What am I here for? Part 3

I am here to seek God's kingdom, and His righteousness first, I am here to share the gospel with others, I am here to pray, praise God, rest...

6. Be a "helpmeet" to Archie. What does that mean to me? It means that I love Archie. I respect him. I support him. I encourage him in his walk with the Lord, in his work, in every area of his life. I pray for him. I challenge him to be who God wants him to be. We are a team, we work together to build our marriage, and our family. I am there for him when he needs me. I work to be understanding and forgiving. I make an effort to learn how to be there for him in every way that I can be. I want our relationship to be a beautiful representation of the relationship of Christ and His Church.

Ephesians 5:31-32 "'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

7. Raise my sons. What a huge blessing to have given birth to 4 beautiful sons! When Archie and I first married, I remember the women in the house talking about whether or not Archie and I would have boys or girls, the decided we would have "mostly" boys. They were "mostly" right, we had ALL boys! Although Silas is no longer with us, we did get to raise him for nearly 5 years, and I am so thankful that he was here for that short time. Now to get the other three raised!

Parenting boys has been one of the biggest challenges in my life for sure. It has been messy, disgusting, hard, exhausting, hilarious, precious, sweet, and very worthwhile.

Michael will be 18 in a few months. I often call him the man-child, he is a mixture of maturity and childishness, both man and boy at the same time. I see so much potential in him! Gideon at 15 is level headed and calm. He loves working with his hands and he doesn't let much bother him. Jason has been a huge challenge for me! (Shh, don't tell him, but I think he might be smarter than me). He will be 13 in 2 months. He thinks outside the box, he is a problem solver, and he has a very strong will!

I want my boys to succeed in life. I hope they all marry and have families one day, I hope they find careers that they enjoy, but more than anything else, I want them all to love Jesus and be completely devoted to Him.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart, you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

8. Encourage other women. I have had a desire to do this for many years, since my oldest two sons were very small. It is another thing I haven't always done, but it is something I am learning to be more intentional about. Though there may be some gentlemen that read this blog, in my mind, I am writing to encourage other women. (Though I hope it is encouraging to anyone who reads!).

Women need so much encouragement, we need encouragement in work, in marriage, in raising children, in navigating relationships, in homemaking, in homeschooling, in taking care of our health,.... the list goes on and on. Most importantly though, we need to encourage each other to keep our eyes on Jesus, to walk with Him and talk with Him daily. This life is so busy, and it is so VERY easy to get off track, we need to take time to connect with other women in order to build each other up. We need to be there for each other. I want to do that.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing."
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So these are the reasons I am here, these are the things I know I am supposed to be doing. Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, sharing the gospel with others, praying, praising, resting, being a helpmeet to my husband, raising my children, and encouraging other women. This is enough! I don't do all of these things perfectly all of the time, but I am growing. God is faithful, and if I trust and obey, He will do the work, and He will be glorified in my life.