Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Beautiful Sanctuary

When still waiting for my beloved to become mine, I was gifted a wonderful book. The title inspired the description for this blog: The Mirror of True Womanhood by Reverend Bernard O'Reily. Published 1886. I learned so many fascinating ideals from this old-fashioned and somewhat outdated book. Even though I won't ever be able to apply some of the old formalities it speaks of, one of my favorite lessons was on the importance of the wife keeping a home as a peaceful sanctum for her husband and children.

The book speaks of two women, the first being a rich upper class wife, whose home is lavishly decorated and truly lacks nothing. It directs the women who fall under this category to behave themselves in a righteous, humble, graceful and yet authorative manner to their manservants and maidservants. That no matter how much material things the Lord God blesses them with, to use them and disperse of them in a frugal way, showing gratitude and respect for all her husband does and pour love and peace throughout her home.

The second woman, is one whose husband works incredibly hard for the very little home they have. A small cottage and garden, the author describes, and though it be a humble abode how important it still be to make it just as peacefilled and inviting as any other. Reverend O'Reily says the wife's attitude of sheer thanksgiving, love and joy makes up for the crude beauty the interior possesses. The husband comes home to a sanctuary of love and rest because of the wife's attitude!

This was fascinating to me. Starting out in our own place was so incredibly humbling. Our area designated for dining had a glued together, uneven, laminate topped table that was about three feet long and two feet wide. On either end were two borrowed folding chairs. Beyond a beautiful bed in our bedroom, our place had no other furniture. As I spent my days at home pregnant with our first, my husband worked very hard at a stressful job. He came home exhausted nearly every night. I desired above all else he come home to a relaxing home and hot meal. I recalled what I had read in that book. I did my very best to have his dinner fresh on a plate directly as he walked over that threshold, I decorated what I could, made our home spotless (something my man really appreciates) and focused on my attitude.

I only hope that my attitude reflects a palace and sanctuary of love and peace for all who enter. And as time has gone by, my home has gotten prettier and prettier.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Sweet Beginnings

All girls will remember that lovely moment when the man you love gets down on one knee and asks you to marry him. Mine happened March 11th of 2012. I remember it very clearly, partly due to the fact that instead of a proposal, I was expecting the door to any chance of a relationship to be closed forever! My dear love in the middle of a restaurant got on one knee and told me heart melting words, "From the moment I met you, you changed my life. I love you, Morgan. Will you marry me?"  If any of you personally know my husband, you will know how quiet of a man he is. So imagine my surprise at such a proposal in the middle of such a public place! Funny thing, our tender love and esteem for each other was so low key, that when announced at church, most were shocked! And told us they didn't even know we were interested in the other! To me it just made our love story all the more special.

My did I enjoy those months of betrothal. Every moment, I took and hid them and treasured them in heart and mind, and several I recorded! Something I found to be priceless to me now in the midst of marriage. Every text message that played my heart strings, or display of affection, or spoken word that made me into a pool of romanced girlishness...I took and wrote down. That simple action has been such a blessing to me. Now, ten blessed months of marriage, filled with ecstacy, heartache, hills and valleys I have the ability to look back at those sweet beginnings and recall the thrill of new found love, the freshness of a fascination for my spouse, and let me just say that in those valleys, nothing is more comforting than remembering his words of deep love and promise.

I continue to record and treasure such things. Time and discerment have opened my eyes to a much greater and more powerful purpose for it. At times throughout our union, I have found myself doubting that my husband is still as much in love with me as he was at the start, or if I am still attractive to him, and if he likes the way I run his home! Did he honestly show actions of these thoughts? Or state them to me in conversation? Of course not! But you ladies who read this can agree: emotion and feelings are incredibly strong. And they have this horribly annoying way of blinding us with a filter that amplifies things. For example, if I feel my husband no longer finds me pretty and a week passes without a compliment and my efforts to dress up go unnoticed, my head tells me, "This confirms my feelings!" Is this true? But I feel it! So my attitude can change and sure enough, a domino effect takes place. My attitude effects my husband and our marriage is suddenly rained upon by a grey cloud of whose origin, my spouse has no idea of! Is this healthy? Ah...see where a simple habit as mine comes to the rescue? What better defeats a lie than truth? I can easily whip out my written records of the PARAGRAPHS of the declarations of his attraction for me. My head is settled from the disturbance my heart fed me. And it saves our union from unneeded drama. If such feelings still plague me, I go to him and the lies get disspelled in a unified manner. What a beautiful but powerful use for something I considered nothing more than a goofy romantic keepsake. God took my romantical sensibilities and gave me a weapon against our adversary.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

An Introduction

The Delighted Bride, I felt to be the perfect name for my blog. What more could describe me? Being my wonderful husband's bride for as little time as it has been, has truly been the best time of my life. As it says elsewhere on my blog: One who lives what she dreamt. For as long as I could remember, matrimony, homemaking and motherhood was my dream. Now each morning I wake to the sweet reality of a dream come true! Even my man once told me long before we were engaged, "I have never met a girl who wants to be married as much as you do."

That all being said, this blog will be used by me to share fun things I discover or learn, maybe a tutorial or two, a place to give encouragement to young women still waiting for her Prince and young wives like myself in matters of husband,home and child. I hope The Delighted Bride to truly be a mirror reflecting my passion for all I hold dear.