Husbands=Consistent

con·sis·tent

Pronunciation: \kən-ˈsis-tənt\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin consistent-, consistens, present participle of consistere

Date: 1638

1archaic : possessing firmness or coherence

2 a: marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction consistent style in painting> b:marked by agreement : compatible —usually used with withconsistent with the truth> c: showing steady conformity to character, profession, belief, or custom consistent patriot>

— con·sis·tent·ly \-lē\ adverb

 

Those things in red.  Those are my desires as a husband.  That is my heart: to remain consistent as a man, husband, leader, lover, spiritual man.  Why?

 

-“Consistent” means “Safe” in wife speak.  I want my home to be a greenhouse for my wife to bloom in.  Sheltered, protected, loved, desired, and safe from the battering of the world that would seek to leave her maimed and tattered and dreamless.  My home will be a place for her dreams to come alive.  I set the standard.  I am the leader.  I must be consistent in my word, in my action, in my relationship, and in my Faith.  I truly believe that when Jess opens her eyes every morning and awakes into this home, that every day she will awake to a safe place to become the woman that Christ set her apart to be.  Nothing else will do.  Too much is at stake.  Her heart it too precious to my Master and to me.  “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”

-It is my duty and heart’s desire to Consistently reflect Christ in my marriage.  The head of every man is Christ.  The head of every woman is man.  Men were created in the image of Christ, and the woman taken out of the man.  The Greek word for image is IKONE.  A reflection.  My wife is (and someday my children will be) a reflection of my relationship with Christ.  If it is healthy, intimate, consistent, passionate, and from a servant’s heart; then my relationship with Jessica will be all those things.  She will be healthy in every way.  Conversely, if my relationship with Christ is twisted, from a far, full of variation, disheartened, and from a selfish heart; then my relationship with Jessica will be all of those things.  She will be sick in every way.  (See 1 Cor 11)  I want to consistently reflect Christ and His love for me.

-His love is Consistent.  He served when He was spat upon.  He forgave when He was murdered.  He kept no record of the wrongs paid to Him.  He died for His Bride’s freedom.  His love and action through it never varied, but He was a constant and faithful reflection of His Father’s character, love, and desire to the Church.

 

So, in a summarizing and practical sense, what does that mean?  I like practical.  I am a big fan of things that can be practiced – that means that you can do them and get better at them!  So, this means that when I come home from stress, traders, f-bombs, non-stop, and trials – a.k.a. work – I do the dishes.  Yup.  I come home from those things and attend to Jess no matter how I feel.  MY CRY before the Lord is that the question, “what about me?” NEVER be able to enter my heart or mind.  It never entered His mind when He hung on that cross.  I am thankful for that.  So, I listen to her heart at night when I want to sleep so bad it literally hurts.  I take out the trash.  I deep clean the bathroom when I want to sit on the couch.  I watch Project Runway instead of Sportscenter.  I watch Giadda Delorentis shows because my wife is obsessed with cooking. J  I listen when I want to talk.  I listen when I want to do things that boys want to do.  I encourage, I love, I bless.  I do not speak out of anger.  I do not lose my temper.  I do not shout.  I remain consistent.

 

Sadly, I am still human.  I struggle a great deal.  These things require choices that are often difficult.  Sometimes I do not make the proper choice.  Nonetheless, my wife is correct when she said that God is for marriage and that He will fight for it.  He fights in me.  He changes things in me when I ask Him.  I believe that when I want to be more like Him, He makes it happen.  He is good.  Marriage is good.  He made marriage, and He made it good.

 

Consistently,

Mr. Hill

Long Time

It has been a really long time since either of us have blogged! Life gets so crazy at times and sometimes takes a little "wrangling" to get it back in order.

Since I have begun working I have had to get used to a busy schedule - ya know - which I am sure none of you can relate to at all :). Do any of you ever wonder how all of our Moms did it; I wonder this all the time. How she was organized, had dinner ready, did laundry, loved us, talked to us, loved and talked to my Dad, worked, did bible studies, bought Christmas present, and on and on and on....

I am learning how to organize, clean, cook, plan, decorate, talk, love, work out, work, do laundry, grow up, be good at being married, be a good friend, daughter, sister, granddaughter - all the while learning how to prefer and adapt to the awesome man in my life during while learning all of these things. I am definitely not saying that my awesome hubby does not do SO MUCH for me and with me, it is just an adjustment to doing things for two. So, I know have such a tremendous respect my Mama who had four kids and did all these things for SIX people!

Anyways - I have said all of this to say - sometimes we get busy but we cannot let our busyness over take us - we must over take our busyness. In my mind I would like to think I am Winston Churchill during the war except I am fighting for a balanced life that glorifies Jesus and reflects being excellent and not busy!

On to say:

Chris and I would really like to start a discussion about marriage and how important and awesome it is. In our generation marriage is something that is easily tossed away and discarded, and that is a horribly tragedy that is having a terrible effect on our nation and on a lot of us individually. We realize that we have only been married a few short months but that does not mean we cannot encourage and build up the idea of marriage.

So if you have been hurt by divorce in any way shape or form you might want to follow along as Chris and I try to let the Lord have a voice about something he cares deeply about. I also want to comment that it might not resonate in you that you might of been hurt by divorce so I want to say it another way... Follow along if you are afraid of marriage or have doubts that marriage cannot be solid and full of amazing blessings. God designed marriage. He loves marriage. He is willing to fight for marriage. So, when you lay marriage at His feet He picks it up and molds it into a beautiful, loving, beneficial, fun, and growing relationship. When two people want marriage to work and are willing to let God be the center of their relationship, their marriage will have a strong foundation on which they can stand on.

We cannot promise to answer to everything or even chip the edge off the the idea. However, we can share our experiences and the wisdom we have found and the wisdom that has been given to us by people who have been married for a long, long time!

It is our heart to lift up the heart of anyone that is hurting because of divorce.

We want to share our lives with you, because we want you to see what God can do with two selfish, prideful, broken, hurt people who simply just want to glorify Him.

A little something different…

So, we are really excited. We are really excited about one thing in particular:

Marriage. Yup, we're really excited about this new part of life that we have begun. We think it's wonderful. We've only been at it for a little while, but we want to write about it here – so we're starting a "blog mini-series." So here come 3-4 entries about how much fun marriage is when you do it like Jesus has designed it to be done.

Look, we aren't crazy. We understand. You might be thinking, "What do you guys have to say about this? You've only been married a little while." Yea, we know that, but you have to understand something – You are exactly right. We've only been married for a little while, and this thing is so much better than our wildest dreams that we can't help but tell you about what's made it great for us.

Stay tuned, as my good friend Jonathan Armour would say, "The Hills are alive."

 

Mr. Hill

Focus

I am impacted this morning (as my beloved wife is nearly continually) by the goodness of my God.

I have been a under-the-weather lately.  I have been working hard a lot lately.  I have felt like I wanted more from my time with the Lord.

I have felt inadequate to love and follow Him in the manner of His call on my life.  I see myself as the rageddly sinful man that I once was.  He sees me as the man who He has redeemed to be His son through the Son, Christ Jesus.

Somehow, once you get into God's presence, all these things change.  He is what matters.  He draws every bit of my attention away from what I see as my faults so that I can focus on loving and serving Him.  I really think that is key.  To be in His presence experiencing His enduring love...

2 Chron 5:11-14

11 And when the priests had come out of the Holy Place — for all the priests present had sanctified themselves, separating themselves from everything that defiles, without regard to their divisions; 

12 And all the Levites who were singers — all of those of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, having cymbals, harps, and lyres — stood at the east end of the altar, and with them 120 priests blowing trumpets; 

13 And when the trumpeters and singers were joined in unison, making one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and other instruments for song and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever, then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 

14 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. 

AMP

His words to me this morning after a wonderful time of intimacy and worship were this, "You were making things too complicated again, Bubba.  Focus on Me."

I am then reminded of this verse that He has so often and sweetly taught me through:

Matt 6:33

33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  

NASU

...saying, seek Jesus first, seek His kingdom.  Everything else will fall into place.  Not seek freedom from sin, seek wisdom about a job, seek nothing first but Jesus.

That question you are asking, "that's cool, Chris.  sounds great.  I have no flippin idea how to do that."

Tell Him that.  Do you think that scares Him?  He knows it already. :)  All that is for you is to ask and invite Him.  "Lord Jesus, I want all of You in my life.  I want you to be Master.  I want you to come and love me in the manner that no human can ever love me."

For every  Believer, that is the beginning of depth and intimacy with God.  I have found my whole life through that the more real I am to Him about my sin, my life, my desires, my thoughts, my hurt  - the more real He has become to me in every area of my life.

He must by King...not only Savior.  That is the narrow road.  That is life.  That is the most satisfying and painful and wonderful adventure that my heart has ever known.

txhill@gmail.com

Mr. Hill

Meat and Potatoes

However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [^[a]that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and ^[b]that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly]. [I Pet. 3:2.] Ephesians 5:33

Last night I went to Beth Moore's bible study which this semester is more of a study that is teaching us how to study the bible. So, anyways I walk in the door and my husband had fixed me a fantastic, incredible, and awesome dinner.

Music was playing and candles were lit and on the table my HOT husband had fixed me steak, asparagus, twice baked potatoes, and had ready a really amazing wine. I have to say this was the best steak dinner I have had that was not in a really expensive restaurant. Chris Hill can make the best twice baked potatoes in the whole entire world. I really cannot describe how good the dinner was or how awesome and loving my husband is, but I just wanted to brag to the world that he loves me so well! He really loves me in a way that I have never been loved before and that makes me want to praise him at the gates and let the whole world know that he is an amazing man and husband!!!

Who knew that twice baked potatoes could express love in such a deep manner? :)

Surrender

Is it possible that sometimes we can get so caught up in desiring to do God's will for our life that our destiny and what "we are designed to do" can sometimes take a lead on our priority list, maybe even surpassing God himself?

I realized this morning that I can sometimes do this. This is not something I like to admit at all, but I have learned that the quicker you squish your pride the less your pride can hurt you.

God is so willing to bless us. He wants to bless us more than we can even imagine. Sometimes, though I think our blessings can get in the way of our relationship with God. I have to remind myself that knowing God is so much more important than anything in the whole world - even what He blesses me with. God wants to be known, He wants to show himself to us, He wants to engage in an awesome and dynamic relationship with us that is real and life changing.

So, today I surrender to God everything that I hold important in my life. In all my searches of what He wants me to do and what step I should take next; I am holding Him above all else. I want Him to know that I hold Him first in my life. He is more important than what He has called me to do.

Surrender

Come On Ride That Train

The Aggies won today.

Jovorskie Lane played today and it was awesome. If anyone happened to see the last three minutes of the game - you know why!

Last week Chris, Wes, and I went to the Miami game and J Lane did not play. It was an awful and boring game and I was completely disinterested. Chris was greatly distressed because he thought I was falling out of love with Aggie football, but this was untrue - I was just upset because Jovorskie was not playing. I would like to note that Jovorskie's absence was not the only reason why the game stunk - I think that was obvious.

I realize that he may be a little fat but that absolutely does not stop him from running fast and moving the ball down the field. In fact, he told me one time that he ate Lucky Charms to make him fast. :)

So, thank you Mike Sherman for putting in the J Train for me today - you made my heart happy!

I am not trying to be a football expert. I am just letting you know that I think Aggie football is a lot more interesting when the J Train plays.

Joseph=every one of us.

So, God's been talking to me a lot lately through the story of Joseph. It's a story that I have studied quite a bit over time, but lately God has been randomly reminding me of certain parts of the story in order to then speak some encouragement into my life. I want to share some of those things in the hope and belief that the Lord will encourage your life too through my words here.

Some opening thoughts: Just because you aren't called to rule the known world doesn't mean this story isn't about you. That was God's unique call on Joseph's life. He has a unique call for each one of us! Living for eternity is about living to fulfill that call - your call………..Next thought – If you are willing to follow what God has for you, there will be a process. Each pit, chain, and prison that God lead Joseph into was not to hurt him. It was for the purpose of making and sculpting him into the man that God needed – a man chosen to preserve posterity for God's chosen people of Israel in a time of great need.

 

I am so amazed by this man. He did not have Christ in His heart as you and I. He didn't have the Holy Spirit walking with him at every moment to lead and guide his steps as you and I do. Yet, he consistently forgave, walked in integrity, and endured.

 

He forgave his family who sold him into slavery instead of murdering him. He forgave Potiphar's wife. He forgave Pharaohs' butler who forgot and left him in prison for two years (after Joseph had asked him to remember).

He walked in integrity when he had no reason to. In that situation, would you not find yourself asking, "What do I have to lose? I am already a slave in a foreign land. I might as well get something out of this for myself." But no, he was so trustworthy that Potiphar made him lord of his whole house. (Go read what he says to Potiphars wife!) He was thrown into prison under false charges – and it did not change who he was or what he did. Would you not be tempted to defend yourself? Would you not be tempted to curse God and die? You have just worked up to a reasonable place in a land not your own – to get thrown into prison. Would you not struggle with depression now? (Before God I must honestly say that would be difficult.) Yet Joseph remembered his dream and the God of his fathers.

He endured. This one is what I would think would be the hardest. (Ok, maybe I'm biased here. I feel like I'm going through this myself. No, I am not in prison. But I am a man who has a dream of owning a business and running it for the sake of the Kingdom. I am "stuck" in the most corporate job – waiting. This is a test. I have a choice. I can be bitter, I can lose hope, I can get frustrated and allow my heart to get hard; or, I can remember my dream and the God who lives in my heart.) Joseph passed this test. He endured the test of time, and God knew that he would steward whatever was put in front of him. By the process God led him through; Joseph was shown to have character.

 

Please allow me the position of making this a little personal. Has your family done things that hurt? How did you handle that? Joseph was sold into slavery for $20. Have you been unwilling to see what God has for you in the midst of pain and unfair treatment? Have you cursed him as you waited for His promises to come true? WE ALL HAVE STRUGGLES! How we chose to handle the processes (Processes – Chris's "spiritual" way of saying "really difficult hurt and trials.") that God supernaturally leads us through will determine the extent that we live the dreams that He has placed in our hearts. I encourage you this morning – as I encourage my own heart - to endure. I believe that the Spirit of Jesus Christ that lives within us is able and willing to give us the grace that is required for the situation that we face. I am not so naïve as to think that I can personally understand all of the "processes" God has lead/is leading you through, but this thing I know – He does. He forgave, walked in perfect integrity, and endured for the sake of the glory that was set before Him – our redemption.