday lives to honor our own husbands? What a source of refreshing encouragement we can be to our dear men who do so much for us!! If your husbands are anything like mine- and I am very biased- then it is clear that they lay down their lives to provide for us and our collective children. I am glad that burden is not mine because I could not begin to excel in that area like Rob does.

So ladies, let's be intentional about honoring our husbands. Let's be such a source of encouragement that worry or despair will not gain a foothold with our men. And hey, don't just stop at encouraging words!! Smooches, and the like, can be waaaaaaaay more effective at times!

Until next time...

dearth (noun) scarcity or lack