I know, for me personally, 2012 was just a crazy year. We went through the entire 9 months of pregnancy and came out with a beautiful, bouncing, baby boy. He has quickly became one of the joys of both of our lives.
Minutes after he was born
With a new baby though comes trials and tribulations. For us it has been a lack of sleep and also lots, and I mean LOTS of crying. For the most part Cruz is a happy baby, and to most it seems that he is a great sleeper. He tends to sleep whenever we are out of the house. From the second the car leaves the garage, or the stroller is out of the driveway he sleeps and doesn't cry. Inside the doors of our home though it's a whole different story.
The one person who seems to calm him down, with her quirky personality and intense amount of energy is our daughter Kennidy. They right from the get go had a great bond, which for us was a HUGE relief. After being an only child for nearly 7 years, we weren't sure how she was going to take being a sibling, but she has done great!
My little Salt & Pepper babies.
Back to the trials and tribulations of new babies and parenthood and a serious moment of raw honesty. For us, the side affect of no sleep and crying has been arguing with each other. Not because we're mad at the other person, but, just because we are so dang frustrated. Then that frustration leads to anger and then inevitably to a fight. As you can probably tell from my last blog we don't get out very often, especially without the kids. So finding alone time together is super important, for our sanity and for the sake of our marriage. Something that we have been trying, is having our daily quite time with the Lord together. Joe is usually reading his Bible and me the same or reading a devotion. We came up with the same New Years resolution without even knowing it and then decided to just add the other person in to it. We are going to try to read the whole Bible in one year.
I seriously believe that with prayer, nothing could be better for our marriage. If you are interested (and I STRONGLY encourage you to be) to read the whole Bible in a year there is a great app for it called BiOY (Bible in One Year), they also have a website, here it is. It gives you a sequential reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, then either a Psalm or Proverb. The coolest thing about this website/app is that for every section of reading there is an explanation devotional that goes with it and a prayer attached. So all in all 3 short devotions. I know you're probably thinking "Yeesh the Bible in one year, that must be a TON of reading, the Bible is a really BIG book!" but really it tally's out to about 5 chapters a day. Another cool feature about this app is that the version of the Bible is the Message! (My personal favorite). The Message provides a current translation of what the Bible is. Pretty much instead of "Your word is a lamp unto my feet" you get "Your word is a flashlight to my feet"; it just makes it easier to understand. Even if you are not a Christian, try reading it JUST so you know what it's about :)
I recently read a quote that said
"God without man is still God, but a man without God is nothing" -Emerson.
I think this saying could be true for a marriage too, instead though it being a marriage without GOD is nothing. So my new years resolution is to incorporate God into our marriage way more in 2013 than in 2012.
Christmas 2012
ON that note; I think as a wife/mother/daughter/son/father/ you get it, it is SO important that we pray for our spouse, or future spouse, or our children's future spouses, or even our children as a spouse. How many times can I fit the word "spouse" in a sentence? I think it is crucial to pray for my husband EVERY day. So with that I bring on;
January's Challenge
to Y-O-U! Especially you wives! Since there are 31 days in the month of January I thought that this would be perfect. It is 31 days of prayer for your husband. Everyday there is a short (like one sentence) prayer for your husband followed by 2-4 short verses to read. As wives we are encouraged to bless our husbands! And what a way to do it! Sticking with the 31 theme, I also encourage you to read Proverbs 31 and see what kind of woman we should strive to be. My favorite is Proverbs 31:11-12 "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm, all the days of her life"
We wish you all a Happy New Years and a very blessed 2013!!!!
The Mendoza Family 2012
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