Honestly...

Is it alright for us to be real and honest with you?  Hope so....cuz we're gonna be!!

Everyday we make it a point to post something for you.  Maybe a word of encouragement, maybe some wisdom, a story or two from our past, or a challenge to grow and trust God more.  We know, firsthand, how difficult and daunting the task is to stand for your marriage sometimes.  That is why we are here.  You are why we are here.  If something that we say, do, have lived through, or possibly see can help you in your fight to win your marriage back...it's yours.  No questions asked; nothing required in exchange.  We love you and want to see you victorious in your relationship with God and your spouse.

With all that being said (here comes the honesty), we are still human!  We still have bad days that seem to come from nowhere.  We have days that we would rather just stay in bed and hide under the covers than to face the day and the challenges it will hold.  We still fight with each other.  We have learned how to circumvent a lot of the things that trigger HUGE fights but we have them none the less.  We still have nights where our dreams are filled with images of days past or what might be lurking around the corner.  We still have our doubts about Josh and whether or not this life is for real.  When left unchecked our thoughts and imaginations can easily get the best of us.  Temptations still wait around every turn for us; sin sits outside waiting and watching for a place to creep in.  We still fight the devil....EVERYDAY!!!  He has not left us alone just because we are back together and standing where God would have us.  We still get scared about what we cannot see about the our spouse.

It may seem at times that we have it all together.  It may look, from where you stand, that our life is peaches and cream, a little Mayberry at times, and all around hunky-dory.  It's NOT!!  Our life, just like yours, is full of ups and downs, mountains and valleys, wins and fails, great days and bad ones.  Please, don't look at us like we are professionals at this marriage thing.  At times, (maybe even most of it) we feel so extremely inadequate to even post a single word of marital advice.  We want to be transparent with you so that TOGETHER we can walk out what it means to be a stander.

As we get ready to close today's post, can we share one truth with you to encourage you?  We are just like you...we fight, we get mad, we cry, we laugh, we enjoy life...we have learned one thing that sticks with us.  Wherever you are or whatever mood you are in or whatever has happened, it will NOT stay that way.  Bad days come but they don't stay.  Bad dreams happen but they don't have to darken your daytime.  Hurts happen and hurts heal.  You don't have to stay where you are emotionally.  You have a choice.  You can get bogged down by the reality of the situation and the hopelessness of life....OR.....you can pick your chin up and square your shoulders back and think about the fact that today His mercies are new!  You can choose to remember that today is the day that the Lord has made and the devil cannot stop you from rejoicing in what the Lord has done!

So, honestly, yesterday morning was pretty tough to face the day...but we did and came through it unscathed.  The sky didn't fall and the world did not end.  In fact, just the opposite is true...God created, just for us, a brand new day...and it was beautiful!!

And in the immortal words of The Shirelles..."Mama said there'll be days like this..."

Josh and Serena