Does music affect an infant?

I just had to complete this assignment for school. I thought it was very interesting and I wholeheartedly believe music helps maintain a pleasant atmosphere! I thought I would share it with you. Let me know what you personally think about this thought!

Case Study of how Classical Music Affects the Behavior of an Infant. 

The male infant that I am doing this case study on lives at home with his Father, Mother, and older sister. This infant is currently 6 months old. He is generally a happy, well-behaved child but is still learning to self-soothe and amuse himself during playtime. If he catches sight of his mother, he will fuss until he either no longer can see her or he distracts himself with some other interest. Generally, he will play happily with his older sister for about 20-30 minutes at the longest before fussing and needing attention from his mother. Due to teething, a cold, and becoming accustomed to a great deal of holding this infant has become less adapted to self-soothing and generally fussier. I believe that classical music can affect the behavior of an infant to promote a more calm, pleasant behavior. In my case study, I found that it does indeed have a positive effect on the behavior of this infant. I chose to do a case study due to the limited number of children that I could observe due to the time limit on this research.

This infant follows a regimented schedule. He wakes up at 7:00-7:30 every morning, plays for 30 minutes, eats breakfast, returns to play for another hour or so, then naps around 10:00AM. After his nap, he eats again which is followed by another time of play with his sister. Another nap occurs around 1:00PM at the same time as his older sister. When he awakens, he plays until he is ready to eat, approximately around 3PM. After eating, he spends time with his dad, mom, and older sister. The family eats together around 5:30PM. More family time follows with play, music, and reading. Bath time takes place before bed around 7:00 PM, and lights are out at 7:30PM. In summation, this infant has the security of a schedule and a loving home. He gets a great deal of sleep which greatly assist in good behavior and the health of this infant.

I have carefully observed this infant for the past 4 days. I kept many things constant and changed only one factor: Music, or no music. The constants were as follows: roughly sticking to the same schedule, mother was not present in the room during playtime, toys were plenteous, plays with sister in the same room, quiet home. My observations are carefully laid out in the following paragraph.

Tuesday: No music

The infant woke up fussy and needed to be fed immediately. Meal time he was well behaved and ate a great deal. When placing him down for playtime in the room, he immediately began crying and didn’t self-soothe for 7-10 minutes. He was constantly fussing, crying and not pleased with playtime. After naptime, he played for 20 minutes with his sister before becoming too upset and needing mom’s attention. At bedtime, he went to sleep after a couple minutes of fussing, however, he woke several times at night needing attention.

Wednesday: Music

The infant woke up and played in the floor with his sister for a good 30 minutes before breakfast. Music was started as soon as he was taken out of bed. His mood was pleasant and non-demanding. After breakfast, he returned to play for another hour and a half before needing attention. He was not fussy and self-entertained for the entire time. Naptime came and he fussed for 1 minute after being put down. He then self-soothed and fell asleep. He did well playing again once he awoke and only fussed when he was hungry or in need of a diaper change. When put to bed that night, he fussed for 3 minutes before self-soothing and falling asleep.

Thursday: No music

Infant woke happy and ready to play. He played for a few minutes before breakfast. At breakfast, he was fussy and impatient wanting to eat a great deal. When he was put down for playtime with his sister he immediately began to fuss. Five minutes after mom leaving the room, he begins to play and to stop fussing. Four minutes later he begins angry burst of cries, basically angry jabbering. He continues to play while inserting an angry cry every few minutes. Around 20 minutes after placing him down to play, his mother picked him up due to his lack of self-soothing. The infant was then put down for a nap, which he cried for 3 minutes before self-soothing. He continues to talk to himself for another 10 minutes before falling asleep. Before bedtime, the infant was fed, sung to, and held for about 5 minutes. He was then laid in the crib where he cried and fussed for 5 minutes before self-soothing. Another 5 minutes passed and he was sleeping.

Friday: Music

Infant woke happy and content. He played for around 20 minutes before breakfast. He ate happily and wasn’t impatient when eating. When placed in room for playtime with his sister he fussed for a minute before entertaining himself with his toys. He played with no fussing or crying from 10:40-11:41 AM. At that time, he was ready to eat and Nap. Naptime was a success with no fussing or crying when placed in the crib. He awoke happy and continued to have a contented attitude for the rest of the day. Bedtime came and he fussed for about 2 minutes before self-soothing.

 

Overall, I felt that the classical music influenced the infant’s behavior in a calming, pleasant manner. He was more content to play with his sister and didn’t fuss near as much when music was played during the day. The music took away the tension and need for attention, and produced a calm atmosphere for the infant to feel secure and happy in. Classical music with its rhythm and melody raises the level of serotonin produced in our brain. Because it is a neurotransmitter, which produces and maintains joyous feelings, serotonin reduces tension! I believe in the science of it all, and my home reflects that. On most days, one can find music playing throughout our home, promoting pleasant moods and behavior!  

 

 

Hand-crafted Jewelry

Hello friends! I have decided to delve into crafting some jewelry again! I am offering the earrings for sale at $9.99 each and the bird nest necklace for $18.99 each. If you are interested in buyin…

Source: Hand-crafted Jewelry

Delving Deeper Journals

I have shared on here before that I’ve started journaling my bible time. This year for Christmas I gifted these journals to several people including family and friends. I wanted to offer it on here to anyone who would like to use it. I am going to be selling it for $20 to anyone who is interested. This journal has helped me greatly and I hope it will be a blessing to you as well. ❤ I attached some preview pages so you can have an idea what it is like. Please do not copy or print them, you may purchase them through me.

 

The adventure begins…

Well, the beginning of this year has just flown by. I can hardly believe we are already a week into 2017. We have officially moved! I knew that it was going to be an adventure moving here to Tampa, but I didn’t know how quickly that adventure would begin. We packed up our home in Fort Myers and drove it here to Tampa on Saturday, December 31, 2016. Upon arriving we had to wait for almost 3 hours to get the key to get into our apartment due to a mix up on numbers on the apartment we were assigned to. We felt terrible because the sweet guy who helped us move here for free had to wait a great while before he could get back on the road. He was so nice and had a great attitude about it. He stood around telling us stories of when he and his wife went to college and some of the trials and experiences they had gone through. He really encouraged us! We finally got everything inside and began unpacking. Thankfully my sister, Hannah, was a sweet blessing to us as she drove up to Tampa with us and stayed until Monday helping me unpack. We made great progress unpacking as we had been able to pack in an organized manner. Adam went out and bought some sparkling grape juice to celebrate bringing in the New Year. We made it to about 10 pm, and we were all laughing about silly things and pretty much going out of our minds from lack of sleep. We attempted to play a game together which was a complete fail and we finally decided to bring in the new year early and go to bed. This plan didn’t work out too well though. Kerri was not only adjusting to a new room, but she was also so scared of the firecrackers that were going off everywhere. That made for an interesting night of calming her down and teaching her that firecrackers were not something to fear. (Now she hears a noise and wants to go look out the window at the “fireflies”.) The next day was full of encouraging services and excitement to be in our new church. Kerri Krista loved her new class and didn’t even want to leave. (They have every kid’s dream nursery. Cool toys, a huge room, and lots of little ones to play with.)  We did experience a bit of homesickness as well. We are going to desperately miss our home church, Gospel Baptist. However, we know they are always there for us and that we are in their prayers. We are thankful to only be a few hours away so we can visit. Monday, we woke up ready to get working on advertising our businesses and to finish unpacking. Thankfully my sister Hannah stuck around till I went grocery shopping. She helped tremendously with the kids. That night, the craziness began. I had put Kerri bathed, put to bed, and gotten her calmed down again from more firecrackers going off when I heard her throwing up. I went through the process of cleaning her up and back to bed when it happened again. This time, I knew it wasn’t going to stop so we spent the rest of the night till 3am holding her and cleaning her up. The poor girl was a trooper. She would throw up then say “watch movie?” and go back to watching the show. The next day it was Seth’s turn. He threw up all day and didn’t leave my arms for the majority of the day. Around 2pm, the bug got me. It was miserable. When you are a mommy, you simply don’t have time for sickness especially the debilitating kind. This bug takes all your energy, makes you dizzy, makes you lose everything in your stomach and more, and gives you the worst migraine. Then our toilet started overflowing everywhere, all the clothes were soiled from throwing up and moving, the lights wouldn’t work and I started seeing roaches in our apartment. (that’s another story about a fight I have already had to fight. ) I was so disappointed because all of this hit just as soon as I was planning on reading through the bible in 100 days which means I would need to read at least 12 chapters a day. That certainly couldn’t happen with all of this going on. I had to miss Wednesday night services due to throwing up everywhere, and my attitude was having serious problems. I was discouraged and I couldn’t be in my bible due to being so dizzy. I did listen to some though. I had a wrong attitude towards my husband and the devil started laughing. He thought he was going to win. Adam was a trooper though. He helped me clean up the throw up every time and he had a great attitude. I’m saying all of this to say… Yes, the devil may have kicked me down and discouraged me through this time of bodily weakness but I am going to fight him right back! I know that the devil is trying to: get me away from my time with God so I’ll be spiritually weak; put a wall up between my husband and I so our marriage will struggle; and he is trying to discourage me to think God is failing me. However, guess what? I know better. God has been SO good to us. He has provided for us through so many godly people who have been a blessing to us, and He has opened so many doors for us. We are going to learn some serious lessons about faith in the next couple of months, but HE has NEVER failed us and I know HE never will. So basically, this is a reminder to the Devil that our family is NOT going to back down nor are we going to stop serving our LORD of LORDS! He is so Faithful and we are going to be faithful to Him. He is our strength and we will be victorious in Him. Adam had orientation yesterday and he is so excited to start classes! This adventure is going to be so great. I am looking forward to drawing closer to God and the strength that he is going to give our family. The devil cannot and will not steal our peace or our security in our Father. Thankfully I got the laundry caught up today, my house is so much cleaner, our toilet was fixed, and the babies and I are feeling so much better. We are getting the house sprayed and Adam is starting to feel better. Hopefully by next week we will be good as new. God is good and the adventure is just beginning! Thank you all for your prayers, we desperately covet them. A sweet godly lady gave me a special reminder before I left, to begin each day with a grateful heart. I am learning that, and keeping that reminder close to my heart. We have many things to be grateful for: We already have found a godly, encouraging couple that we are going to be good friends with; God gave Adam several jobs already and he has a couple more lined up; I have had a couple of people interested in booking a photo session; He has provided for all our needs; the apartment complex supervisors are extremely nice and helpful (They even allowed us to put a flyer in their welcome packet) ; The bug that we caught only lasted about 2 days; our new apartment is roomy and has nice closets! Kerri is also very excited to be here. She is always saying, “new house?” “new church?” “new friends?” She is adjusting well, even though she misses familiar faces. I am going to attempt at writing a short post every week to update on how the Lord is working in our lives. If you are interested in receiving notices for these, simply follow our blog and you will receive them in your email. We appreciate your love, encouragement and prayers!

{Excuses} Excuses…

I would like to think that I have learned a great deal in my 3 years of marriage. We are still considered newly weds to some folks, but our relationship has definitely grown majorly. One of the things that I have yet to master is to not make excuses for myself. My natural reaction to anything my husband says to me is to make up some sort of excuse for why it is that way. I am VERY good at coming up with things too. This is mostly all “reflex” or a “knee jerk” reaction. See? That was an excuse. I’m so good at this. My husband has been a wonderful example to me of how to react correctly in situations that one would want to make an excuse to further explain their actions. He has taught me in his own actions that ii should  simply take the correction, rebuke, or instruction with no more than an, “ok” or “I’m sorry”. It is not easy to simply swallow the excuses and let your reasons go unheard. In my mind, my reasons might be logical, but they are going to go unheard and my husband is going to feel disrespected when I am constantly giving them instead of humbling myself to simply say “ok”.  In the bible, there is never a situation where an excuse was the correct response. The first woman, Eve, made the excuse that the serpent beguiled her so she would eat of the forbidden fruit. Did her excuse take away the consequences of her sin? No. She still had consequences for her actions. She did not take responsibility, humble herself, and repent.

Genesis 3:13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Another great man of God, Moses, was giving God excuses why God shouldn’t use him to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. God clearly got upset when Moses kept giving Him excuses. God took Moses’ excuses, proved them all wrong, and reprimanded him quite thoroughly. God wanted to use Moses and only Moses for this task, but Moses chose to use excuses and not trust that God was bigger than His insecurities. In doing so, Moses gave away part of the blessing that he could have had all of.

Exodus 4:10-14

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I [am] not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand [of him whom] thou wilt send.

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

My husband is truly a picture of Christ in our home when I struggle with giving excuses. He takes my excuses, proves them to be wrong and is saddened that I would use them. He feels disrespected and upset that I wouldn’t just obey and trust that he knows best. Many times I feel that I have good reasons for doing the things that I do, however making excuses is never the right action to take. What helps me the most in remembering to not make excuses is thinking of Jesus standing before His accusers. I am most certainly not in the position that He was as He was blameless and without excuse. I am not blameless and I sin and fail a great deal. However, He is our example. He stood before His accusers and “Opened not His mouth”. Jesus had the best excuses around and He could have proved Himself right in an instant. Yet, He opened not his mouth so that He could die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Wow. What love.

Isaiah 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

This is an area that I am asking God to work on me. I don’t want to make excuses anymore. I don’t want to excuse: my sin, my lack of devotion to witness, my lack of humbleness when correction is given, my actions, or anything else. I want to be like Jesus. I want to open not my mouth. I also don’t want to miss out on God using me because of my insecurities. I don’t want to make excuses to God that will take away the blessings that He has in store for me. Do you struggle in this area? Leave me a comment if you have grown in this area and share how God has helped you overcome the sin of excuses. If you want to hear a silly but very true song about excuses, follow this link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGBIOEf7ro

Are you {Starving?}

Finding balance is one the biggest things that I struggle with. It is a daily battle for me. There are so many things competing for my attention, my time, my efforts. I am a child of God, a wife, a mother of two, a college student, a photographer and designer. I love every single one of these roles and I wouldn’t change them for anything. When I started school and my side business, I promised God, my husband, and myself that it would be not become dominant in our lives. God is first, my husband next, and my children close behind. However, when it comes down to the nitty gritty of everyday life, it’s a constant decision to choose priorities. Do I edit photo’s all night or do I stop and spend some time delving deeper into scripture and talking with Jesus? Do I spent hours nit-picking a design piece, and grow frustrated with my kids who aren’t behaving because I am slacking on correction and discipline due to being distracted. Life is definitely all about balance. Since I started my business, every day I have given it to God. If He wants to bless and grow it, so be it. If not, I want His will because He knows what is best for me and my family. I am saying all of this to say that I fail. A lot. I don’t always put God first. It’s amazing how quickly my emotions and outlook changes when I am failing to spend the proper amount of time in God’s presence and learning from His Word. These last two weeks full of deadlines, finals, and craziness has found me faltering in my resolve to spend a good amount of time with Jesus. I have been reading a Christmas reading list of scripture, but I haven’t been filled up on it. These are a small devotion and a verse. Before God was giving me so much I was almost choking on it! I didn’t have room on my devotional page for everything He was showing me. So now that I haven’t been delving deep and gleaning much more than a few grains of truth, I feel hungry and grumpy from lack of satisfying food. My fault. My lack of balance in this area of my life.  So we all know that we fail. A LOT. Am I using that as a way to excuse myself? In no way shape or form. I simply want to show you how faithful God proves Himself to be to me ALL THE TIME. Hosea 14:4 is a healing balm,

“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”

No matter how many times I fail God, if I have a tender, repentant heart that seeks to please and live for Him, He will heal me and love me freely! His love for me is NOT dependent on how I act!! Thank the Lord! When I spend time with my Lord, He is constantly showing me how He truly thinks-not how I think He thinks. He shows me truth and gives me peace about making some tough decisions that are not popular with most people. When I am not delving deep into His Word or talking to Him, He can’t comfort me with His truth and I start doubting my decisions because it makes people upset. I’m a people pleaser and God is trying to change me into a God pleaser. In the last year, I have had to make several of those hard decisions. I have found that God has called us to be a peculiar people and do peculiar things for His glory. He has a purpose and a reason. One of those things is separating myself from those who aren’t wise, or who are actively living in rebellion to God.

Proverbs 13:20 “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

I love the hope that God gives me in Philemon 1:15,

“For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldst receive him forever.”

I may have to cease communication and fellowship with certain people for  now, but maybe I can have them forever because I choose to obey God’s leading now. This probably makes no sense to you guys, but I’m simply encouraging you to do what God calls you to do even if it is peculiar and no one else understands. It’s not an easy thing to do. The Christian life is impossible for us to live, without God. He is the one who gives us the strength and guides of way through this world that is not our home. We are just passing through!

Matthew 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

I can’t do this crazy thing called life on my own. My future is so unknown right now. We are moving in less than 20 days and we don’t have a job lined up or a place to live. What do we have? A GREAT GOD who is Faithful and has never failed us. He is teaching me not to depend on myself which I struggle with a lot. I am a go getter and a planner. I love to get things done. However, He is much better at seeing the whole picture and knowing what is best for us. I am so glad He is with me to lead me along the way. It’s amazing how His Word will renew and revive our hearts again! If you are feeling down, stop and make sure you are spending enough time with Jesus-reading His word and talking with Him. Don’t starve yourself, gorge yourself on His word.

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusteth in Him, and I am helped.

 

{Still} Learning

Today was a beautiful thanksgiving day. I cannot imagine being more blessed. God has been so wonderfully good to me and my family. This Thanksgiving was the first that we were going to be “on our own”. Mom was here last year and most of the family was together. I had help with preparations and things went smoothly. As Thanksgiving day approached this year, I was a little bit daunted as I hadn’t cooked a turkey on my own as of yet. Thankfully, Hannah was with us this year and she was a huge help with preparing the fixing for our feast. I didn’t burn anything, Thank the Lord! Adam had to work this morning, then he came home and hung out until the meal was prepared. I had this idea in my head that we could spend Thanksgiving day away from electronics as I felt it would nice to have some family time together-talking, eating, and playing some games. However, Adam wanted to watch movies and relax when he got home. After sitting down to our feast, I waited with bated breath to hear the comments about the meal. I was setting expectations again for my husband, unfortunately. He gave me his true opinion and it was not the glowing review that my heart desired. He did speak what he thought, and enjoyed his meal. However, what I wanted was praise, praise and compliments. By the end of the meal, the kids were tired and off to bed, Hannah went to talk to her boyfriend, and Adam and I needed a come to Jesus meeting. He and I sat down to talk-neither of us having a wonderful attitude. Shocking, I know…on a day we set aside to give thanks we are sitting there displeased with each other. This is why I wanted to share our situation with you. Putting expectations on your spouse, expecting them to act a certain way or do certain things will not end well. First off, it is not exactly fair as they do not know those expectations, and they are going to fail you because they are human. By the time Adam and I finished our discussion we realized that we each had different expectations for how our thanksgiving holiday should go. In his home, they relaxed, watched movies and ate while enjoying each others company. In my home, we talked, spent time with family, cooked, and then possibly watched a movie. We had to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t fair to set expectations in each other without communicating those wants and desires. We also realized that our home isn’t going to be exactly how we fondly remember our childhood holidays. We have to make our own traditions and holiday memories! Adam apologized and thanked/praised me for a good thanksgiving meal and I asked his forgiveness for nagging him and not being understanding of his desires as well. Just another lesson learned in this journey of love and life! I’m thankful for each day I have with my loving husband so we can continue to learn and grow together. These things might seem so simple, but a little disagreement takes the peace and unity away from our home. Those  are the things we prize most. Unity and Peace. Communication and Forgiveness is a must for these to live in our hearts and home. ❤ Thank you Lord for the life you’ve given to us. Thank You for our little bundles of joy! We spent the rest of our day resting, watching “Home Alone” and enjoying each other. Hannah and I even braved a little Black Friday shopping with a Peppermint mocha in hand. I found a few deals, came home, put my babies to bed (Adam included) and transformed my home into a Christmas wonderland! 😉 On a small scale as we are moving soon. Christmas presents are wrapped and under the tree, and yet I still have energy flowing through my veins at 1:20AM. I’m off to spend some time with my Jesus. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so BLESSED! 

{Have a mind of your own!} Should I?

Ever heard the phrase, “have a mind of your own!”? In this society that we live in, we are constantly being force fed the idea that we as women have the right to speak our mind and let our opinions be known. Submission is a word that is looked down upon, and those who practice it are pitied! They are said to have “dictator” husbands who don’t allow their wives to use the brain that God gave them. Well, unfortunately women, part of the curse that Eve brought upon us was that our desire should be to our husbands.

Genesis 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

God requires wives to obey their husbands. Now, believe me, this is one of the most challenging tasks that I face daily due to my sin nature. Even when the things Adam asks me to do make sense and are perfectly logical, something inside me wants to fight against it. My pride probably. Our homes require us to obey this command that God gives. He does not do so without reason. In everything God creates, there is a chain of command. In this chain of command: Christ is subject to God the Father, our husbands are subject to Christ, and we are subject to our husbands.

1Corinthians 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Our position in this chain of command does not alter our worth. It is NO SHAME to be subject to our husbands, rather it is commendable because in doing so we are obedient to the One who gave us everything, breathed life into us, and gave His own life that we might live eternally in Heaven with Him. God gave husbands and wives different roles because He created them uniquely for the tasks set for them. A woman is FAR different than a man, contrary to what this world believes these days. We are different in our body, our emotions, our interest, our abilities, our thinking: not inferior-different. Adam always discusses his decisions with me, and we bounce ideas back and forth. He doesn’t view me as a dumb, housemaid. He values my opinion, especially when he asks for it. Sometimes when I give it too freely, it’s not as prized. 😉 When Eve stepped out of the chain of command, she messed up big time! We like to believe that we as women are more spiritually minded, however the Bible clearly says that we are more easily deceived! Perhaps it is because we think more emotionally, but without the balance of a man’s logical thinking we can be led astray. Many times the thought, “this isn’t fair”, has run through my head when faced with the decision to obey my husband. I know I need to, but it seemed as if I didn’t have any rights! That’s when I have to stop myself and give myself a resounding slap to the face. I DON’T have any rights! I lost all rights when I sinned. If I was given what I deserved, I would be burning in a Lake of Fire in eternal torment, forever separated from Jesus Christ. Because I have accepted the free gift that Jesus gave to me when He died on the cross to pay the debt I could never pay, I have no rights. I owe everything to Christ.

1Peter 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Peter 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

I am not my own anymore, I am a slave to Christ. I was a slave bound to sin, but He took my sin, forgave me, and now I live to serve and please Him.

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Corinthians 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We have a tremendous example to follow. We are to be in subjection, like Jesus was. Jesus submitted himself to the torturing, the mocking, the railing, the suffering of the cross-and he reviled not. He is my example, whether my husband is sweet and loving, or harsh and mean. I no longer must be a slave to sin which gives me no peace nor rewards, I get to be a slave for Christ, an adopted heir to reign with Christ! I am not going to agree with everything that my husband does. That is a given. However, I can choose to react in a respectful, obedient manner. When Adam and I first married, we were both figuring out what convictions and standards we were going to follow in our home. I had some that I knew I was to follow, but some Adam and I weren’t on the same page with. I did not bombard him, harassing him to change his views. I simply prayed, waited, and respected the standards that my husband did set. Doing so gave him confidence to lead his home, and he took the responsibility seriously because he must stand before God one day to give account for his family. I do not want that responsibility. It may seem hard to obey and submit to everything my husband ask of me, but it is a much more daunting task to make all of the huge decisions and to give account for everything this family does. We should make it our goal each day to make that responsibility easier for our husbands. I want Adam’s heart to safely trust in me, and to know that I am always going to submit to whatever God has asked him and our family to do. I want to be in complete surrender to God and to my husband. This is not a popular decision or stand, however this is a command God gives us, and I want to please Him. “Having a mind of your own” is a dangerous philosophy as the Bible states in…

Romans_8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rather, let us have the mind of Christ…

Romans_12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I want to please the Lord, so no matter how challenging it may be at times to submit my flesh to obey my husband, I am choosing each day to count it an honor to do so! I am grateful to have a husband who is courageous enough to lead our home, no matter how challenging it may be from day to day. We need more men who are willing to stand up and be the spiritual leaders in their home and lead them onward to serve the Lord. We need more women who live only to please the Lord by submitting their hearts and lives to obey their husbands fully. I’m purposing in my heart to be grateful each day for the opportunity to please my Lord by obeying my husband and respecting the role God has given him to fill. Will you join me in doing the same for your husband?

Hosea 1 {Meditations}

      As this year is quickly ending, I find my thoughts going over what has taken place throughout these last 12 months. I cannot believe it is already almost the new year again. Time seems to fly by faster with every passing day. I want to say how grateful I am for all the lessons that God has taught me. There is so much He has taught me and even more that I want to learn. Is the learning process easy? Painless? Oh, my, No. I sometimes wish that were so. God has been showing me some great things in my bible study, and I felt like it would be selfish to keep them to myself. I’ll start sharing what He has been showing me, so hopefully you will be encouraged through this portion of scripture as well. My bible study somehow landed me in the book of Hosea. I wanted to study a portion of scripture that I haven’t delved deeply into, and this is where God led me. I am so grateful because I have needed the lessons and meditations found in this book.

      First, I must say that unless we are willing to put ourselves completely in His hands, and allow him to mold us, purge us from our ways, our thoughts, our desires…. then we will never know the true joy of walking with Him. His ways are to become our ways; His thoughts, our thoughts. Please know that this is not preaching at you, but at myself. I need a constant reminder to die to self. I need a constant reminder that my view of God needs to be accurately Bible based, and not what I want Him to be. God says and does some hard things out of love for us. In this book of Hosea that I am studying, it shows how God must wound us before He can heal us. If we are unwilling to repent of our sins (what He views as sin, not what you view as wrong) then He must take drastic measures to bring us back to Him.

Okay, let’s start in Hosea 1:1-11 KJV.

1. The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

God called Hosea to do a peculiar, terrifying thing. God asked him to marry a woman of whoredoms. Um, yikes? Could his heart safely trust in her? No. She had been proven unfaithful. God had a reason for calling Hosea to do such a peculiar thing, but Hosea didn’t know all the reasons when he was asked to obey.

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

Wait a minute. Hosea didn’t even question GOD for a second or hesitate to obey! He married this woman, and gave her a child. His child.

4 And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Jezreel=God will sow. God is the avenger, we are not to avenge any of our “wrongs”.

5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.

6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

Loruhamah=unloved. No more mercy is to be shown. (This was not one of Hosea’s children. It was child born of adultery.

7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

God wanted to show them they could only be saved by God’s power, not man’s strength.

8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

Loammi=not my people. Only the first child was actually Hosea’s. Her sin produced: “no more love”, “no more mercy”, and ”not my people.”

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

God’s mercy is limited when we disobey His commandments repeatedly.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Our sin never effects just us. It has tentacles that will bind others in its grasp. The worst sin is the sin against love. Every time we sin against God, we sin against His perfect love. Think of how your sin and my sin affects God. Human sin hurts the heart of a loving God.

Application to my own life:

• Obey like Hosea, even if what God calls me to do is difficult and peculiar.
• Remember every time I sin, I sin against God’s love.
• Remind myself that my sis effects more than myself…it effects many around me as well.

My God is:

• Merciful
• Loving
• Living
• Avenger of Sin
• Strong

My God wants me to be:

• Obedient without questioning Him or His purposes
• a Son of the Living God
• allow Him to avenge my “wrongs”

Happy 3rd Anniversary, {My Love}

My dearest love,

I cannot believe that I have had the honor of being your wife for 1095 days! The time has flown by and I can feel it ticking by faster with every passing day. I can’t even start to tell you how much I have loved walking this journey by your side. You have taught me so much. Honey, every day you are a better man than I dreamed of marrying. I mean that with my whole heart. You aren’t perfect, and you have your faults; however, I love that you allow God to work on you and how you listen to His voice. I love how I know you, the real you. I love your honesty, the unity in our marriage, the peace in our home, the love in your eyes, the laughter in your voice. Although we have been through some very rough patches, which have tested our endurance, I am happy to say that with Gods strength and guidance, we have only grown closer. Thank you for fighting for our marriage along-side me and for being the best kind of father I could ever hope to raise our children with. Thank you for saying the hard things, and for standing up for truth. I’m grateful that you challenge me to be a better wife and mother. I am so thankful that God allowed me to be Mrs. Capps. You are my best friend; my confidant. I love you, for now and always-that is a promise. I’m excited to see what the Lord is going to do in this next chapter of our lives! ❤

your wife, Sharon