It was so bittersweet because she is the last of the kids in the cove to take off her training wheels. Carol and I were just talking about how it feels like yesterday when we were sitting in the cove saying "There will come a day when all the kids will be walking on their own." Now they are all walking, running, and riding bikes. After the excitement died down, I got tears in my eyes thinking about how fast they really do grow up. We are now saying "There will come a day when they will all be driving out of the cove in cars." Of course, we will blink and I will be blogging about that bittersweet day.
Once Monday came, we all hit the ground running. We stayed busy with homework and playing outside in the beautiful weather we had all week.
Thursday night brought Ava's 1st grade Dr. Seuss program. It was really cute and our favorite song was "Green Eggs and Ham". It was adorable and the kids lit up when they sang it.
Friday night brought Abigail's birthday party. She was having an American Girl party so Elia and Ava got their dolls ready and headed on over to the party.
It worked out great because Kevin and I signed up for the Love and Respect Marriage conference at church. The girls were able to enjoy the party and we had free babysitting. The conference was also Saturday morning so Grammy and Papa came over to keep the girls for us.
The conference was wonderful and every couple should make a point to go next time one is on our area. Here are some key points from the marriage conference:
* A husband must love his wife and a wife must respect her husband.
* Just as when a husband feels disrespected, it's natural for him to be unloving, so too when a wife feels unloved, it's natural for her to be disrespectful. (It can be a never ending cycle.)
* Love empowers a husband to energize his wife!
* Respect empowers a wife to energize her husband.
Husbands can remember the acronym COUPLE to help them remember ways to show love to their wives.
C= CLOSENESS- Face to face closeness motivates her respect.
O=OPENNESS- Your openness feels loving to her and motivates her respect.
U= UNDERSTANDING- Your understanding and empathy motivate her respect because you flood her soul with your love.
P= PEACEMAKING- Watch what happens when you genuinely say "I am sorry. Will you forgive me?"
L=LOYALTY- Let her know your loyalty to her-that you are committed to her to the death.
E= ESTEEM- Honor and esteem her and watch the energy flood into her soul. She will have a new motivation to respond to you respectfully.
Wives can remember the acronym CHAIRS to help them remember ways to show respect to their husbands.
C= CONQUEST- Appreciate his desire to work and achieve. Your respect will motivate him to respond to you more lovingly.
H= HIERARCHY- Appreciate his desire to protect, provide, and die. Express your high regard for his desire to provide for you, and his willingness to die for you. Respect his God-given sense of responsibility and you will motivate his love!
A= AUTHORITY- Appreciate his desire to be strong, to love, and make decisions. Though he is imperfect, let him know that you value his desire to be strong for you, to lead you and serve you, and to make good decisions for you. He will soften and be more loving.
I= INSIGHT- Appreciate his desire to analyze and counsel.
R= RELATIONSHIP- Appreciate his desire for a shoulder to shoulder friendship.
S= Sexuality- Appreciate his desire for sexual intimacy.
I wish I could summarize and share the entire 9 hour conference. However, these are the key points. They may sound simple, but they also sounded pretty powerful to me. Kevin and I have been married for 17 years this summer! I can't wait to see what God has in store for our marriage over the next 17 years and all the years after that!
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