“Marriage or Nah”? ~ OEV

 

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I know, I know…I was supposed to be praying too but I just had to capture the moment.  To open my eyes, grab my phone and snap a pic of my husband praying with our children before bed is one of those moments that lets me know we got it right.  Yeah…we did.
What did we get right?  We did something different to meet someone different.  We put our cards on the table from jump.  No surprises, no second guessing.  From the moment we first talked we made it clear that it was “Marriage or Nah”.  We got to know each other with no strings attached for a year even tho PAV was tryna marry me within the first months of meeting lol (You gotta know the whole story tho).  There was no kissing, no making out, no nothing during that “getting to know stage”.  Straight acquaintances with a mission of “friends who could possibly marry” was the deal.  That way if we weren’t feeling each other, we could move along without any emotional or sexual ties.
We became exclusive after that first year.  When he would take me to his church he made it known I was that chick.  You know, ‘His Lady’.  And my goodness did I love the way he would introduce me to “the church”.  The church who would judge me prematurely and sometimes un-righteously because I wasn’t raised in the church like him, wasn’t C.O.G.I.C. like him and definitely wasn’t “saved like him”.  But I was on his arm because he chose me. And what many didn’t realize was that I received his choice and chose him in return. It wasn’t one sided.  It was very mutual.  I had to win his parents over being that I was not the church girl type but winning them over was worth the man.
2 years later after many “dating trials”, he made it official and gave me the ring…proposing to me while we were watching the airplanes land and take off.  We had some trials while engaged but I was here for it, so we married 2 years later.  Can’t believe I was really tryna divorce him 5 years after.  But here we are…married still.  12 years in the deal.  Husband and wife for real for real.  With five beautiful babies we pray for, who we slay for and are steadily paving the way for.
So to be at a point where I watch this man I said Yes to pray with all of our children is a moment I had to capture. Not for my sake or yours but more so for my children’s sake. So that when they’re older they’ll always have this moment in print. Tho our 2 and 4 year old may not remember this, they’ll be able to see this pic and have this moment for life and see that…their parents really did do something right. We found one another, observed each other. Sealed the deal with each other. Then brought each of our children into this world and declared we would raise them up in the admonition of The Most High and teach them His ways. And it didn’t start that night. It started in July 1999, became serious in August 2000, made official in July 2002 and finalized in May 2004. Then we started our legacy in 2006, continued it in 2008, added to it in 2010, filled it more in 2012 and built it higher in 2014. Whoooo! We got a lot to do right? So what’s my point in all this right? What is OEV getting at?
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My point is to get to this moment…to get this right…to be here in all of this right now today, we had to declare from the beginning that it was “Marriage or Nah”.And this is also what we’re showing our children. I mean, who has that kinda time to be wasting on “Nah” when time is pointing to Marriage? Who has that kinda heart to keep putting up with “Nah” when the heart is desiring Marriage? I mean really tho…who has that kinda strength to continually be weakened on “Nah” when it wants to be stronger in Marriage? I didn’t. And neither do you.

You’re single and you desire marriage..then it’s time to get a “Marriage or Nah” mentality about your life right now. This doesn’t mean nothing else matters, it simply means that the foolishness that comes with “Nah” is over and no longer needs your energy. I gave lots of details above to share our history together. Sure we had some ups and downs along the way, but we were still throwing up “Marriage or Nah” through it all.

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You no longer have time to waste, you no longer have a heart to be broken by people playing games and you no longer have the strength to put towards “Nah”. Instead set some #MarriageGoals and then spend some time working towards those goals. It’s OK to want it, think of it, prepare for it and desire it. It’s honorable remember? So to desire something honorable is actually a very beautiful thing. But you gotta let go of the “Nah” because it’s possibly holding you up from what you truly desire..Marriage.

And last thing, if you’re Married, work to stay together. Remember divorce is nothing more than a “Nah” but in a different context. Not saying all marriages will work out, but at the very least give it your all and work to stay together as best as YOU can so that no matter what happens, you know you was all about that Marriage life! ? ~ OEV

Did I say something that blessed you?  Confused you?  Hit a nerve or inspired you!  Leave a comment and let me know.  I assure you of a timely response.  Love you Fam .  ?
PS  Hey Ladies…wanna join me in my private Facebook group for Queens only?  Click here and join me NOW.  See you there.

 

“In Walks A Man”! ~ OEV

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The woman was tired. She had been up all night getting some rare “me time” by indulging in Netflix movies. But just when she was about to finally get some sleep in the early morning, her youngest son (2 years old) wakes up. While trying to put him back to sleep, an older sibling wakes up and seems to signal for the other children to wake up as well. Before the woman knows it, all of her ‘stair steppers’ are awake. Now the woman wishes she didn’t stay up all night getting rare “me time” in because now she’s going to be tired the rest of the day because at 6am, it really is time to get up anyway.

So the days goes just as expected. Tiresome! She’s tired but managing to run the household to the demands of her younger children while getting the older children to help in keeping things in order. In the afternoon, she actually manages to get them all to take a nap so she takes a nap as well. Three hours seems like enough rest but unfortunately the nap puts her behind in getting dinner ready. Thank The Most High the children are all still sleeping so she gets busy with dinner. Just as things are going well, the youngest son wakes up crying. But before she can even grab him, the youngest daughter wakes up crying as well. She’s wondering how in the world she’s going to get everything done before the man of the house is back home. She’s got things in the oven, things on the stove, things waiting to be mixed on the table and two babies 3 and under crying their tears out. Talk about frustrating and exhausting at the same time. So the woman picks up the 2 year old son, rocking him trying to console him while letting her 3 year old know she’ll be right there in just a minute. But the 3 year old doesn’t seem to take too well to being made to wait, so she cries even more. With dinner preparations interrupted, a son in her lap refusing consolation and a 3 year old crying in the near distance, the woman begins to inwardly break down hoping to be rescued. This was nothing really major that she hadn’t handled before but, working off only 3 hours of sleep and blaming herself in her mind for staying up super late, caused the woman to slightly crumble with exasperation.

But then…the door unlocks and the knob turns. “In Walks A Man”...a hard working Man who just finished working 13 hours. Tired, sweaty, not smelling the best, looking like he just woe out.. not wore out but WOE OUT. He walks in and immediately the 2 year old son who refused the woman’s consolation quickly stops crying, gets up and runs to this Man with outstretched hands. While holding the 2 year old, the Man turns the corner towards the 3 year old daughter who’s still crying. “In walks a Man” to where she was and instead of ceasing from crying, she cries harder upon seeing the Man as if she had been missing the Man all day. The Man takes his free arm and picks up the daughter too. Before she knows it, the Man has both the son and daughter in both arms embracing them strongly and consoling them both effortlessly. Before he sits down while holding the two, he stands with seemingly room for one more…the woman. The woman walks towards him and the Man hugs her with both arms around the two youngest children then she rests upon what remained of his chest, squeezed between the two babies. And it was at that very moment that the woman was reminded of Our Heavenly Father who has room for us all in His arms, in His loving embrace. The Man was not only those children’s father but he was also the woman’s husband. And everything became well when he walked in. Now let’s bring this thing to clarity.

The woman is me, OEV. The Man is my husband, PAV (I know y’all know that too 😀 ). The children are our youngest two of the five. All I know is when that Man, My Man walked in, all that wasn’t well became well. All I know is when that Man walked in, what was turning out to be chaotic before he got home, was now calm…simply because he walked in.

You see, good things happen when a Man walks in. When a male walks in, things either go from bad to worse or they remain the same. But when a Man walks in, things get better or has the potential to get better with some work. Because Joy comes with him. Pain relief comes with him as well. And just when you’re so mad at life and you’re ready to give up, “in walks a Man” with the confidence to encourage you up out of your misery and back into the equanimity you feel when he’s around. Yasssssss! And even if there’s trouble around, a Man walking in gives trouble a serious run for its money. You see, when a male walks in, he could be a trouble maker but when a Man walks in, he’s the trouble taker. Males make trouble, Men take trouble and turn it into calm. Y’all..don’t…hear…me..tho..

This doesn’t mean Men are perfect. It doesn’t mean my Man is perfect, it just means even when we are at odds in our marriage, when my husband walks in, I know no matter what we’re dealing with, he’s gon’ shut it down and work to make things right. No matter if I pout. No matter if I try the silent treatment. No matter if my attitude ain’t right. No matter if his tone ain’t the best. No matter if he don’t agree with what I’m saying. When my husband walks in, ain’t nobody walking out unchanged. Even when our children are restless and rambunctious and I’m struggling to get them all the way in order, when my husband walks in, order is restored. So what am I saying and what has this go to do with you?

I’m saying single women, when I was choosing this man to be my husband, I chose him based on the fruit that showed me he was the type of Man who would work through the craziest mess in marriage. I chose him because his actions showed me he was a righteous man. I chose him because even though he had issues just as I did, I knew he would love me through every issue, every outburst and every self imposed crazy moment I ever created in our marriage. And though this is the Man who walked out on me in year 5 of our marriage, he is also the same man who walked back in, worked with me and made this thang right 12 years and 5 children later.

So do NOT settle for them unrighteous males who look good to marry. Don’t rush into relationships with males who got it made financially but ain’t got it made righteously. Don’t fall for the males who can recite every scripture but can’t SHOW YOU how to apply them same scriptures they quote. Because when the ish hit the fan in marriage, Men are the ones that’s gon’ come through this piece and work everything out with you as best as they can. Those are the kind of perfectly flawed Men you want to give a chance in getting to know you. Men with Standards. Men who are Righteous and Men who can walk into a room and change the entire game up.

And what’s so amazing is you can be just going on about your life, praying, working towards and preparing for this type of man while in the worst season of your life, yet “In Walks A Man” into your life ready to change that season for you or walk through that season with you. And if you don’t think this can happen, you betta ask me. I can tell you some stories honey. LOL! Be Encouraged Single Ladies! I got lots more where this came from. You may say it ain’t a lot of good men like this out here but as I always say, you only need ONE. 😉 ~ OEV

#InWalksAMan #ATrulyFaithfulMan #BeTrulyFaithful #TrulyFaithful

Psalm 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”.

Please share this blog post if it blessed you and also join my online Kingdom Building Community for women below where we talk in detail about topics like this and so much more.

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The Building of a Nation Starts with YOU!

“Men, I believe if we teach our sons how to be providers as they become men, how to treat women, how to be in control of their sexuality, how to value their purity as young boys, how to be leaders in their homes and communities, how to operate in their God given masculinity, while also teaching our sons to honor marriage, we will help greatly in decreasing the many fatherless, broken and dysfunctional homes we have in this world today, especially in our own communities”. ~ PAV

“Women, I believe if we teach our daughters to know their worth, to value their sexuality and their bodies, to empower them in their educational creativity, to help them understand that being a help meet is a strong active role in society as a whole, not a weak, inactive one only done in marriage, how to honor marriage while also teaching our daughters to support masculinity while operating fully in their God given femininity, we will help greatly in decreasing the epidemic of leaving legacies of broken relationships, out of wedlock births and extreme poverty”. ~ OEV

“Men and Women, we believe in being Faithful to Marriage, Faithful to Family and Faithful to Legacy (Building). In order to have healthy marriages, strong and loving families and positive legacies tomorrow, it starts with building our marriage, our family and our legacy TODAY”!

We’re already doing this and are working to do it even better. Have you started? Are you doing your part?  What steps are you taking to get this done?  Comment and let us know! ~ PAV &OEV

 

Psalm 112:1-3, “Praise the Lord!  Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments!  His offspring will be mighty in the land, the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in His house and His righteousness endures forever”.

Psalm 78:4, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done”.

Deut 6:5-7, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”.

 

 

Wanna join OEV’s Online Kingdom Building Community for Women?  Sign up here.

 

Wanna join PAV’s Online Kingdom Building Community for Men?  Sign up here.

“The Removal of A Thorn”! ~ OEV

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When you’re not lookin’ your best…  When you’re not actin your best… When you’re coming up short in this marriage thing…and he still loves you anyway?  That is priceless to me!  I love my Man…because here lately, I ain’t been that Chic.  But he’s been loving me as best as he can!  And I have those moments where I’m over sensitive, where I overreact and where I seemingly lose my positioning.  And even my husband can be the same way.  I mean, there are times, he’s acting up just as much as I am.  But we understand this one thing. Divorce is no longer an option.  We took that option off the table in 2009 once we reconciled our marriage.  So we know we gon’ work it out.

We came into the New Year with an issue.  That issue started in late 2015 and followed us right into 2016.  It’s been a thorn and then FINALLY, the thorn broke.  But it broke off deep into our sides..like way off in there.  Which means, no one on the outside could see it, but we both felt it and it hurt like hell and we were angry.  So we had to take a break.  A break from Scoping and a break from speaking together publicly.  Why?  Because when you got issues, you got to get those issues worked out BEFORE you get back out there together.  Unfortunately yet fortunately, things don’t always get worked out as quickly as we want them to.

 

So we had to yield to the Spirit, but that was after we each had our say.  Because at the end of our say we STILL didn’t agree.  Then what?  Most would say, “If you both don’t agree, then the wife submits and goes with the husband’s decision”.  But where does it say that?  That if the husband and wife do not agree, the wife just concedes and submits, especially when she’s already submitting?  Where does it say that husband and wife just go with what the husband says when they both disagree or that he has the last say?  What if he’s totally wrong?  What if she’s being like Abigail and he’s being like Nabal, then what?  (Thought provoking huh?)

 

Listen, please hear me clearly, the wife is always to submit to her husband…in everything.  That’s the word.  And the husband is to love his wife like Christ loves the church always.  That’s also the word.  But husband and wife will not always agree.  And that doesn’t mean, both just go with what the husband says all the time.  No, sometimes that means NO DECISION IS MADE until there is clarity.  Where does clarity come from?  The Most High!  In what way?  It can come in many ways.  Through His word, by His Holy Spirit, in prayer, through wise counsel or more.  So once that thorn broke off deep into our sides, there was more pain and we just had to get it out!  My husband spoke his peace and I spoke mine.  We still didn’t agree.  I said my peace again, he said his peace again and yet again we still didn’t agree.  I prayed, he prayed, opposition was still in the mist.

 

So it happened!  The ish hit the fan and we had some words.

 

 

He walked to cool off and I calmed down.  The small break did us both good as I texted my mentor what happened and then called my best friend at 7am to ask her to pray for us.  And then sometime after that, I texted my husband and he responded.  I wanted my man to forgive me.  He wanted his woman to forgive him.  So we apologized.  The more we apologized through texts, the more the thorn that was once deep in our sides started to protrude from our sides.  It could be seen clearly now.  When he walked in the door and hugged me, the thorn began to come our more.  When he kissed me, the thorn was easing its way out of our sides.  When we stood before our children to apologize for arguing to where they could overhear, the thorn began to break apart.  When we allowed them to speak on how they felt about our disagreement, the thorn started crumbling from our sides, falling to the floor while leaving an open womb.  But when we prayed as a family, our sides began to heal right as we prayed.  We could feel the overwhelming power of being healed!  HalleluYah!

 

There’s still a scar on our sides.  It’s visible when you look there, but it’s HEALED!  The thorn in our sides that hindered us in the last part of 2015 and followed us into 2016 is finally gone.  It didn’t get removed just because the new year started.  It didn’t get removed just because we’re believers.  It didn’t get removed because we said our “sorry’s”..  No, it finally got removed when we apologized, confessed to each other our wrongs, repented to one another and then turned around and confessed to our children, allowed them to tell us how they felt about Daddy and Mommy arguing and then prayed together as a family.  In other words, it was removed when we finally gave up having our way and let The Most High have His way…even though it was through a series of events.

 

It took disagreeing last year, praying together, seeking counsel, asking others for prayer, getting more wise counsel, still disagreeing this year, getting heated, cooling off, making up, confessing and then praying together to get our thorn removed.  Do I like that it took all of that?  Well for the most part I would say no.  Why?  Because honestly, we just want to get it right, right then.  I mean, we don’t really want to go through all of that just to get it right.  Who does?  But this is marriage.  And this is growth of two imperfect people who love each other and The Most High.  This is one way we learn when we are wrong and we miss it and we need grace.  Not only from The Father but from one another.  Arguing to where your children can hear you is a big no no to us, straight up.  But it happened.  And we let it happen.  And we are firm believers that if we miss it in front of our children, then we better make it right in front of our children.  This keeps them secure in knowing Daddy and Mommy aren’t perfect, but we make our wrongs right and we love each other and we love them too.  They get to see up close and personal how marriage God’s way really is.  WORK!  But we love to work it and our children are here because of our “love work“.

 

So to married couples who miss the mark.  You know…the few of you out there like us, (as all others are perfect right? 😉 ), please understand that just because there’s a thorn in your sides right now and you’re at odds with each other, doesn’t mean you won’t work it out.  Sometimes, you just need a little more time as not everything is worked out overnight.  Let love have its perfect work and please remember it’s love that covers a multitude of sin.  Even the “we missed the mark in front of our children” sin and the “we can’t seemingly agree on this no matter what” sin.

What you see in this picture is a couple who understands His grace; who understand that peace normally comes after a storm but that we’re willing to go through the storm to get to that peace.  Even if it means cleaning up the debris from the storm WE caused.  Be Encouraged Couples! ~ OEV

 

Prov 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy”.  (I thank The Most High for His mercy indeed).

 

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.  🙂

“No More Lazy Sex”! ~ PAV

 

 

 

No More Lazy Sex PAV

 

For the Husbands and Single Bruhs!

Sorry, but you canNOT bring your “hay-day way” of having sex into your marriage and think your wife will be pleased! That’s just like calling every woman from your past and saying “Hey! Come join my wife and I..!” Your intimacy with your wife will be MESSED UP.

You have to delete what you learned in the world and REBOOT your learning of sex with your wife because those other women were NOT your wife so you can’t bring those past “styles” into your present marriage. This is one of the many ways of doing marriage God’s way when it comes to pleasing your wife. And if you think for one minute that you’re gonna “get yours” and roll over and go to sleep afterwards thinking that’s it, brotha you need to renew your mind in a hurry! Because sex is not over until you BOTH get yours..!

Renew your mind about the “Gift of Sex” and learn that sex is selfless but fornication is selfish. Fornication focuses on YOU. Sex (in marriage) focuses on your WIFE! The word says in 1 Cor 7:3a that, “The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs…” Do you see? That means in sex it’s not about you, it’s about your wife. You are to make sure that her need is fulfilled. Too many times in marriage only the husbands are getting fulfilled sexually and the wives are left deprived. And wives can be feeling deprived whether the couple is having sex or not. In other words, in some marriages, the wife is deprived because she’s not getting enough sex from her husband. She’s “sex starved”. But in other marriages, the couple is having sex but only the husband is fulfilled. She’s sexually unfulfilled. And many times we husbands are doing this because of the bad habits we picked up in the world when we were fornicating. Now that we’re married, the sexual baggage and residue of fornication is now hindering our sex life with our wives. How so?

Because in fornication, we were about getting ours. And if a man does this enough times, it can become a habit that anytime sex takes place, whether illicit sex or legal sex, the man gets his and doesn’t make sure the woman is totally pleased. Time to renew your mind on sex men, whether single or married. Single men it would do you good to renew your mind now before you marry so that there is less chance of you bringing the residue of sexual sin into your marriage and hindering your sex life with your wife. Husbands, it would do you good to renew your mind now, talk to wife and ask her is she truly being fulfilled sexually. If she says no, then its time to ask her why, ask her what can you do to make things right and TAKE ACTION!

It can be done men. Trust, as I’ve had to do the same thing! I found out that sex is about giving and pleasing my wife, so I had to stop being lazy when it came to making sure my wife was pleased and do the work! Remember, we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us, yes even in making sure we have NO MORE LAZY SEX! Let’s Get It Men!  We got wives to please!  😉

‪#‎YourWifeIsNotThoseOtherWomen‬

‪#‎ItsNotJustAboutYouAnymore‬

‪#‎YouCantTreatYourWifeLikeShesABootyCall‬

#NoMoreLazySex

“Marry or Separate”! ~ OEV

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“Courtships are not meant to be for life, Marriage is”! ~ OEV!

We hear from so many couples who have been dating/courting for years while continuing to pursue goals and degrees etc, but are also burning up in “Sexual Sin”. The word says it’s better to marry than to burn, so what is the hold up? If you two really love God and really love each other, why continue to play with fire and end up being burned? Remember, God did not give us these feelings to play satan’s game with, but to do the honorable thing and marry! No matter how you try to swing it, you are choosing LUST over LOVE by not marrying and by continuing to fornicate in a committed relationship.

You won’t abstain but you will refrain from marrying? Does that really make ANY sense? Here is the ONLY choice you really have. Either Marry or break it off because God is not pleased with you choosing lust over Him. Remember God is LOVE, so when you choose LUST, you are not choosing HIM! Stop playing with fire and either marry or depart! #TakeHeed

Before we married, I actually moved away from my husband and we cooled our courtship to get closer to God and make sure we should marry. For 7 months we both sought God away from each other and realized it never really took all of that, all we had to do was marry to begin with. We knew we both loved God, we knew we both loved each other and we knew we both wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other, so why in the world would we not just marry? Because like so many of you, we too believed everything had to be just perfect before we married. But look at how backwards that thinking was. We would rather struggle with abstaining and sin than to do the honorable thing.

Listen, so many people will tell you how hard marriage is, how you need to make absolutely sure you marry the right person and all of these different things before marrying which are all true, but it’s really pretty simple and people also make getting married harder than it has to be. If you have learned about the one you’re with, you both are true followers of Christ and both of you love each other beyond a shadow of a doubt, then stop playing games with God and marry.

Just remember, MARRIAGE is honorable, but WHOREMONGERS GOD WILL JUDGE! (Heb 13:4) #MarryOrSeparate

Prov 6:27, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned”?

1 Cor 7:9 (NLT), “But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with LUST”.

John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments”.

John 15:10, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my LOVE, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his LOVE”.

1 John 5:3, “This is LOVE for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…”

1 Tim 5:14, “I am willing therefore that the younger ones MARRY, bear children, lead their households and do not give any occasion of contempt to the enemies”. #MarryOrSeparate

Share this with as MANY as you can! You never know who it may bless! Thank you ALL! 🙂