May 2005 - Posts
can i tell you one of my favorite things? i love reading out loud with my husband. fortunately for me, he also enjoys this. many evenings and roadtrips have been spent in this pursuit. we have read dozens of books together and created a lot of shared memories.
there are several ways to pick books:
1--you could join a book preview club (i subscribe to a couple of the books-a-million clubs, they email excerpts of books to you each week).
2--go to your local library. pick out at least 10 to 15 books that look interesting but that you might not normally read. take them home, curl up together and put on your reviewer caps.
3--have friends or family recommend books that they think you'll like.
whichever way you choose, your goal is to read at least 20-30 pages into a book and then make a joint decision on whether or not this is a book that both of you would like to finish reading. i know from experience that you'll end up in some interesting conversations, and it's amazing what you'll learn about your spouse from his comments on the book.
after you've found a book (or made a list of books) that is a good match for both of you, buy it (them)! when you've finished reading, you can start a library shelf in your home with books that you've read together. instead of a photo album filled with memories, you'll be able to take a unique trip down memory lane by just looking at the books on the shelf and remembering the wonderful times that you had reading aloud together. now that's some real literary romance...
today is my anniversary and i'm celebrating happily. today david and i have been married seven years. reflecting on things that have happened in those years together is bitter sweet. many hard and wonderful things. while the years have not all been blissful, i have grown as a woman and as a wife. i have learned many things that i'm grateful to know, and will carry with me the rest of my life. i am a better person today because of my husband. he has put hands and feet to the idea of servanthood and has been an amazing example of God's love, mercy and grace. he has been supportive of whatever it was that i wanted to do or try. forgiveness has flowed in abundance, as have tears. there has been much laughter and many peaceful evenings of enjoying each others company. so many memories to cherish of the life we've shared together. seven years, in the scope of life isn't very long. but we understand that whatever comes, we will face it together and with God's help, we will continue to love and grow, laugh and cry and dream...for as long as He gives us.
“the only real revolutions are those that change the mind and the heart, and the only real revolutionaries are the sage and the saint.” --will & ariel durant
i want to be able to affect change on minds and hearts of people all over the world. i want to show them Christ...and i want to do it through their home and mine. i believe strongly in family and marriage ministry. i think it is the home where the greatest, most visible and lasting effects can take place.
“home. it's the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out...where we come to terms with circumstances...and where life makes up its mind.” --charles swindoll
dennis rainey has written a book called one home at a time. this is an amazing book that encourages you to make your home an epicenter of reformation--a family reformation. it talks about four pillars of God's plan for the family; how transformation occurs when life and truth collide, and when you courageously choose truth. in the foreward, howard hendricks says that this book is a salvage vessel. “it escorts the reader through a no-nonsense tour of the slums of discordant and disjointed families. it touches the taproot of decay in our country... ringing with authenitcity it calls divorce a national disaster, a killer of culture; then it leads the way to higher ground. ...God's long-range promises are still redeemable. Every bride and groom past, present, and future needs to digest the nourishment of this timely message of marital retrieval.”
rainey states that a spiritual housekeeping begins with introspection and he isn't afraid to ask some really tough questions. “why is the divorce rate inside the church nearly identical to that outside the church?” “why do so many christian men perform aggressively at work and remain disengaged and passive at home?” “why are we nonchalant about the legacy we will leave our children?” he addresses the issues of gender roles and feminism; courage and compromise.
this book is a call to you. it calls you to take a stand and fight for families--starting with your own. general george patton said, “never fight a battle if you do not gain anything by winning it.” this is a battle worth fighting. there is much to be gained in the victory.
(this resource can be found through family life's website...be sure to check out the other website “links“ posted in the left-hand column of this page.)
"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.'
'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it half an hour a day. Why, sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"
-- Lewis Carroll (1832-98), [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] British mathematician, writer
this quote made me think of all the things that i've thought impossible in my life, and God has proven otherwise...
what impossible things are you dreaming about right now? what is God wanting to do with you that you may think is impossible?
(Mat 17:20 NIV) He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
(Mat 19:26 NIV) Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
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hi all, and welcome to my blog page...
i'm hoping that in the next few months many things will begin to appear on this site...but as i'm just starting, it's not nearly as full as i'd like. bear with me.
this will be, in part, a marriage and family resource spot, which i hope you will enjoy browsing. but it will also contain things that interest me outside my job focus--like personality, world events, and missions. it may contain quizzes, book reviews, quotes, or who knows what else.
sit back and enjoy the ride...
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