Prayer for Marriage

Prayer for Marriage
Kay Arthur

(Excerpted from Prayers to Bless Your Marriage. Copyright © 2003 by Kay Arthur. Used by permission of Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. All rights reserved.)

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1

Earlier, we began a "Prayer for Marriage." Beloved, whether you're newlyweds just beginning to travel the road of life together or if you've been married for many years, learning to talk to your spouse can enrich your life and deepen the bonds of your marriage. God is the master communicator, and we can come to Him to be instructed and taught in the art of communicating effectively with the one He has given us. Let's continue this prayer:

Father, whenever we communicate, help us to uphold the priority of our marriage, permitting no other relationship to weaken ours. May the word "divorce" never be formed on our tongue, never pronounced with our lips. May it never be considered as a viable option-for it strikes terror in the heart, fear and anger in the mind, and anxiety to our souls. And it grieves Your holy heart.

May we always, in all our conversations, uphold the oneness of our marriage, understanding that what affects one always affects the other.

May we allow open and honest communication, encourage vulnerability and authenticity. May we never be guilty of breaking each other's spirit. Rather, may we affirm and strengthen one another so that together we can endure any weakness, any failure and not lose hope.

Father, help us to sharpen our communication skills. Teach us to communicate with our eyes-to convey our delight in the other's presence, to say, "I love you," to let our loved one know even in a crowded room, "You're special to me." Remind us to give each other the gift of our full attention when we talk.

Teach us to respond to what is said so that our mate knows he or she is being heard. Help us to keep a confidence, to build a wall of trust so that we are free to share all that is in our hearts. And as we listen, Lord, help us to avoid giving quick or pat answers. Help us to listen patiently. Remind us that our loved one does not always want advice. Sometimes we just want to be heard; to say it, and to get it off our chest.

Father, may we feel the freedom to open up and share our fears. Sometimes it is so difficult to admit weakness or fear, but we need to be able to talk to someone—and of all people, it should be our spouse. May we also know that we don't always have to dispel each other's fear-nor should we think we must have the cure. May we just learn to listen. . .listen and pray.

Father, we all need to have that sense of significance, of worth, of security, so teach us to continually look for ways, for words in private and in public, to build our loved one's self-esteem. When one of us shares with the other, may we learn not to attack each other verbally. May the goal of all our conversations be for the building up of one another, the healing of one another, and the encouragement of one another so our loved one will want to talk, to communicate. May our words never be demeaning or destructive.

And finally, Father, when our tempers flare, may we make it a practice not to lay our heads on our pillows and close our eyes until we have resolved our anger. You tell us very clearly, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."

As we look at the one lying on the pillow beside us, may we remember that this is the one to whom we made our vows to love in sickness and in heath, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part.

Help us realize, Father, that a marriage like the one we prayed for is a marriage that speaks to all the world of the power and indestructible joy of living in obedience to the Word of God. A marriage that demonstrates to the world that with You it is possible to have a marriage without regrets; a marriage that gives others a snapshot of the marriage of the Lamb and the heavenly home You have prepared for us.

Retrived from crosswalk

We are united as one!

We are a team and the best partners!Thanks for being an awesome man of god!I can shoulder all your burdens through Christ!

Today's reflection on marriage refreshed on how I can serve and love BB more. I thought these 3 questions are good reminders for the wives:

1. What did I love about my husband when we meet?
My answer:
His steadfastness
HIs honesty
His integrity
His generosity
His patience
His gentleness
His compassion
His openess
His adventurous
His determination
His humility
( Wohoho.coming up with this list is effortless, BB)

2. When will I make time for him today?
Through prayers in devotionals

3.How can I show him that I love him?
By being a very good active listener ( WIP)
Be always encouraging and supportive in all things
Cook nice meals
Build a warm and organized home for him

Dollar weak, more visitors for me ..hoho

Backtracking to Kenneth's visit two weeks ago. We were at Brooklyn bridge and had the best pizza in NYC-Grimaldi.
Clear sign of the US dollars going weaker and the economy going into recession---More visitors for me from Singapore!!Wohoho. More to come.

Susan Koman Breast Cancer Run

On June 7th, I took a cheap chinatown bus and went down to DC Washington to visit Steve and Carol. I also took this opportunity to take part in the nation wide Susan Koman Breast Cancer Run. There were about 250 thousand runners that day and with the temperature hitting high at 40 degree celsius and relative high humidity, the initial start to the run was unbearable. But, knowing that I am running for a good cause ( all donations will be proceeded to Breast Cancer Research), I persevered. Along the way, there were a few times i wanted to stop.( I am not a good runner)But I thought about how mum had battled the fight and finished the race.And I realised I needed to run with "good faith" as well.So I kept visualizing that I would hit the finishing line and try to overcome this mental barrier. I am glad I did! Steve felt bad that he did not get me the pink shirt which said,"in memory of your love ones". I told him that its absolute alright. Because i felt it was not about the "physical material" but was the "spritual" that was more important. I felt her presence, her indomitable spirit when I ran.
She would always be with me wherever I go.
Pictures

After all

Can't get over the song " After all".
Listen to the lyrics clearly and really want to make you cry.Video of the movie" Notebook" and Peter Cetera

Plus 1 again!Surprise Surprise

So I am officially one year older on June 11th!!
BB made a video for me.Guess what's my initial reaction.
Me: Hey how come you put in all the fat and ugly pictures ??
BB: Hahah...Now it proved that I did not go by looks
Me: The video is not accurate. We had a longer history than that and they are not in chronological order...
BB: hahah,hey i can't put everything in lah..the file is too big to send over to you
Me: We definitely went more places than that..and also resolution very bad
BB: You come back and I show u the one on desktop
Me: And the words disappear too fast, I can't see some of them
BB: Mmmm....

Of course I ended off something nice..but not that nice as well
Me: Thanks anyway babyface...really appreciate it....though i think u copy my idea of doing a scrapbook for you on your birthday except yours is digital. ( competitive side of me emerging)
BB: Sigz.

hahah, can't believe I am so anal and notice so many things about the video. Actually, I am very thankful for this video because BB usually would not do such "creative" stuff so I really appreciate him for making an attempt amidst his busy schedule.As such, my acts of appreciation are:
WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO FOR 15 TIMES CONSECUTIVELY
REPEATING THE LAST PART OF THE VIDEO WITH THE SONG "AFTER ALL" FOR 20 TIMES
TEARING AND USING UP TISSUE PAPER WHEN I THINK OUR JOURNEY WAS EXACTLY WHAT " AFTER ALL DESCIBE"
SEND HIM MULITPLE EMAILS AND BOMB HIM WITH MY SUDDEN SURGE OF APPRECIATION AND FEELINGS AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEO



And then, my friends gave me a surprise birthday celebration. I am so terribly touched and it really surprise me coz since young, I always prefer to be low key about birthday celebration. I had this weird phobia of people singing birthday song for me and hate to be the center of attention. So when I stepped into the room without realising anything, I was so surprise that I was almost speechless. Felt almost like a celebrity!Watch this video:
I just keep rattling on nonsensical stuff,mentioning how well Erica has lied through the entire thing.( Erica and I were suppose to just have a dinner plan together and she even made me dressed up. I guess I blend in with the hawai theme in the end. Notice how dark I am now...super duper hot now..39-40 degrees celsius )
I am so thankful that my friends made an effort to spend time to come up with a mini party for me. Totally unxpected!!And all the efforts in making the decoration,ripping my facebook profile picture, flowers, ballons, good spread of food and drinks and baking my first personal cake!!Seriously, I am almost move to tears!!Nobody has baked a cake for me before. And Vera took 6 hours to bake that super duper delicious cake. I am seriously touched.
Thank you my dear friends. You guyz had made such a memorable birthday for me this year. The past year has been rough but you guyz have been such a good support. I am so thankfulthat I met you all!!
More pictures here

Eagles Concert

Alright,my first concert in Madison Square Garden !Eagles Rock! Crowd was definitely different,I am almost one of the youngest there!But they were so good that i wished I had learn guitar and jammed their songs. Gosh,so good...and sad to say, my camera ran out of battery and I managed to find some videos online which were very close to the one I am attending.Enjoy Desparado and Hotel Califonia...Don Henley Rocks!

James' farewell

We had another farewell gathering for James who would be leaving for a mission to Japan in two days time. Oh well...it seemed like people in our small group as what Bob had described were all around the world doing mighty works of the kingdom. First with Jane traveling to Honululu for her discipleship training and then a year mission in Southeast Asia, now James in Japan working with the high school students ministry and soon in later part of the year, Theresa will be in Jordan, Julie will be in North Korea and Bob will be in Australia!! I am so encouraged by my brothers and sisters.They really took a leap of faith and stepped out of the comfort zone to serve the lord and his people. SO lord,I prayed that you will bless my brothers and sisters while they are out of the mission fields with good health, boldness to reach out to people through your love and spritual discipline to keep rooted in your word.I also asked you to open doors of opportunities for me to serve you in any way in your timing.Prepare my heart,soul and mind as you geared me up for the work which you have prepared for me.Amen.p.s James just sent all of us his latest updates on his prayer request.In order to help us to remember what to pray for him, he sent us a wallpaper to remind us his requests:

Summer Central Park Walk

You can imagine how much I love Central Park.Here I am with my friends again!This time round, with a change in weather, I started wearing my flowy sundresses and skimmers to get ready for the hot swaltering weather.Another reason for me to dress up for the season!Yeah!

Columbia Picnic

Summer is coming. I love it because I love the sun!! We had been counting down to good weather everyday and with temperature hitting the 70s, we knew we had to head outdoors to enjoy the fabulous weather. As such,we went for our first picnic.We brought picnic mat, some home cooked fried rice and curry.YP brought her MAC along to play some Joshua Bell music.We happily lounged under a shady tree on the campus and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.CS and me dozed off after attempting to read our books while YP was busy working on her work.Ooohhh....I love having picnic and spending my time like this. This indeed is simple life pleasure.I want to do more of this!A picture of me feeling really please of myself during the picnic and after a run along Riverside Park before that..