the power of tide

Before I can get to the good I must go through a rough spot Matt and I had. So as you all know, we have been SO excited about getting a puppy. Well Bentley finallly came home and he was precious. We had him for the weekend and sadly realized that he was not going to adapt to our lifestyle or apartment. He could not stand being in a crate and had separation anxiety so he wanted to be touching us at all times. He was REALLY loud in the apartment and scared to go to the bathroom downstairs with the noise from the city. So unfortunately, we made the tough decision to give him back to the breeder and she already found him a home on a farm with other dogs and a family. We know he will be much happier but it was hard to let him go. We bonded with the little pup over the weekend and it was very quiet the next week. Good thing we have such a great family that supported us through the whole thing.

This past weekend, Matt and I went on a Newlywed retreat with our bible study at church. We have been plugged into Houston First Baptist and love it. We got a chance to know the leadership better and meet some couples in our area! It's so great to have people our age to hang out with and have fellowship since all our best friends have to be scattered!! So instead of going on and on about ourselves, I figured I would share some things I learned from the retreat because it really moved us.

First, for all you engaged people out there - its very important to talk about expectations you have before going into marriage. We didn't realize how many unspoken expectations we had until they pointed it out. They are silly little things but I think it's important to vocalize them so that resentment does not grow. I feel blessed to be taught about these things now while we are still newlyweds!

It was encouraging to hear how God has worked in the couple that spoke's marriage. It really challenged me to pray with conviction, to live on faith and trust in God alone to provide what we need. I may not know what I need but yet he provides. They shared this story of how the wife was home doing the laundry on mondays like she did every monday. However she went to grab the Tide but they were out. She looked in her wallet and only had a few dollars - they had to live paycheck to paycheck and that was all they had until the next paycheck. In frustration, she called her husband to vent. He encouraged her that everything happens for a reason and maybe she needed to do something else with her time like spend quality time outside with her son. So she gave up on the wash and got her son ready to go play outside. When she opened her door, there was a box of TIDE. It just so happened Tide was doing a promotion and there was a truck delivering a small box of Tide to every doorstep in the neighborhood. This just goes to show that God provides for his people - even in little ways to grab our hearts. I learned to be a lot more prayerful in every decision.

This couple is awesome. You should check out their ministry called Marriage Matters Now. Go to http://www.marriagemattersnow.com/


I pray that he may strangthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that CHRST may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullnes of God. Ephesians 3:16-19


yay newly wed retreat!


our wiffle ball team at retreat. (I named us the Batting Butterflies hints the hand motions :))


random: Mom and I at Ima Hogg's Garden when we visited a few weeks ago.