Men, when Christ stops loving the church, you can stop loving your wives.
A short, but good, reflection on Ephesians 5, HERE.
A very high calling indeed.
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday
Saturday
Patience and Grace
Since Hannah has been here, about 4:00 P.M. yesterday, I have spent more money overall than the entire month. I bought an outfit from work, which I was probably going to anyway but she helped to confirm it. Then, knowing that are time to actually be alone to talk would be limited, due to me living at the BICS dorm and Hannah having a good friend who lives down here, I decided that we should go on a date. Both transactions I think were good, especially the date. We don't ever go on dates. It was really nice to just sit down, order a pizza, talk about whatever, laugh together, and enjoy one another's company.
The hardest part comes when we have to say goodnight. My mind is thinking about how much I just want to spend all my time with her but I know I can't. She must go to the girl's side of the dorm and I must go to the guys. It's hard to have patience. Our entire relationship has been built upon distance. I (I think Hannah would agree) am ready for a change. I am ready to start building our lives together when we are close in proximity. The two becoming one process will be a big adjustment for us once we are married because we have never known what it's like to spend more than four days, at the most, together. We have both agreed that it will take patience and grace in that transition.
I enjoy her company, her friendship, and her smile. I know we aren't perfect people but I enjoy being together. When I'm feeling down, she always has a word of encouragement. When she is feeling down, I try my best to do the same and to pray for her. God has been so good to us. To call us into His family is more than good enough but He also brought us together. It's hard to determine where sovereignty and the self-will come together but there is no doubt, we didn't establish this relationship on our own. I can't wait to hear the words, "What God has joined together, let no man separate." (Mark 10:9)
Although, we both know that the foundation we have for our relationship is Christ himself, his death and resurrection. We are not married yet but our foundation for our individual lives and our relationship is the same foundation for marriage. Christ died for our sins that so that we could be forgiven by God for being His enemies. We are adopted into the family of families. Christ set the foundation of the church, his followers. He didn't forsake it, he never quit. He died on the cross, rose again and is coming back for us. He didn't leave us. He could have but He loved us so much He gave up His very life for us. That amazes me everyday. That is the foundation we are building on. That is where our hope and faith is. If we are going to have a successful marriage, it is because God showed His grace by sending His son to die, the perfect sacrifice, so that He might gather His people together once for eternity. It's all about His glory. It's His story...not ours.
Reading:
This Momentary Marriage- John Piper
The hardest part comes when we have to say goodnight. My mind is thinking about how much I just want to spend all my time with her but I know I can't. She must go to the girl's side of the dorm and I must go to the guys. It's hard to have patience. Our entire relationship has been built upon distance. I (I think Hannah would agree) am ready for a change. I am ready to start building our lives together when we are close in proximity. The two becoming one process will be a big adjustment for us once we are married because we have never known what it's like to spend more than four days, at the most, together. We have both agreed that it will take patience and grace in that transition.
I enjoy her company, her friendship, and her smile. I know we aren't perfect people but I enjoy being together. When I'm feeling down, she always has a word of encouragement. When she is feeling down, I try my best to do the same and to pray for her. God has been so good to us. To call us into His family is more than good enough but He also brought us together. It's hard to determine where sovereignty and the self-will come together but there is no doubt, we didn't establish this relationship on our own. I can't wait to hear the words, "What God has joined together, let no man separate." (Mark 10:9)
Although, we both know that the foundation we have for our relationship is Christ himself, his death and resurrection. We are not married yet but our foundation for our individual lives and our relationship is the same foundation for marriage. Christ died for our sins that so that we could be forgiven by God for being His enemies. We are adopted into the family of families. Christ set the foundation of the church, his followers. He didn't forsake it, he never quit. He died on the cross, rose again and is coming back for us. He didn't leave us. He could have but He loved us so much He gave up His very life for us. That amazes me everyday. That is the foundation we are building on. That is where our hope and faith is. If we are going to have a successful marriage, it is because God showed His grace by sending His son to die, the perfect sacrifice, so that He might gather His people together once for eternity. It's all about His glory. It's His story...not ours.
Reading:
This Momentary Marriage- John Piper
Thursday
The Time is Flying By
Hannah is coming down to the Berkshires tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather is decent so she doesn't have to stress out about it after work. I am excited to see her! It has been about a month since we last saw each other. The time flies by so quickly. Today there are only 198 days left of me being technically a single man. I am looking forward to being married to my best friend. She would probably be embarrassed if she read this but, alas I digress.
Our plans for this weekend are to hopefully settle on a cabin in Colorado, make the first payment on it, and then try to find some cheap tickets. We are looking to honeymoon near the Rockies. Hannah has never been out that way and I think it's absolutely gorgeous. I have a cousin I went and visited out there while my brother was at school in Wyoming. It was quite an amazing thing to see the gigantic mountains rolling all over the place. Hannah says she wants a cabin that has a view of a mountain. Hopefully, we can find just the one this weekend.
We also have a big issue at hand for next year. The opportunity to be Dorm Resident's for a school we both went to has come up. I think it would be a great opportunity to do ministry together but at the same time there is a high potential for many struggles. No joke, it will be right after we get back from our honeymoon that we will adopt about 20 kids if we decide to go through with this. Our goal would be to create the best living atmosphere as possible, plan group activities, and have weekly dorm devotions. It will take time and effort. Deep down I believe I want to do this. BICS has given me so many opportunities for spiritual growth, I think this would be a great way to show my appreciation. Hannah has to be on that same line of thinking without me influencing her. We haven't really talked about it too much yet but hopefully this we will find some alone time this weekend. It's free rent and utilities and the cost of our time, energy, and possibly privacy. This ministry would be a working project, never final or set in stone. I know that we would also see many blessings but there are just so many details.
Anyway, I have been feeling really inspired to write these past couple of days. Some poetry, some song, or anything to get these thoughts off my mind. I actually started recording some guitar stuff on my laptop. God has been very good to me.
I'm stealing this from Nolan because I think it's a cool idea.
Listening to:
The White Stripes
Of Machine
Jeff Beck
Reading:
This Momentary Marriage- John Piper
The Resurrection of the Son of God- N.T. Wright
The book of Judges- ESV
Our plans for this weekend are to hopefully settle on a cabin in Colorado, make the first payment on it, and then try to find some cheap tickets. We are looking to honeymoon near the Rockies. Hannah has never been out that way and I think it's absolutely gorgeous. I have a cousin I went and visited out there while my brother was at school in Wyoming. It was quite an amazing thing to see the gigantic mountains rolling all over the place. Hannah says she wants a cabin that has a view of a mountain. Hopefully, we can find just the one this weekend.
We also have a big issue at hand for next year. The opportunity to be Dorm Resident's for a school we both went to has come up. I think it would be a great opportunity to do ministry together but at the same time there is a high potential for many struggles. No joke, it will be right after we get back from our honeymoon that we will adopt about 20 kids if we decide to go through with this. Our goal would be to create the best living atmosphere as possible, plan group activities, and have weekly dorm devotions. It will take time and effort. Deep down I believe I want to do this. BICS has given me so many opportunities for spiritual growth, I think this would be a great way to show my appreciation. Hannah has to be on that same line of thinking without me influencing her. We haven't really talked about it too much yet but hopefully this we will find some alone time this weekend. It's free rent and utilities and the cost of our time, energy, and possibly privacy. This ministry would be a working project, never final or set in stone. I know that we would also see many blessings but there are just so many details.
Anyway, I have been feeling really inspired to write these past couple of days. Some poetry, some song, or anything to get these thoughts off my mind. I actually started recording some guitar stuff on my laptop. God has been very good to me.
I'm stealing this from Nolan because I think it's a cool idea.
Listening to:
The White Stripes
Of Machine
Jeff Beck
Reading:
This Momentary Marriage- John Piper
The Resurrection of the Son of God- N.T. Wright
The book of Judges- ESV
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