A Season of Planting

I enjoy this time of year because everything is finally coming to life after months of cold, miserable weather (nothing against those who enjoy the winter, I'm just saying...). This past weekend I took it upon myself to start my spring planting, and although it was a hot afternoon, I enjoyed taking a step back and looking at those little rows of dirt holding their treasure, waiting for life to spring forth during the summer months ahead.

And I love seeing those first sprouts of life when the green shoots finally come above ground and I can breath a sigh of relief. Then, I know that what I've planted is going to actually grow. I've had a few experiences where what I've planted with anticipation either gets eaten by the birds, grows in one giant clumped mess, or refuses to grow at all.

This is when I get disappointed, perhaps even frustrated.

Life tends to be like a garden always awakening in the springtime. We enjoy sowing our seeds into something new, with great anticipation at what will pop out of this new time in our lives. Will we get that job we interviewed for? Will we have the finances to take that long-awaited trip? Will we graduate college with fantastic grades? Will my daughter/son ever be born, and when it does come, will he/she look like me?

I don't know, those are just a few.

But then how does everything turn out? Do our plans grow big and strong and produce the desired results? Or perhaps we end up getting passed over for that new job. Or we don't have enough money to make that fantasy trip a reality. Or we realize our GPA wasn't quite what we hoped for upon graduation. Or maybe we suffer a miscarriage and enter a new season.

I don't like to live with the despair, though, even though Satan is hoping this is what I'll settle for. Despair does nothing for me. It makes me depressed, angry, frustrated, and creates self-doubt. Instead, I dig deep into God, letting him hear my hurt and pain. And you know what? Before long, new seeds are planted and start growing. Once again, I have a newness of life to look forward to!

Do you feel you're struggling through a season right now? Or maybe you're looking forward to something new and exciting? Or, even better, you're in the throws of experiencing God's blessings!

Marriage Mentoring

Life has been busy, that much is true. I'm trying to get some things back on track and one of them is this blog. So, bear with me as I try to get back into my routine.

The one thing I wanted to post about today is a recent marriage mentoring program my husband and I have been through. Not many people know the whole story of our eleven years of marriage, but we have been through A LOT. And I don't mean in the normal sense of life in general, but many things that have been out of the ordinary and very trying to our marriage. One of those things, of course, is my husband's porn addiction, which is what I write about here at The Fragile Teacup.

Anyway, where am I going with this, right?

Well, my husband and I have put a lot of prayer and thought into a new program at our church that works in partnership with a nonprofit counseling agency in town. They have a very defined and well-tested program they use for mentoring married couples who are going through A LOT and want to get their marriages back on track. So, my husband and I took the mentoring course and have now started our "practice mentoring" with a well-established mentoring couple in the program.

And I bet you can't guess what one of the first questions was for us? How did we meet and what has our marriage been like. And we told it all. The good, the bad, the tragic, the ugly, and the addiction recovery. Our practice couple was just a little more than flabbergasted when we finished our eleven year tale in the making.

But looking back at our testimony --  where we've been, the fires we have come through, and where we are today -- I, myself, am a little flabbergasted. God has done amazing things in our marriage! And it never ceases to amaze me! God has given us our testimony for a reason and we think that reason is to help other couples struggling through difficult times. I believe there is always healing to be done. All I have to do is look at where I am and see the healing God has done and continues to do in my life and in the life of my marriage.

Where are you in your testimony that God has given you? Can you look back and pinpoint those times when God was carrying you through the fire?