Exclusive...

With the love that is in the air that comes with the approach of spring, I've seen a lot of couples getting engaged and planning weddings. I love it. I love love. And I'm all about marriage. However, I've also been hearing a lot of anti-marriage talk going on. There are so many people that do not believe in the sanctity of marriage. I've heard that it is archaic and for those that are not able to enjoy their lives as single people. Marriage is for those who are lonely and need another person to reassure them that they will never again be alone. It seems that there are a lot of individuals who think that marriage is a waste of time.
Sigh. Where do I even begin?
I always knew that I wanted to get married. For some reason, even when I was a teenager, I was certain that one day I would be someone's wife. I wasn't on a husband search, but I knew that I would. Married people always seemed so happy and secure. They had found the one person in the whole, entire world that would love them forever. They could go on vacations, have babies and grow old with someone that stood in front of a minister and a room full of people to say that they loved them then and they would love them forever.
Now that I am an old pro at this marriage thing (not really), I can see both sides of the Great Marriage Debate. I can understand why someone would want to stay single. They can live their lives for themselves, come and go as they please and not have to ask or answer to anyone about anything. On the other hand, I also understand why a woman would want to be married.
It's all about being exclusive...

1 Thessalonians 5:21

"...but test everything:

Hold fast to what is good."



When a man decides that he is going to ask a woman to be his wife, he has made a choice based on the process of elimination. Stay with me; I'm going somewhere with this, okay?
They date, whether they have only seen a few women, or they have been sowing their oats all over the continental US. However, from the list of women that they have dated, they choose one woman. There was something about that one woman that said "I have to give her my last name and make her mine because I don't want anyone else to have her". He wants to make that woman exclusively his.
When your husband wanted you, he saw that you were worth it. You were the high-quality merchandise that he had to have. He may have tested everything; he may not have. But the bottom line is, yours is the one he wanted. And he held fast to it by leaving his past life behind to cleave to his wife. And he had to be something special himself if you pulled you.
So you're top shelf, girl! You're the good stuff. The cream of the crop.
Exclusive....

Really God? PMS too???

Yes, you are definitely reading the title of this post correctly.
And yes, this is really how I feel about it.
In all the years of my womanhood, I have never experienced premenstrual syndrome to the degree that I have been experiencing it in my thirties.
Is it like a cold, where the closer you get to the end of it the worse it gets?
Is it like a movie, where it starts off cool and then it has a major climax before the grand finale?
Whatever its like, I'm getting tired of it. I mean, come on! I've carried and pushed out five healthy children. I REFUSE to carry and push out any more. I don't plan on being a surrogate, but I am not interested in having my female reproductive organs removed. So, until the Good Lord decides that its time for me to go through menopause, I am left to deal with this... issue.
Its not really a curse, not really a blessing. So I'll call it an "issue".
So, as with every other "issue" that I come in contact with as a woman and as a wife, I took my concerns to the Lord and His Word. I found a few things that may help...

Genesis 31:35

"Rachel said to her father,

'Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand in your presence;

I'm having my period..."
 

Even back then, since there have been women, there has been periods. Rachel couldn't even stand and give her father a proper greeting because of it! So don't me angry with yourself when you can't run those errands or cook dinner. It's not just you...

There are a few other examples like this one in the Bible, but I won't list them all. I know that doesn't help the situation at hand, and honestly, there is no list of things to do to deal with PMS. Not in the Bible, anyway.  But what I do know is that, just like everything else that happens in our life, God cares about this too. He cares about everything that we care about, because He cares about us.

 

Isaiah 58:11

"The Lord will guide you always..."

 

If you care about the bad cramps, mood swings cravings and any of the millions of other symptoms that come along with "that time of the month", pray about it, asking the Father to show you what He wants you to do and He will reveal it to you. There is nothing too hard for God. And once you've asked Him, believe that He will show you. If He can repair your marriage, restore your health and renew your finances, PMS is a piece of cake.

Take heart, hunni. It won't last forever. From what I hear, menopause is a hoot...