There is power in a marriage covered in prayer – God’s power. In the midst of our busy lives, it is easy to allow too much time to pass before we take a moment to pray for our husbands. However, friends, we mustn’t let this happen. We must be committed to prayer.

But how can we faithfully pray for our husbands?

My friend, Ashley Pichea has written a wonderful ebook entitled, 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse, that can help you access the power of prayer to build up your spouse and change your marriage for the glory of God! I have talked about this wonderful ebook before. I love this ebook!

Because I love this ebook, I’m totally excited to share with you what’s happening as a result of this wonderful prayer tool …

Would you like to grow in praying for your spouse daily? Well, consider joining the 31 day challenge!

Sign up today!

Purchase your copy of 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse and pray along with us each day in January. Sign up on the 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse website so you can be assigned an accountability group. Then, watch your marriage be transformed by the power of prayer.

Remember 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse is available on Kindle and Nook for just $4.99! If you purchase the PDF you can get your copy for $2.99 with the code “INTENTIONAL” (valid through the end of the year 2011).

So for just $2.99, you can build a better spouse through the gift of prayer!

I hope you’ll be joining us for the 2012 challenge!

By the way, if you’re enjoying this post, please consider subscribing to my blog (and get a free copy of my Healthy Holidays: Slightly Indulgent Sweet Treats ebook).

This post contains my referral links. Please see my disclosure policy here.

How are you doing on accomplishing your December goals? As we seek to finish the year strong on accomplishing our goals, all the while attending Christmas parties and buying gifts, our lives can get pretty chaotic.

Not to mention, things can get disorganized very quickly.

• Clutter starts piling up from mail and bills that continue to come in.
• Jobs still have to be done.
• Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners still have to be consumed.
• Bananas, flour, and boogers still need washed off my pants.

The list goes on, right?

So what am I doing to stay sane during this holiday season? Well, join me over at 3in30 Challenge, where I will share with you four tips for staying sane this holiday season. Continue reading…

By the way, if you’re enjoying this post, please consider subscribing to my blog, and receive a free copy of Healthy Holidays: Slightly Indulgent Sweet Treats.

The rain was pelting against the window. Scripture memory songs screeched through the speakers. Fingers typed on a keyboard trying to meet a deadline.

A baby cried in the background longing for Mommy to hold him. Remnants of lunch covered every surface of the kitchen. Dishes were piled in the sink like Mount Everest.

Water was boiling over on the stove while a tea mug sat waiting to be filled. Dirty tissues littered every surface in the house kitchen. Groceries sat on the dining room table screaming to be put away.

Wet sheets lay on the floor of a baby’s room because a diaper sprung a leak.  Clean clothes that had been folded three times that day left a trail from the master bedroom to the bathroom. Laundry was souring in the washer, long forgotten.

The shower door was flung open where a plan for a shower had been abandoned. Toilet paper pooled beside the toilet as a result of curious little hands.

Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma could be ignored no longer. Snot was beginning to run into the little boy’s mouth from the endless tears.

But what about Mama?

She had snot running into her mouth from so many tears too. Who was going to mop them up for her? What about her? Why couldn’t someone pick her up, make her meals, do her laundry, or at the very least let her go potty in peace?!

Do you ever feel like this?

Yesterday, at 4 o’clock, if you had stopped by my house, you would have found me a weeping mess with my head between my legs begging my little boy to just.stop.touching.me. To which he responded by crawling between my legs, getting nose-to-nose with me and grinning.

What’s a mom to do when her pant legs are smeared with banana, flour hand prints are on her thighs, and a booger is on her leg (evidence of a clingy baby)?

1. Don’t be ashamed.

Get it out, friend. Have yourself a good cry. You’ll hate the headache later, but you’ll release the pinned up stress and inevitably feel better. It really is okay to cry. Bring on the chocolate  tissues!

2. Pray.

Tell God all about it. He really does want you to.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~Matthew 11:28

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart to him; God is a refuge for us. ~ Psalm 62:8

It’s a relationship, friends. He’s your closest, most faithful friend. He gets it.

3. Tell someone.

The devil wants you to believe that you are alone, but that’s just simply not true. So, pick up the phone or send a message to your girlfriend(s). Tell them you’re struggling. Ten times out of ten (if they’re not struggling right then) they’ve been where you are at some point.

Case in point, in desperation, I went to a group of girls to ask if anyone had actually managed to go potty alone that day! I’ll give you one guess what the answer was.

I was not alone, and I needed to hear that.

Let me give you another example. I’m sorry it’s about pottying again, but really moms, don’t you just wish you could go do your business in peace just once? This is real life ya’ll. No picture perfect houses here.

I was reading a book today, Don’t Make Me Count to Three, and I had to laugh. There before me was another mom recounting her bathroom experiences and the toilet paper gone awry.

It’s amazing isn’t it? The things you took for granted before you had children? I will never look at the bathroom the same. As a matter of fact, I STILL walk in on my poor mama when she goes potty. Sorry, Mom. I won’t do it again. I swear.

Anyways, friends, there are hard days in the life of a mom. There are days you will cry and look a hot mess at 5:30pm when  your husband walks through the door after a long day at work. That’s real life. That’s your life.

That’s the life you wouldn’t trade, right? I know I wouldn’t.

The task given to us mothers is most certainly a tall order. It takes every ounce of energy, strength, and grace that God can give us, but give us He does. It truly is a finer thing.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

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What about you? What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found attached to your pant leg?

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This post is linked to Finer Things Friday.

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Submission, as we talked about last week, is a disposition or an inclination to follow the leadership of another. When we remember the purpose of marriage as being a representation of Christ and the church, submission makes sense.

New to this series? Catch up on Mommy & Daddy’s Marriage matters here.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. ~Ephesians 5:22-24

Submission begins and ends with submission to God. In the case of marriage, it is the disposition of the wife to follow and submit to her husband as he follows and submits to Christ. How Mommy and Daddy emulate submission matters in order to put on display the beautiful picture of the Gospel – the Son submitting to the Father and sacrificing His body for all of our sins – for our children.

Three Lessons Our Children Learn from Mommy & Daddy’s Lifestyle of Submission

1. A lifestyle of submission teaches our children how to live under authority.

I am certain that each of us is attempting to teach our children to obey Mommy and Daddy. It is likely that Colossians 3:20, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord,” is quoted at least once a day in your home.

How are your children doing on submitting to your authority? Is it possible that your example of submission within your marriage is being mirrored back to you through your children’s actions?

When our children see Daddy submitting to the will of God, or even the leadership of his pastors, they see what obedience looks like. Likewise, when our children see Mommy submitting to the will of God, and especially her husband, our children learn that God’s order of authority exists and is not meant for only them.

Submission to another is for our good and for God’s glory. Just as Mommy and Daddy are required to submit to another, our children are expected to submit to Mommy and Daddy. Through our example, we can help our children learn how to live under God’s ordained order of authority with joy.

2. A lifestyle of submission teaches our children to count others more significant than themselves.

Living a lifestyle of submission will mean, at some point or another, you will have to concede your position or preference. We are born to want what we want when we want it. Unfortunately, concession of one’s desires will not be taught to our children by our culture. In fact, they will be taught just the opposite. In our me-centric society, it is particularly difficult to live a life of submission.

However, we are exhorted in Philippians 2 to “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than [ourselves]. Let each of [us] look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interest of others.”

Therefore, it is all the more significant that Mommy and Daddy purpose to live a lifestyle of submission for our children so that they will have a real, tangible example of humility for them to emulate.

3.  A lifestyle of submission teaches our children that we serve a great God.

My friends, it takes great strength and character to submit. We see this perfectly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Unlike Christ – the example for our husband’s leadership – our husband’s will fail to lead us well. When we submit even when we disagree (but never to follow in sin), we give God the ability to show His power.

Remember Bunny’s definition of submission?

God intervenes.

Through our example of submission, our children will see that mistakes are made, but God is faithful in all circumstances – eager to forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9) and make our paths straight. They will also see great faith in action – assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). God will intervene where necessary. We can trust God to lead our husbands to lead us.

Teaching our children to live under authority within the boundaries God has graciously provides rest on the shoulders of Mommy and Daddy. It is through Mommy and Daddy’s example that our children will learn gospel defined submission.

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What are you doing today to emulate submission to your children?

Marriage Resources

This post is linked to Marriage Mondays, Titus 2sdays at Time-Warp Wife, and Women Living Well Wednesdays.

This post contains my referral link. Please see my disclosure policy here.