I love to see newlyweds! It is so fun to see them set out on their life together with such tenderness, attention, and joy in each other. I wish I had the gumption to tell them to write down all the things they are feeling and love about this time in their lives together.

I wish I had. Thankfully I have some clear pictures in my head that remind me of the love and joy that Mike and I had at the beginning, that have gotten me through some yukky stuff the devil has thrown at my mind throughout the years. He has tried to twist the past to make things seem different from what the reality was.

I believe that if I had written down all the things I loved about Mike once we got engaged, married, and started our lives together I would have had even more ammunition to use when things got tough. At those times when I was upset with Mike, I could have pulled out that book of remembrances and reminded myself of all the things I love about the wonderful man I married. I believe it would have made things easier for me and I would have been able to disregard the lies that combated my mind much more easily.

One lie the devil tries to tell people is that they are the one doing the most work in or for the family. We tend to only see what we are contributing, especially when children enter the scene. I loved a post I read over on BrieGowen.com entitled What Happened When I Started Paying Attention To My Husband’s Actions!, where she talked about this very thing. It is worth the read. Bottom line is that when we stop focusing on all that we are doing and start paying attention to the contributions of others, we become more thankful and less frustrated, even when nothing has changed other than our perspective.

I challenge you to look for the contributions of others this week and maybe even make a point to thank them; I bet it would be appreciated.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº