At least I think it’s week #6. I’m a little lost. I didn’t do an update last week and didn’t post this week’s assignments yesterday (and I love stating the obvious in case you didn’t know). I had to take a break from some of this to get our taxes done and some other things I was falling behind on. So please forgive the lateness. I hope you’re still hanging in there with me.

Here’s this week’s reading assignments:

Monday — Read ch. 22: His Emotions

Tuesday — Read ch. 23: His Walk

Wednesday — Read ch. 24: His Talk

Thursday — Read ch. 25: His Repentance

Friday — Read ch. 26: His Deliverance

It may seem as though we are getting into some of the — oh, I don’t know — boring chapters, but they are all important in the grand scheme of things. We can’t only pray for our husbands and certain aspects. We need to pray for the whole package. I would love to hear if your hubby or hubby-to-be is seeing any good things coming from your praying for him. Give me a shout

Last week I confirmed with my pastor that I would give a testimony about evangelism yesterday in both services. It seemed that when I confirmed, I had in my head all I wanted to share. I figured I would tweak it this week. I was kinda of wrong. I did write it out, but the devil came after me with distractions. I shared different things in both services yesterday. I did better than I thought I would actually, ya know, speaking in front of people, but it was still nerve-wracking. There were things I meant to say in the first service and things I totally forgot in the second service. I’m trying to let it go — and pray God will use my ramblings for his good even if they didn’t come out of my mouth quite the way I’d hoped.

The thing is, I’ve also said I would speak at the women’s dinner we’re having in May – ya know, a full teaching/speaking kind of thing. Not a 5-minute little talk. God’s had the message on my heart for a few years now. It’s a huge step of faith to even tell someone I wanted to do this — and now I’ve told a few. So if the devil came at me for this little 5-minute deal, I’m for sure he’s going to come after me for the dinner. I need prayer and lots of it people! And I’m not used to asking prayer for me. I believe that God’s going to reach some women at this dinner and do some great things! I just pray my ramblings help and not hinder what He’s got planned.

So with all the distractions last week, not only did I get behind in Praying Wife, but I didn’t do a check-in on Friday. You can let me know here though if you’re still hanging with me. I read a couple of chapters to catch up over the weekend. Hang in there with me. You’re not the only one who may be behind!

Here’s this week’s reading assignments:

Monday — Read ch. 17: His Relationships

Tuesday — Read ch. 18: His Fatherhood

Wednesday — Read ch. 19: His Past

Thursday — Read ch. 20: His Attitude

Friday — Read ch. 21: His Marriage

Have ya’ll done anything outside of your comfort zones lately? I’d love to hear about it. Because speaking, is definitely stretching me

Here are the chapters we get to look forward to this week.

Monday — Read ch 12: His Protection

Tuesday — Read ch 13: His Trials

Wednesday — Read ch 14: His Integrity

Thursday — Read ch 15: His Reputation

Friday –  Read ch 16: His Priorities

Update on Women’s Dinner: When I went to church yesterday it seems the men have been doing some plotting and planning They’ve got a lot of good things planned already so turns out that I don’t have to worry about the food and such. I did, however, tell them that I wanted to speak — or rather I felt God wanted me to speak because this is so not my choice. God doesn’t listen to my arguing though — so I’m going to be doing a lot of studying and praying and preparing before May 8th!

This week has been tough. Duck even asked if we could go back to last Wednesday Um, no honey. We’re moving on. It seems this week has been packed with softball practices (for Duck and I), homework, and other general life stuff. Duck has been overwhelmed with not getting stuff done, but really I think we’re all trying to do too much. With softball games starting Monday, I don’t think it’s going to get any easier. So in addition to this week’s subjects, I added time management to the prayers.

I also wanted to share that last week’s check-in made Duck feel good. One of his love languages is words of affirmation. Frankly, I suck at this love language when it comes to spoken words. Most of the time I don’t have the right tone of voice or he’s trying to prod a compliment out of me so it loses it’s effect. But when I write here, I have time to formulate my thoughts. I also tell things that normally might not come up in every day conversation. The thing that stood out last week was when I said he’s a hard-worker but puts us first. He’s often not recognized by coworkers for the hard work he puts in, so it made him feel better when at least I could see it. I see him doing so many things right, but often don’t think to tell him so — or assume he knows. You know what happens when you assume, right? That’s me! So be sure you tell your hubby good stuff — even if words of affirmation isn’t his love language!

His Mind: This is a powerful one. I see evidence of this a lot and even more so on a ball field. Duck has started letting little lies into his mind. He used to believe he couldn’t hit home runs. Now that he hits them, it’s that he can’t hit down third base line anymore. He played in a tournament last weekend. He started out hitting well but then he got out one time. Then the next. It went down hill from there.

His mind wasn’t right. Instead of thinking “I am going to hit this ball and get on,” he was thinking “oh no, hope I don’t get out again.” I couldn’t get his mind back on track. He’d ask what he was doing wrong, but he couldn’t hear me. It wasn’t until we were practicing one day with our trainer, that he finally started to listen to us (ok, more the trainer, but me too). Once his mind got straight and he remembered the things he knows he’s supposed to be doing, he was hitting, throwing and catching really, really well. Physically he can do everything that he’s trying to do — the thing holding him back was his mind.

I can’t say much about this other than I need to keep praying about it — for him and for me too. My mind gets me in trouble too. But we’ll save that for Praying Woman

His Fears: Oh my! This is another big one. It goes right along with his mind. Fears enter his mind and instead of realizing they are a distraction from the devil, he starts going over them again and again and again. I’ve seen other members of his family express fears too under the guise of being prepared. Like if I have the fear of someone jumping in my car at a red light it’s good to have because then I’ll lock my doors every time I’m in the car. I kinda struggle with understanding some of his fears, so if you have any insight about this area — I would love to hear. Don’t get me wrong. I love that he cares about me and wants me to be around for a very long time, but is it healthy for him to be thinking, worrying about me going to the store by myself? The fears do not keep us from going and doing things though — so maybe it is healthy. More prayers needed here me thinks.

His Purpose: I love this chapter. I pray it for myself too. “God is not the author of confusion, strife, or unworkable situations. He is the God of perfect timing.” — pg 95. Totally love that quote! Many times Duck and I have reminded each other that if we are confused about what to do, it’s best not to do anything until God makes it clear — obvious, hit-me-up-side-the-head-with-a-2-x-4 clear.

His Choices: To be honest, I think I’ve been praying this more for me than him Maybe I should have started with the Praying Woman! I think Duck makes very wise decisions. He researches all the options and chooses what he thinks is best. Sometimes I might just jump in without really thinking things through, so I’m glad he’s pretty solid in this area. Love this quote too but for me it’s not limited to just his choices: “…don’t try to fix him. God is the only one who can do that. Your job is to love and pray for him.” — pg 100.

His Health: We have been very blessed with our health. Besides both of us having allergy issues, we are healthy. He works out 3-4 days a week and has for the past 3 or more years. He encouraged me to start at the gym because he wanted me to be healthy too. So today, I thanked God for his health and asked for Him to heal the sinus headache Duck has.

I’ve realized this week that it may be hard for you to keep up. Please don’t feel like you have to keep up with my schedule. Just continue to read a chapter when you can. It’s ok if you’ve gotten behind. Just don’t give up! Have a blessed weekend

This weekend was a whirlwind of traveling out of town and watching Duck play softball in the freezing temperatures of March. Unfortunately I forgot my long-john pants. I had enough layers for my upper body, but had to take off my leather Harley jacket and wrap it around my legs. As the weekend came to a close, I was wishing there was a chapter in Praying Wife about praying for softball. Duck did well the first 2 games, but the last 2 he struggled hitting. I didn’t have any idea how to pray for him and ended up having to just let him sulk. Then I read the next chapter, His Mind, and was just amazed at how God fits everything in place sometimes Because I believe Duck was believing some lies from the enemy about his abilities, his actions, and his worth. I’m hoping you’ll start to see some great benefits to these chapters this week.

Monday — Read ch 7: His Mind

Tuesday — Read ch 8: His Fears

Wednesday — Read ch 9: His Purpose

Thursday — Read ch 10: His Choices

Friday — Read ch 11: His Health

Don’t forget if you want to follow the #prayingwife Twitter conversation, click on the tab at the top that says Praying Wife. I’ve got it setup to display the comments, but it’s ordered with the newest at the top. So if you’re trying to follow a conversation, it’s best to start at the bottom and work your way up.

This will probably be quick. I have scheduled both dogs to go to the vet for their annual check-ups. I just love how Duck went out in the yard this morning trying to catch them poopin’ so they don’t have to go the q-tip route. I say it only comes once a year so why not let them enjoy it?

On with the check-in…

This week the chapters were a lot shorter than His Wife. Aren’t you glad? Duck has told me that he feels my prayers and appreciates me taking it upon myself to go through this book again. I hope and pray that your hubby feels the same way.

His Work: Workaholism vs Laziness. I am very blessed that Duck sees work as God’s gift to him to provide for us. He has never in his life been lazy. On the other hand, I think it would be very easy for him to become a workaholic. I think God’s blessed him with balance. He is a good, hard worker but he also puts us first.

His Finances: I read this one as our finances. I’ve been praying for our finances for quite awhile. Praying that God would change how we both view money. I think it’s really easy to get caught up in the “take it home with you now on credit and pay for it later” mentality. We go through bouts of being good stewards and receiving God’s blessings (both financially and not financially) and then we’ll slack off again. The beginning of the year we made a renewed committment to get out of some of the financial mess we’re in and we’ve been doing better. Not quite there yet, but better.

His Sexuality: This was a weird chapter for me — not because of Duck, but because I gave this book to Mom to read (hi Mom!). It got me a little tickled thinking of Mom praying for Dad like this. But I want their marriage to be a happy one, so I let the thought drift away. “When we are married, our bodies are not our own.” — pg 63. That one may be hard to swallow.

His Affection: Have you ever read The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman? It’s good. Really good. Both Duck and I scored highest on quality time. We both had a close second that were way different. His? Word of affirmation. Mine? Physical affection. Yep, I love hugs. He’s not so much of a hugger, but I’ve been praying for him and it works Usually he remembers to give me a hug every day before he leaves for work. Makes my day start out a lot nicer!

His Temptations: This chapter talked about sexual temptations but I believe it can be regarding any temptations. Like for an alcoholic, seeing a bar might be a temptation. For Duck it might be a temptation to get caught up in work too much for too long or temptation to spend more money than he makes. “Only prayer, a submitted heart, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can work those kinds of miracles.” — pg 75. I wish we could stop temptations, but God always provides an out. The only thing we can do is pray to see “the out” God’s provided and to have the strength and the wisdom to use it.

So did any chapters really speak to you this week? Has hubby noticed any difference yet? Are you still with me?

Ok, so this is the same design as before. New design is coming … I just have to rethink a few things (Darcy don’t hate me – showed the design to Duck).

Here’s your Power of a Praying Wife assignment for this week. Hopefully you’ve been praying for you and praying through those rough spots. The rough spots may not be healed, but just opening yourself up for change is a great start!

Monday — Read Ch 2: His Work

Tuesday — Read Ch 3: His Finances

Wednesday — Read Ch 4: His Sexuality

Thursday — Read Ch 5: His Affection

Friday — Read Ch 6: His Temptations

Duck was hilarious when he saw the line-up for this week. “Wednesday’s going to be a good day.” He said. Ha! We’ll see. He did send me an email that he was thankful I took it upon myself to pray for him — that he could feel my prayers and that they were making a difference in his life. I’m wondering if you’ve gotten the same reaction from your husband? It may be too early for him to be able to tell a difference, but I was just curious how things were going for you.