Monday Matrimony

Don't you just love it when someone offers you unsolicited advice. Like another mom at the playground or Target who chimes in with some "helpful tidbit" of parenting advice when your child has momentarily lost their mind. Or like that person in your Bible study group who never ceases to have the solution for any problem or personal concern that you share.  I know, we all love that person.

In light of how much we all love that advice giving guru, I thought I'd offer a little unsolicited advice myself...your welcome! I had the grand idea that each Monday I could give a little marriage tip. I'm sure I'll have readers from all over the world flocking to their keyboards each Monday just to glean whatever wisdom this 7.5-year-marriage-veteran might provide. Brace yourselves, People. This advice may be so deep and life changing that you may even be tempted to send me money. If you have this urge, feel free to leave a comment and I'll make sure to send you my mailing address! :-)

So, without further ado, the tip of the day is:

Be a "Yes, let's!" kind of person. 

This is something my mom taught me before I got married. It's such an easy concept and I often hear those words, "Yes, Let's!" ringing in my ear when I'm tempted to shoot down one of my husband's ideas. Here's a few scenarios where you could put this into practice...

• At 9:00 PM your hubby suddenly says, "Hey, let's go to the hot tub for a few minutes!" That sounds like the last thing on earth you'd want to do because you wanted to get ready for the next day, read a book, and get to sleep early. But suddenly you remember the "Yes, Let's!" principle and you and your husband enjoy a great 30 minutes to connect and have a heart-felt conversation at the hot tub.
• Your husband comes in from work and says, "How about we go to (some restaurant) for dinner tonight?" You've already thawed out the chicken and have begun prepping dinner. But you think, "I guess this dinner will save until tomorrow night. Sure!" Yes, let's!
• Your spouse wants to go camping and the closest you like to get to camping is a Holiday Inn. But instead of shooting down his idea, you try to think of what you can do to help make it happen. You say, "Yes! Let's do that!" 

When this principle is applied, the level of fun, freedom, and joy you experience in your marriage can sky rocket. Your spouse will feel the freedom to share his/her ideas with you without fearing that they may get shot down. Often, our reason for not wanting to do something is purely based on selfishness. Let's get over ourselves and go enjoy our spouse!

Each of you should look not only to your own 

interest, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4

Love is not self-seeking.

1 Corinthians 13:5

Just one more reason...

...why I absolutely adore Andy Wood.

The other night Andy came home and said, "Stacie, there's something I feel like God wants me to do, so I don't want you to fight me on it."

Wow. How's that for an opening line?!

I was bracing myself for what he might say...maybe, "I think I should write a book this year," or "I think we should start another campus for South Bay," or "I'm thinking of taking on another wife and embracing a polygamous lifestyle." (yeah right.)

No. Instead, he said, "I think I'm supposed to stay home to take care of the boys while you go to the Catalyst West Conference with all the leaders from South Bay."

WHAT?!?! Catalyst West is one of the best conferences in the country. South Bay is taking all of our staff, several of the spouses, and a group of leaders. I really wanted to go and was a little disappointing that I wouldn't be able to this year, but we really didn't have any options. We're extremely picky who we leave our boys with...especially Sammy.

I tried to talk Andy out of it (even though he had already told me not to!). I told him that it was a ridiculous idea and that all those leaders from South Bay were going and he needed to be there to invest in them. But he had an answer to every one of my objections. He's going to be traveling a couple weeks in February and he wanted to bless me with a little time to be re-energized and replenished spiritually.

So, let me know if you're going to be at Catalyst West this year. I'd love to meet you! I'll be the one with a blissful grin on my face and no peanut butter smudges on my jeans!

Do you own (stuff made by) slaves?

Souper Salad

We are entering the final week of our Daniel Fast. If you have been fasting during this time, I would love, love, love to hear what God has been doing in your heart...so please leave me a comment. It has been a wonderful season for Andy & me. Andy said his time with the Lord has been so fresh and good. He's literally been back in his little "cave" for nearly 1.5-2 hours every morning. For me, I feel like God has given me a clear sense of vision and direction for what He wants me to focus on this year, specifically as it relates to the women of South Bay Church. I am so excited for what I feel like He has in store!

Last night, Andy & I enjoyed a simple but yummy Daniel Fast dinner...so I wanted to share it with you! I didn't have time yesterday to make a soup from scratch, but thanks to Safeway we were able to enjoy this yummy goodness:

I added a salad with it called "Ozarks Sunset Fruit Salad". It was pretty amazing. I got the recipe for it from a great website that Woody and Mabel from Grand Rapids, MI let me know about (Thanks for the comment!). This website is FULL of recipes and info on the Daniel Fast. Very helpful. So, here's the recipe for the salad that we had last night (and that we're having again tonight!).

Ozarks Sunset Fruit Salad

4 cups fresh spinach, torn into bite-size pieces
4 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 kiwifruit, peeled & cut into half moons
2 cups oranges, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

Instructions
Combine ingredients in a large bowl, and toss well. Serves 4.

Recipe Notes

• Serve with Orange-Poppy Seed Salad Dressing or Apple-Cinnamon Salad Dressing.

Orange-Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon diced red onion
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a covered glass jar, and shake well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Family Fun Friday!

The weather in San Jose has been exquisite this week. The boys got to go to the playground 4 times, have 3 picnics, and a trip to the zoo! It was a fun week.

Friday is Andy's day off, so we headed up to Oakland Zoo and enjoyed the beautiful weather while seeing some animals. Kids are funny, though. At least my kids. They'll look at an animal for about 2 seconds and then be on to the next thing. They both ran & ran so much and were completely exhausted once we got back to the car. They slept the whole way home, and then some. Here's a few shots of the day...