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anniversary

Blog, Faith, Homemaking, Marriage, Parenting, prayer

Our 25th silver wedding anniversary & home purchase party

Ray & me at our party

Ray & me at our party

Ray and I recently had our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary and bought our home. I wanted to celebrate with our children, grandchildren, and a few friends who prayed for us to buy the house.  God answered my prayer and our 3 beautiful daughters were there. Our grandchildren being there were the cherry on top, and I believe it is what God wanted, displaying His glory of what He has done for us. 

Table set for party

Table set for party

I was so happy to have our three beautiful daughters and four precious grandchildren (with one on the way) at the party. This made my whole day and filled me with joy.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12, ESV

Our family, from front to back, L to R: our grandson Jacob, granddaughters Annabelle & Violet, our daughter Leah, Our daughter Heather, granddaughter Piper, me, Ray, daughter Eden, Ray's parents Charles & Sue Jones

Our family, from front to back, L to R: our grandson Jacob, granddaughters Annabelle & Violet, our daughter Leah, Our daughter Heather, granddaughter Piper, me, Ray, daughter Eden, Ray’s parents Charles & Sue Jones

 

Since the party was on Mother’s Day, I gave our daughters a hand-written, floral note card and little yellow roses inside a teacup that reads, “Live, laugh, love” to tell them how much I love them and thank them for the honor of being their mom. I’ll post more about Mother’s Day and the gifts they gave me in a separate post.

Me giving our daughters their yellow roses & card

Me giving our daughters their yellow roses & cards

Pretty yellow roses I gave our daughters

Pretty yellow roses I gave our daughters

Ray’s dad and his stepmom Sue Jones drove in from N. Little Rock, Arkansas for the party and to visit us. We enjoyed their stay.  I’m not so sure his dad enjoyed it as much, as he was busy fixing things around our house, like installing an electrical plug by Ray’s work bench in the basement (he’s a licensed electrician) and helping Ray reattach the evaporator to the furnace, which had fallen off last week suddenly (this was quite a job!). Sue blessed me so much with encouraging words to minister to my heart. 

Ray's stepmom Sue & his dad Charles Jones at party

Ray’s stepmom Sue & his dad Charles Jones at party

I bought wedding bells, silver and aqua decorations at Dollar General for our “silver” 25th wedding anniversary. I thought they were really pretty. I still have the original cake couple topper in white and red that was on our wedding cake, and set that out, too. 

cake topper

cake topper

wedding bells

wedding bells

silver plates

silver plates

silver and aqua napkins

silver and aqua napkins

I also set these out as decorations, too, on the bar at the party:

  • my wedding album and original wedding guest book;
  • the blue roses carried by one of my bridesmaids;
  • my black garter (now faded black and purple);
  • the 7 silver, one-dollar coins a friend gave us as a wedding gift;
  • a gorgeous sunset-colored rose I received at church on Mother’s Day with the other women from the pastor;
  • a white candle and anointing oil from Jerusalem, Israel, that Ray’s friend sent us as a house-warming gift;
  • and the Mother’s Day gift Ray gave me, an “Our Home” picture.

I asked our guests to sign the original wedding guest book, and said that if Jesus tarries, guests can sign it again at our 50th anniversary! (Grace, God!) I also bought bubble wands for our grandkids to play with at the party. 

Wedding album, guest book, rose & Our Home picture

Wedding album, guest book, rose & Our Home picture

The rose I received at church for Mother’s Day

Ray's gift to me on Mother's Day

Ray’s gift to me on Mother’s Day

The “Our Home” picture reads:

“God chose this very house for us, to be our special home. A place that we can fill with love and call our very own. This house will hold our memories, our laughter and our tears, and it will be a place that’s safe to talk about our fears. And so we pray that God will make this house into a home, and we will give our praise to Him, Our Cornerstone.”

Our children bought us beautiful cards and gifts: a card on papyrus paper about the hummingbird, a large flip flop picture, white candle with a shell, and shell picture for my ocean-theme bathroom upstairs. The papyrus paper card was very pretty and unique!

I love the flip flop and shell pictures and candle; they went perfectly with my bathroom colors! The pic reads, “Life is always better in flip flops.” Amen! Although I love high heels (which I wore to this party), I am a sneakers and flip flop, beach kind of gal!

Papyrus paper card

Papyrus paper card

Flip flop pic that our children gave us

Flip flop pic that our children gave us

 

shell picture

shell picture

Shell candle

Shell candle

My in-laws bought us a beautiful silver and purple card with money inside and a lovely glass 25th wedding anniversary picture frame with a picture of Ray and me when we were by the Sea of Galilee on our Israel trip several years ago.

silver purple card

silver purple card

silver anniversary picture frame; Ray & me in Israel

silver anniversary picture frame; Ray & me in Israel

Our friends Dan and Liz bought us a really pretty silver card  with red hearts (I love hearts!), with an Olive Garden gift card inside it. OG – yum! Ray and I will have to go on a date soon! 

silver card

silver card with red hearts

All of these were very thoughtful gifts and I loved them!

Here’s some pics of us with our guests:

Piper feeding her mom Eden at party, haha

Piper feeding her mom Eden at party, haha

Jacob at partry

IOur grandson Jacob at party

Ray with our friend Dan Zacharias

Ray with our friend Dan Zacharias

Our friend Liz Zacharias with Ray's stepmom Sue Jones

Our friend Liz Zacharias with Ray’s stepmom Sue Jones

Dan getting food, me making sure all is ready, Ray

Dan getting food, me making sure all is ready, Ray

Our daughter Eden talking as usual, lol, Ray, our granddaughter Piper handing Ray his pushup handles

Our daughter Eden talking as usual, lol, Ray, our granddaughter Piper handing Ray his pushup handles

Ray holding our granddaughter Piper--precious!

Ray holding our granddaughter Piper–precious!

Us singing happy birthday to our granddaughter Violet & friend Dan

Us singing happy birthday to our granddaughter Violet & friend Dan

Violet opening her birthday gifts

Violet opening her birthday gifts: a pretty summer dress, an anklet & toe rings, and daisy flower hair bands

Violet not knowing what an anklet is, lol

Violet not knowing what an anklet is, lol

Violet in her dress

Violet in her dress

My friend Liz opening a gift from me at the party

My friend Liz opening a gift from me at the party: a decorative box & pretty necklace

Our tall granddaughter Annabelle (standing) and our 3 daughters with Piper

Our tall granddaughter Annabelle (standing) and our 3 daughters with Piper

Our 3 beautiful daughters with their yellow roses in the teacup I gave them

Our 3 beautiful daughters with their yellow roses in the teacup I gave them

Me giving Ray his gift - sterling silver cuff links

Me giving Ray his gift – sterling silver cuff links

Me & Ray opening gifts at the party

Me & Ray opening gifts at the party

Me & Ray - 25 year silver wedding anniversary & home purchase party

Me & Ray – 25 year silver wedding anniversary & home purchase party

Ray & me and our 3 beautiful daughters, Heather, Leah & Eden (and Piper, our granddaughter)

Ray & me and our 3 beautiful daughters, Heather, Leah & Eden (and Piper, our granddaughter)

Our family

Our family: I’m so thankful they all were there! Thank you, Jesus!

The party cake with a silver border & purple flowers. It reads, "25 years & a home. This is God!"

The party cake with a silver border & purple flowers. It reads, “25 years & a home. This is God!”

The cake says it all. It’s been a long, hard journey. But by God’s grace and mercy, Ray and I are still together, married 25 years, and we are now home-owners. This truly was the work and miracles of God!

*******
You can read about our very difficult marriage in my book on our marriage, Stained Glass & Marriage: Reflections of Light & Hope by an Imperfect Wife, at Amazon that is on sale now for just 99 cents, by clicking here:

 

Blog, Ebooks, Faith, Homemaking, Marriage, Parenting, prayer

Our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary

The sterling silver cross necklace gift Ray gave me for our 25th "silver" wedding anniversary

The sterling silver cross necklace gift Ray gave me for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary

This week, April 11, 2017, Ray and I had our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary. It seems like just two years, and then it also seems like it’s been forever. It has sure been HELL.

But as I pointed out in my Facebook comment, never a dull moment!

Despite our LOUD, INTENSE arguments for 25 years (yes, the WHOLE marriage; we had one tonight!), we’ve been married longer than many of our family members and friends, watching in grief as they divorced…while we have determined to fulfill our covenant with God and each other. It hasn’t been easy, and we’ve had to look to the Cross for help.

Jesus on the cross

Jesus on the cross

We’ve survived unfaithfulness to each other (both of us), bankruptcy, foreclosure of our home, stepfamily conflicts, financial crisis after crisis, multiple moves to new homes/cities, health issues, ministry failures, and much more. 

What is our greatest strength, though? We’ve never quit. Like runners in a sprint or a marathon, you keep moving forward, no matter how tired you are.

sprinters

We’ve never thrown in the towel, although we have both wanted to  many times through the years.

Ray has actually been to divorce attorneys three times because he was so fed up with our marriage! (And I’ve thought about going to one many times!)

Ray & me Holding our "faith" stone, as we wait for final approval of the VA loan for the home we're buying this year

Ray & me
Holding our “faith” stone, as we wait for final approval of the VA loan for the home we’re buying this year

By God’s grace, we’re still together, hopefully until death do us part.

  • Ray can still make me laugh more than anyone else;
  • Every time he prays over me and holds my hand, saying, “It’s going to be okay,” I know it is going to be;
  • He still turns me on;
  • He still cooks the best Cajun grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted;
  • He still loves me–which is quite a feat, considering how I am!

25 years and still going…please pray for us. 

Here’s what we did for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary. It was a fun date!

Ray bought me a very funny card. It features a married male and female dog couple and says “It’s our anniversary.” The card seemed hand-picked by God, and made me laugh because it was so much like us.

anniversary card

anniversary card

For example, it showed the couple wanting to watch a movie together. The husband dog asked, “How about science fiction?” and the wife dog asked, “How about a love story?” Ray is a sci-fi fan, and of course I love chick flicks! 

Another hilarious thing about the card was that it read, “We still like to write each other little notes…although the subject matter isn’t always love.” It showed a cartoon of the wife posting sticky notes to her husband on a cork board with notes like, “Call the dentist,” “Grocery List,” and “Toilet keeps running.” The husband dog has stooped shoulders, and is looking at the sticky notes with an exasperated , tired expression. (Ray feels this way about my sticky notes!)

Ray said the card “nailed the notes.” (I’m addicted to sticky notes and often leave Ray little notes around the house for his “honey-do’s.”)

sticky note

sticky note

On the card, they were at a drive-through restaurant, with the husband getting the wife some food. He is asking her, “No fries, honey?” and she is saying, “No, just a cheeseburger.” Ironically, a couple of nights before Ray gave me the card, I’d asked him to go get me a Sonic cheeseburger. The card amused us both. 

Ray also gave me a beautiful, sterling silver cross necklace as my gift. Silver for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary, and a cross as he said it is the foundation of our marriage. Amen! Ray did so good on my card and gift!

necklace

sterling silver cross necklace gift

For part of his present, I bought Ray a straight razor soap cup, that he had been requesting to go with his straight razor I’d bought him.  You put soap in the cup, and whip it to make a  good lather, then apply the soap to the face before shaving. When Ray was a little boy, he used to watch his granddaddy Hutchins shave at the bathroom mirror with a straight razor.

Recently Ray said he wanted a straight razor, from the good memories of his granddad, plus straight razors are supposed to give men a better shave. I didn’t really “get” it, but it’s a guy thing, so I bought him the straight razor, the black strop to sharpen the razor, and the soap cup.

I also have something special to give him for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary party, which I will blog about soon!

straight razor and brush

straight razor and brush

soap cup

soap cup

For our “silver” wedding anniversary, I bought pretty silver heels for our anniversary date. Love them!

my silver shoes

my silver shoes

Ray wore a silver shirt with a silver pattern tie, black slacks, and his cowboy boots for our anniversary date. Looking good!

Ray in his silver shirt & tie for our "silver" wedding anniversary

Ray in his silver shirt & tie for our “silver” wedding anniversary

Here I am in my black dress, black wrap, the silver shoes, and wearing the sterling silver cross necklace Ray gave me.

me in black dress, black wrap, silver shoes & silver cross necklace for our "silver" anniversary

me in black dress, black wrap, silver shoes & silver cross necklace for our “silver” anniversary

For our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary date, we ate lamb gyro sandwiches with tzatziki sauce (made with cucumber), pita bread with hummus, and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves with rice and beef). Ray also had a Greek salad. It was DELICIOUS!

lamb gyros

lamb gyros

pita bread & hummus

pita bread & hummus

dolmades

dolmades

After our date, we came home and prayed together for our marriage, our children, and our grandchildren, asking God to bless us and our family and for us to walk in obedience to Jesus, and that the latter days would be greater than the former. (Haggai 2:9) It was a great 25th wedding anniversary!

*******

This book In PRINT at: https://www.createspace.com/6099550

This book In PRINT at: https://www.createspace.com/6099550

If  you are hurting in your marriage and you’d like to read about the 25 difficult years of Ray’s and my marriage, but how with God nothing is impossible,click here.

 

Blog, Faith, Marriage, prayer

After 23 years…and our wedding anniversary sale

me and Ray, Branson marriage retreat

me and my husband Ray

Our 23rd Wedding Anniversary
is Today

“And the two shall become one flesh.’
So they are no longer two but one flesh.”
–Mark 10:8, ESV

To celebrate with me…
An anniversary sale!

Today is Ray’s and my 23rd wedding anniversary. It’s been a long, painful journey, but by God’s grace we’re still here together! We’re celebrating later this week.

I wanted to share a few tips from those 23 years of marriage, often learned the HARD way!

Make Jesus Christ Lord and Center of your marriage; it’s not about you or your spouse, but about God and His kingdom, for Jesus’ glory; (Colossians 3:17; Ephesians 5:22-23);

Forgive daily; you’ll get to practice this again and again! (Ephesians 4:32);

When you start to argue, have a “strife break”; stop right then and pray together, or come back later and talk when you or your spouse have cooled down. Strife and envy open the door to every evil thing (James 3:16). You don’t want to invite Satan in for coffee;

Learn each other’s love language and practice it daily to show your spouse you really love him or her. Read about the 5 love languages in Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages, available at Amazon;

Pray for and with each other regularly; it’s hard to stay mad at someone you’re praying for! (James 5:16);

Pray and talk about everything together. this cultivates unity and intimacy. (Matthew 18:19);

Let it go; this applies to forgiveness, but is also about letting the little things go that cause irritation, strife, bickering, or that simply don’t matter in the long run. Catch the little foxes so they don’t ruin the vineyard (Song of Solomon 2:15);

Make fun, sweet memories with your husband or wife and your kids/grandkids; life is way too short. I’m hearing about lots of early death this year in 2016. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Don’t live with regret, but love those around you and make good, happy memories today. These don’t have to be expensive. “So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”–Ecclesiastes 8:15, NLT.

Fulfill your purpose and minister together. I believe every husband and every wife has both an individual purpose and calling, and one together. This is one of the biggest reasons Ray and I have never divorced. Despite the many struggles, God has a calling on our lives together. Too much is at stake to just give up and let the devil (and others!) have his way! Discover what God has called you and your spouse to do, and obey, for Jesus’ glory. (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Jeremiah 29:11)

Keep going and don’t quit! Ray and I have both felt like leaving and divorcing so many times. But by God’s grace, we’re still here, together. We know it’s not about us, but about God and His Kingdom, and it’s for the sake of our children and grandchildren who are watching us. “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”–Mark 10:9

What are some of the struggles you have faced in your marriage? Email me and I’ll be glad to pray for you! And please keep praying for Ray, me, and our family!

To celebrate our 23rd anniversary, I’m having a wedding anniversary sale! Just click on the links below to find out more or buy now:

My new book, Stained Glass & Marriage: Reflections of Light & Hope by an Imperfect Wife, just 99 cents: Stained Glass & Marriage

My encouraging little book with the beautiful flower cover, 3 P’s in a Pod: Prayer, Purpose, and Passion, just 99 cents: 3 P’s in a Pod

My currently only fiction book, Storm Tossed, just 99 cents: Storm Tossed

My signature talk topic book, The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes, FREE as a gift to you, just for today! The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes

I pray these books bless and encourage you. Be sure to share about them with your family, friends and business peers!