My Love

I know it's been a while since my last "real" post, but things have been crazy, busy (especially with the holidays). In this post, being that my lovely bride just had her twenty-****th (it's close to 30 so I'm censoring it for the protection of her youthfulness), I'm going to brag on here for a bit. For the record, this is in no way prompted by the amazing blog she posted about me (HERE). I would have done it anyway; she just beat me to it.

Being that her actual birthday was on Monday, we celebrated it on last Saturday. It was such a fun night. I don't think we've had that many people in our house at one time since the last SHIFT event (shameless plug for the most awesome college ministry I know HERE), which was maybe New Years Eve 2010. In an attempt to make her birthday the best I could, we not only rocked a chocolate fountain, but also a Photo-booth (by the amazing Charity Remington Photography) and cupcake decorating (which I unsuspectingly provided as ammunition for cake-smashing into my lovely's face. she'll get revenge. It's already started, right Denae?) It was a night chocked full of friends, food and fun (I know, I know, cheesy. But, I'm going to be a pastor; alliteration is a key part to preaching, so I have to practice). But I digress, this isn't a blog about her party, it's about her. Not so coincidentally, this blog will probably follow a similar path and feel to the one she just posted. Mainly this is because we have a lot of the same things we love about each other.
Not all of us are lucky enough to marry our best friend. But as for me? I got to become friends with this amazing woman, that in the end. I couldn't live without. Here's my brag list. (and why I can't without her)

She loves Jesus. Did you expect the first one to be different? This is what binds us together. He is the foundation for where our marriage starts, everything it's about and where it's headed. Her love for Him is so evident and I love getting to see it lived out. I've joked that the main way the Holy Spirit speaks to me is through my wife, but the truth is God often really does use Sarah to speak to me (correct me, teach me & reveal truth). I think it's meant to be like that. The way she loves Jesus makes me want to seek Him more. The thing I love the most is that although we have our own personal relationships with Him, we get to share in a relationship with Him together. One of the best parts of my day is after work when we close our "reconnecting time" in prayer together.

She makes us her priority. After Jesus, her family is her first concern. She loves me and our boys fully and without reservation. With me, she makes sure we have time for each other. She also makes sure I have time for myself. With our boys, she's gentle with them and encourages them. Often time she brings calm and balance to the testosterone fueled chaos that is a house full of guys. She takes care of us and it's not a burden. When we got married I offered her the choice to stay home or work outside the house and she chose to make our house a home. and she does it quite well.

She trusts me. As much as I'm still figuring out how to lead my family well, she's confident in my ability. When I have doubts, she reminds me of why she has confidence in me. This is huge for me; it's the trust she has in me that builds my confidence to lead. I don't always do it right and I definitely don't do it perfect, but she maintains a faith in my leadership that encourages me. When I make a decision for our family, she trusts that I'm seeking and listening to God and that the decision I make, even if it doesn't make sense at the time, is what I feel is best for us. And she continues to trust me even when those decisions don't turn out the way I thought or intended.

She reminds me of who I am. This kind of goes with the previous one, but it's a little different. Sometimes I forget that I'm not the same guy I used to be. Sometimes the "who I was" tries to sneak his way into the "who I am". When that happens, it can be frustrating (to say the least). But I have this amazing woman that points me back to Jesus. She helps remind me who I am. And for the record she knows who I was. I've told her it all. I've shared details and stories with her that would make my parents cry. And none of it matters to her. She sees me for whom God has made me and introduces me to that guy anytime I need to reconnect with him. She also reminds me of who I'm called and desire to be. I've not hidden that fact that although I am full time active duty military, I'm not called to this. That's what I do for the time being, but this is only the mean time and preparation for what God has called me to. My wife reminds me of that frequently. Sometimes God uses a still, small voice to remind me of the big plans he has for us; sometimes that voice is my wife's.

She is creative and brilliant. This actually holds a lot of different meanings. It is her unmatched creativeness that has made our house into a cozy little home. I can't tell you the number of times people have said (something to the effect of), "Wow, Bruce. Being married has dramatically increased the attractiveness of your home. Sarah has done amazing work." Prior to marriage, decorating consisted of a picture hung on the wall. After marriage, decorating consists of hours poured over Pintrest for that one more decor idea that will make the house perfect. Here creativity doesn't stop with the house; she makes jewelry, is a photographer (I know. EVERY ONE'S wife is a "photographer" but mine is ACTUALLY really good.), can cook, writes and does the occasional voice over for Element Church promotional videos. OH and she is a fabulous clothing aficionado. The girl can dress. which adds to her smokin' hotness! She's also brilliant. She shines brighter than anyone I know. She is smart and witty and funny. She has a wisdom that never ceases to amaze. She often has the perfect words for the situation.

She's amazing and I'm luck and SO blessed to have her.

Oh, and her eyes. Oh those eyes. I get caught in them every time I look at her.

Happy Birthday, love.

Checking In...

It's been a while since I've posted anything (over a month and a half, yikes).  But, just because I haven't doesn't mean there is nothing to write about.  On the contrary, there is a TON to write about; I've just been slammed busy.  God has been quite active in our lives and has been reintroducing me to some simple, but important truths.  In the coming days I'm hoping to post some really cool (HUGE) new.  But, this post? This post is just me checking in so that you know I haven't fallen off the edge of the blogging world.

In the mean time, here's some tidbits of what God has been reminding me of...

Prayer is our LIFE LINE!  It should be the basis for how we approach life (and God).  Philippians 4:6 tells us so.

When we faithfully give our time and money (joyfully), God will indeed, "pour out a blessing so great [we] won’t have enough room to take it in."  (Malachi 3:10)  It's a simple, but absolutely profound truth.

Alright that's just two things, but they're big in the wake of this most recent news in our life.  I'll be back in a couple days.  Can't wait to get the word out there (and I mean that literally).

Can hardly contain myself,

Bruce

I can do it MYSELF!

I think there are a lot of times that we believe, although I'm not sure how we logic it out in our brains, that we can control sin.  Maybe we don't call it sin in our heads, which is another blog and issue all together, but I'm talking about whatever that temptation we face that we believe is easily controlled if "only we have enough self-control." But whatever we call it, let's be honest and call it sin.  We get this idea that we can control sin and that we don't need God to resist it. 

I've been reading out of the book of Judges right now for my quiet time and noticed that this has been the take on sin for quite sometime.  When God gave the promise land to the Israelites He commanded them to drive the people living there out of the land (many were to be destroyed), to not make covenants with them and to destroy their alters.  However, we see (starting in Judges 1:19-36) the people Israel fail to drive the Canaanites out of the land and instead take them as slaves.  

Judges 1:28 says, "When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land." (emphasis added)

The truth of the matter is, when the Israelites grew strong enough that they felt they could run things themselves (pride), they made the decision to take the Canaanites as slaves (because they believed they could control them) and ignored the command of God.

So what then were the consequences of this disobedience?  Judges 2:1-3 say, "¹ The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. ² For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? ³ So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”

Verse 3 tells us that the Canaanites would be a thorn in the Israelite's sides and their gods a constant temptation to them.  Essentially, the Canaanites would be a constant problem for the Isrealites and their way of life would be a continuous temptation, ever drawing them away from God.  

They chose to disobey God because they believed they were capable of controlling the source of temptation, without God.  Eventually this decision will lead to Israels downfall (on more than one occasion).

They were so pompous, so prideful, so disobedient and we think (somehow) we're different.  We've been making that same decision ever since.  How many times do we know (with certainty) that God is trying to remove a source of sin from our lives and we either completely resist him on it, until it consumes us or so ruins things that we have no choice to surrender it to Him.  Or we achieve some victory (whether it be large or small, many or few) in it and we assume that it was our own doing and we allow bits of it to stay, because "we have the self-control" to resist it.  Truth be told, we don't have the power (apart from God) to resist temptation or beat sin by ourselves.

When God wants to take something completely out of your life, the only option is COMPLETELY.