Tag Archives: inspiring

Inspiring Marriage Video

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Tonight Cameron made it to bed a little early (only to wake up an hour later – but that’s not my point) so I got to go to Better Wives Club with a handful of my friends.  The new book we are going through is Love & Respect by Emerson and Sarah Eggerich.

At the end of the meeting we watched a really amazing video about marriage that left us all pretty speechless.  It really puts things into perspective and makes the fact that your husband didn’t make the bed this morning seem completely irrelevant.

If you have 8 minutes to spare, this video will help you be a better spouse and lover of Christ.

Watch the video: The Story Of Ian and Larissa

Also, if you’re engaged or married, maybe consider starting your own Better Wives Club.  It’s a great way to intentionally grow in your role as a wife.  Or, if you’re single, maybe you can start a Future Wives Club where you intentionally focus on what you can do now to prepare yourself for marriage.  Either way, marriage is such a gift from God that is worth investing in both before and after you’re married.

Inspired By Em

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On the way to work this morning I flipped on the car radio and a few seconds later the new single from Eminem hit the airwaves.  I turned it up, loud, and head nodded all the way to work.

There is just something about Eminem that has always intrigued me.  Somehow, even when he’s rapping about burning some chic’s house down my internal self is fist pumping.  Why?  Not that I agree with everything he’s saying, but rather I agree with the way he’s saying it.

People of conviction are captivating and Eminem happens to be extremely convicted about being angry.  He stands for something.  He’s pretty much the poster child for all the millions of kids who have come from crappy home lives, who never had a relationship with their dad, who’ve been down a dark road and who are angry because of it.

To be honest, God used Eminem’s song this morning to remind me of some important truths.  When I got to work I pulled up his latest album and listened to the whole thing – minus a few songs that did in fact cross the line in terms of what I’m willing to fill my head with.  I realized I  have a lot to learn a lot from Eminem.  Take his song “Not Afraid” for example:

(Intro)

Yeah, It’s been a ride…
I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one
Now some of you might still be in that place
If you’re trying to get out, just follow me
I’ll get you there

(Chorus)

I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel that you’ve been down the same road

Eminem knows how to lead people.  Not that I want to follow him where he happens to be going, but I see why people do follow him, so to speak.  He’s telling their story.  He’s living out their reality.  He’s offering to walk with them through their circumstances (through his music).

Sometimes I find it so tempting to want to gloss over all my mistakes, all my shortcomings and all my wounds both large an small.  It’s easy to feel good about myself when I feel like I’m a little less messed up than the next guy.  But who’s really benefitting from my frantic attempts to appear so put together?  Who can relate to that?

Eminem got this part right: The power of a testimony.  The influence of being a step or two ahead of someone in something they’re struggling with.

But he is missing something key:  Solutions.  All of Eminem’s songs talk about ways of coping, but there are never any good solutions to his problems.

That’s why I follow Jesus, The Healer.  He offers to walk through it all with us AND offers to wipe us clean and give us a new start.

So I pray that God would give me an opportunity to share my story with someone today.  I have a better one than Eminem does.

Gosh, wouldn’t his music be the absolute coolest if he found an answer for all that pain and frusteration?  Yeah, that would be really cool.

Philemon 1:6 and Julie

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Yesterday my friend, mentor, high school Young Life leader, and life-long favorite person Julie Jones called me to share a verse from the Bible with me.  I met Julie as a freshman in high school.  She was a freshman in college at the time and she quickly became a very influential person in my life.  She cared about me, bought me lots of lattes and introduced me to Jesus.  Since high school our relationship has been long distance, especially since a few months before I graduated college Julie suggested I move down to San Luis Obispo, California to be a part of the same church as her brother Jason and sister-in-law Hannah…and I actually did it.  Crazy.

But over the past eleven years Julie has become one of those staple people in my life that I know I can always turn to no matter what.  So, on days when she calls me just to say hi or to share a Bible verse with me, I do my best to drop what I’m doing and pick up the call.

Yesterday when she called she turned my attention to Philemon 1:6.  There’s only one chapter in Philemon so it’s easy to find this verse.  It says:

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. (NIV)

Then I found that the 2011 updated NIV translation states:

I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

I love this verse, both NIV versions of it, and I started memorizing them this morning while I was putting on my make up.  Because whether it is sharing our faith with those who don’t yet know Christ or sharing our lives with those that do, we are deepening our understanding of every benefit, blessing and joy we have as a follower of Christ.  Because God has given us a mission and people to live on mission with and when we engulf our lives in the mission and link arms with our teammates we will begin to understand all the good things God has for us.

I’m finding comfort in Philemon 1:6 today because at times I fret about feeling like I should be somewhere in a third world country living amongst different people, doing different things than I do in America and sacrificing comfortable things for a bed of dirt and straw.  And I’m open to that.  Sometimes I desperately pray for the opportunity to do that. But today, I sense that the Lord is asking me to trust him with my future endeavors and for today, in the meantime, my focus should be on sharing Christ with whoever he places in my path and on being a great friend and family member to those on the “Dream Team” that God has orchestrated.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2Peter 3:9)

Here’s a picture of Julie and her three beautiful blondies: Olivia, Isabella and Emi.  I think this picture accurately captures the kind of person I know Julie to be: fun, friendly and goofy.  In high school her goofiness always made me feel free to be myself around her.  I know her kids are very blessed because they’re growing up with lots of love, fun and with a mom that loves Jesus more than anything.

Who is the “Julie” in your life?  What kind of impact has this person had on you?

Creations

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Today I decided to add a new category to my blog called “Creations.”  I know, I know, another blog about DIY crafts, fashion, cooking and the like!?!?  Well, yes, actually but I’m rather excited about it. 

I’ve always loved to write so it’s something I naturally gravitate towards.  However, recently I’ve been discovering why it is I enjoy writing so much and I think it has to do with the following things:

1) Writing has to do with creating.  God is the ultimate creative genius.  So when we create things: writing, art, music, food, etc. we are “sharing a hobby” with God and joining Him in something He loves to do. 

2) Some of the best writing is about the common, yet deep things in life like love, happiness, relationships, adventure, beauty, heartbreak, and finding meaning in our lives.  I’ve been discovering lately how God wants me to find each teenie tiny part of my life significant and meaningful and worth writing about. 

3) “Writing is a form of personal freedom.  It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us.  In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.” ~Don Delillo.  Agreed. 

But writing is just one form of creating and in the past 8.5 months of marriage I’ve found myself excited about things I’ve never cared too much about before or I’ve found myself needing to get excited about those things more.  Such as creating meals for my husband that he can swallow and making our home a place that is cozy and welcoming to others.   

So I guess you could say I hopped on the bandwagon.  I guess I’d say that it’s about time!