Woah!

There is a ton of new ideas, revelations, and information zooming around in my head right now.  It's been like a day and a half of having my eyes opened wide, my heart opened too, and sooooo much to think about and/or change, pray about... so much.  My thoughts are very jumbled right now so I'm just going to give some bullet points and a few links and over the next few weeks I'm going to try and do some more in depth posts on everything I learned yesterday and today.

• Marriage is a partnership.  You are not enemies working against each other, but friends working to help and serve each other.  Yeah, that seems pretty simple... I've read that and heard that idea several times over the past few weeks but until you really examine the nitty-grittiness of your life and how you interact and communicate in your worst states you can't really say for sure whether you really believe that statement.  The best way to tell is this way: when you disagree on something you feel is important, do you seek ammo to shoot at him with the purpose of winning the argument?  Do you appeal to your friends for support (giving them your un-biased point of view) and then use them as an army to fight for your side?  In that moment, or that area of life you are seeing him as your enemy.  Instead, when you see him as your friend, you'll ask him to come along side you to resolve the issue.  You'll work together to find a solution.
• Housework is never going to be 100% finished and it isn't supposed to be.  Do you feel that weight lifting off your shoulders?  Yeah, it feels good.  Of course this doesn't mean that we neglect the housework, but we shouldn't feel discouraged or frustrated that we don't ever have everything done all at the same time, all the time.  We are never supposed to be done with housework.  I learned this from Rachel Jankovic.
• When we have nothing left, even our reservoir is empty, God will give us what we need.  He's proven that time and time in scripture.  Go here to find out more (same video linked under Rachel's name above).
• Disciplining a child does not necessarily mean you need to be stern with a frown and furrowed brow showing your displeasure.  Discipline should always demonstrate love, not anger, frustration, disappointment... it should model how God disciplines us, his children.  This is huge for me because I was under the impression that if my children were being disciplined they also needed to know that I'm unhappy with them.  You don't want to let them walk all over you, consistency is still key, but discipline isn't about instilling fear of man it's about showing that you love them enough to guide them to God.  Discipline should always point them to God as a loving Father.
• Discipline does not always equal punishment.  Often it simply equals correction. 
• Andrew most always means exactly what he says.  "Can you work on the kitchen?" doesn't mean "You are failing at your job." or "I want this kitchen spotless when I get home." or "I am sick and tired of this mess." it actually just means "can you work on the kitchen?"  When I read into what he says I'm often feeding myself the lie that Andrew is dissatisfied with me or some other lie and I make him my enemy instead of seeing him as a friend who has graciously not complained about the dishes overflowing the sink and counters.

There's more, but that's a good list for now!  I have so much to say about each of those topics, but it'll have to wait for a time when my thoughts are better organized and my eyelids aren't randomly closing.