Love and War

My wife and I are coming up on 20 years of marriage. It's crazy to think that we have been married for more than half my life! I am not sure what the magic formula is or anything like that - what I do know is that it a lot of hard work and dedication.

I can honestly say that I love Tammy more today than ever. We have been through several rough valley's over the years. We were almost divorced twice, once right after Josh was born and I returned from sea (I was in the Navy at the time) and another time about 7 years in. Crazy to think where we would be today if we had followed through. I will tell you that in both instances, it was marriage counseling that got us through.

As you probably know if you have read other parts of my blog, I am a huge John Eldredge fan. Both Tammy and I have been to the Ransomed Heart Camps in Colorado. The message at these camps (Wild at Heart for men and Captivating for woman) has created a strong connection for us within our marriage. As a result of being in this message, our marriage is stronger and we understand the fact that we are at WAR and must fight for one another and our marriage.

So, we were delighted when we heard that John and his wife Stasi were releasing a book on marriage that carried the "Wild at Heart / Captivating" message. Tammy and I both read book as soon as it came out. We LOVED it. The book did a good job of uncovering the buried gemstones that make a marriage work. John and Stasi do a great job of bringing to life those "ah ha" moments that expose the reality of the situations be commonly find ourselves in. Those time when a simple argument over something really stupid can lead to thoughts of divorce and anger.

Love and War not only defines the critical issues that surround marriage, but it also provides the solutions to overcome every barrier that may exist. Even after 20 years of marriage, Tammy and I learned a lot from this book. Its amazing.

Tammy and I are so happy with the message of Love and War that we are considering starting a small group to go through the study. I have already purchased all the materials - we just need to find the time to get it started :)

I have really only touched the surface on what Love and War has to offer. If you have not read it yet, I highly recommend picking up a copy and getting started today.

Punked

I had a really interesting experience today that I wanted to share... I was getting ready to leave for work this morning it was raining really hard. I had my jacket over my arm, was carrying my brief case, had my keys in my hand, a Seahawks poster that I got at the game yesterday [to hang in my office] and my sunglasses were in one of my hands as well. I was standing on the porch looking at the rain and looking at my car. I was thinking of the quickest route to the car to minimize the wetness of me and more importantly, my poster! I unlocked my car and proceeded to move rapidly through the rain to the rear door on the driver side. As I quickly approached the door, I heard the doors lock. I hesitated for a second so that I could roll my eyes and reached for the door. Yes, indeed my doors were now locked. I began to fumble my keys around to find the "unlock" button. In the process of finding the button, I dropped my sun glasses and they bounced off my shoe and went under my car. Meanwhile, I am getting soaked and so is my poster. I get the door open, throw everything in the back seat, climb under the car and grab my sunglasses and then jumped in the car. By this point I am furious! I am convinced that the enemy is attacking me for some reason.... I turn the engine, turn off my radio and proceed to drive to work in complete silence while trying to calm down.
I got to work and went through my day as normal, not giving the mornings antics a second thought. I then grab my things and head to the car for the drive home. The parking garage was really full this morning, so I had to go down 4 levels to find a place to park. When I got to my car, I put my things in the back and entered the car for the drive home. I sat there for a moment and decided it would be a good time to pray real quick before heading out.
Immediately, I hear this laughter and ask Jesus, “What’s that all about?”… He says, “let’s talk about what happened this morning”… Now, I had not thought about what happened this morning at all until that moment. Jesus continues in a kind of “laughing” voice and says, “Dude, you always think it’s the enemy”… and He was particularly amused with Himself for dumping huge rain on me and knocking my glasses out my hand. I was honestly shocked for second by the discussion – I simply began to laugh really really hard. It was a valuable lesson for me to learn today. It’s not always the enemy and it’s not always an attack. Sometimes things just happen and other times it might just be Jesus punking you for being stupid and blaming the enemy for every bad thing that ever happens to you. I got totally punked. When I went through the above sequence of events after understanding all of this, it’s hilarious. This is the kind of stuff you see on America’s Funniest Home Videos or something.
In the end I thanked Jesus for the lesson and smiled for the entire ride home. Every time I look at the water damaged Seahawks poster in my office at work, it will remind of today’s talk. It’s great to have a Savior and teacher with a good sense of humor. How can you not love this guy!?