Blog

Is Love a Choice?

Choice

Last week, we celebrated my parents’ 49th wedding anniversary.  49 years.  That is impressive to me.  With the exception of my grandparents who were married for over 72 years, my parents have the longest marriage of anyone I have personally known.

Then, on Saturday, we attended a wedding of a couple at church.  As I watched their faces throughout the ceremony, I saw the joy and love just emanating from them.

So, I started thinking about the journey of a married couple.  Every couple pretty much starts out the same way…  They look into each other’s eyes with love and hope and excitement.  They have great visions of how their life together will play out.  And, I’ll bet that while they’re standing together, saying their vows, they are not planning on becoming “another statistic” and have their marriage end in divorce.

Continue Reading

Blog

Love, Love, Love

Love

After spending yesterday with my parents, celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary, I have been thinking a lot about love.  Obviously, to have a marriage that has withstood trials, hardships, and just the test of time, there is a lot of love there.

And, while I know there are other things that have contributed to the long life of their marriage, (I got some great advice from the happy couple. Be sure to check back to see what it is…), one of the most visible characteristics is love.

Continue Reading
Blog

The Family of God

Family of God

I have been searching for a church family for a very long time.  Growing up, we would usually sing a Gaither song, The Family of God, to close our church service.

I’m so glad I’m a part of the Family of God,
I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I’m part of the family,
The Family of God.

When I was younger, I never really thought about what the lyrics meant.  I just knew that the opening chords to that song were my cue to start gathering all my things from the pew…

Continue Reading

Blog

How To Have a Productive Day

productive

I would love to have a productive day – Every Single Day.

But, there are days when I literally feel like my feet are walking through quicksand.  For some reason, everything takes way longer than usual.  And, I can never seem to get anything done.  On those days, I always run out of time.

How can I be in slow motion, but time seems to somehow speed up?

Days like those are super frustrating to me.

So, when my mom ended her goodbye with the word, Productive, unbeknownst to her, a gauntlet was thrown…

Continue Reading

Blog

Have a Joyful and Happy Day!

So, if you remember my post from yesterday, Have a Good Day, I had started talking about something my mom had said to me at the end of one of our phone conversations.

“Have a good, joyful, happy, productive day…”

For whatever reason, the whole phrase really stood out to me.  Probably because I have been working on the whole joyful and happiness bit.  Not to mention – trying to be productive. But that’s a story for another day.  Namely, tomorrow…

Today, I am going to focus on Joyful and Happy.

There is actually quite a bit of controversy in religious circles about these two words and their meanings, believe it or not.  Some theologians want to separate them and classify them as two entirely different things, while others point out the synonymous ways in which they’re used in the Bible.  So, which one is correct?

Continue Reading