How do I love thee, let me count the ways

There four different types of love in the Bible. There is divine love, brotherly love, family love and romantic love. 

 I am grateful for my husband who practices romantic love in all the little details. He makes my coffee every morning, and he kisses me before he leaves home and every time he returns home.

 I am grateful for a husband that practices family love. He has given me 6 beautiful children and considers our family one of his greatest responsibilities. 

 I am grateful for brotherly love and a husband that is my brother in Christ. He has Jesus in his heart and the wisdom he shares when he ministers to me, makes me a better person. 

Agape Love, Divine Love, Unconditional Love. I can't say either one of us will master that concept in this lifetime but our Love has stood a lot of tests. In the moments when I am most upset, I am grateful for a husband that will stop and ask me to pray with him. He may not always have the answers and he knows he can't heal all my hurt, but he knows how to lead me to prayer and that is the greatest blessing of all.

I am so thankful to God who knew what he was doing when he perfectly fit us together. 

To my amazing Husband, I love you on this Valentines day and every day to follow with every type of love that is in my heart! 

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ, 

Johnna 

A Day Full of Details

I have been working in the area of perception and truth. It's the way things look to me verses how things really are. I have been attempting to fast from negative thinking. In order to expect a positive life, I have to practice a positive life.

The work of recovery has shown itself several times this week. One notable event, the flat tire our family had Friday night. After a somewhat stressful week, this could have sent me into a fuss. It didn't. I was patient and calm with myself, my husband and my children. I was grateful this didn't happen the day before when the added expense of a new tire would have driven me to tears. I was grateful we stayed warm and I  was grateful for the opportunity to take our kids out to eat afterwards. 

We had missed our weekly recovery meeting with our Celebrate Recovery family and the new tire was quite expensive. Those details weren't so overwhelming because of my ability to focus on ALL of the details. There wasn't just negative moments, there were moments all combined into one experience. Seeing all of the details made the negative portions bearable. I was able to maintain peace and serenity. 

It was really really cold this morning when I took my kids to school. As I pulled back into my drive, I saw a beautiful sunrise. I stopped and took a picture. How great is our God! I love His details. I am grateful I get to enjoy them.

My new prayer and outlook is to pray for a day full of details. It's in all of the details that the entire picture of each beautiful day can be presented to us in all it's fullness. Each day is a day to rejoice, to be glad in it. The rest are just details. 

Praying for you to enjoy the details as they come, even the details sent to grow you and teach you.  That at the end of each day, you see the full picture and God's glory in it! 

one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:6 ESV)

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ, 

Johnna