Christmas is upon us. This time of year always brings into my rememberance what we've gone through as a couple. What I did to my wife. How badly I hurt her. How this could have turned out vastly different! How blessed and fortunate I am that we are together!
The other night we decorated our tree together. What a thrill that was! When we finished, I got very emotional, just thinking about the past and what could have been today, had we handled this differently. I thought of how it was quite possible for us to not be together. I do NOT like to think about that! I can't even imagine (nor do I want to) my life without my Cheryl! Not sure where I'd be, or what I'd be doing, but....I have a feeling I would have been crawling back to her somewhere along the line.
So now I thank God for the restoration work he has done in our lives! I can tell you with certainty that if we didn't trust in God and do things His way, we would not have been where we are today! And let me tell you...where we are is beautiful!!!
☮
Friday, December 19, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Realize who brought you through / or can bring you through.
I read this today, and felt the need to share it:
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
The conclusion I got from this is to never forget who brought me through what we came through in our marriage, and can and will bring you through, if you follow His lead.
Sometimes, if things are going ok (as far as we can tell) we may become puffed up and start to think "Hey! Look at me! I'm doing alright in this thing! It must be because I have so much wisdom/knowledge/insight/etc.." Do NOT be fooled, my friends, into believing you can do anything on your own without God's guidance. That's a dangerous place to be! The Israelites were warned against this. Note the part I underlined. Reread it. Then, read it again. Remember it. Your marriage may be at stake. Believe me, He knows way better than you and me. And your marriage can be like "a good land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valley and hills... and you will lack nothing..."
☮
Deuteronomy 8
New International Version (NIV)
Do Not Forget the Lord
8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
The conclusion I got from this is to never forget who brought me through what we came through in our marriage, and can and will bring you through, if you follow His lead.
Sometimes, if things are going ok (as far as we can tell) we may become puffed up and start to think "Hey! Look at me! I'm doing alright in this thing! It must be because I have so much wisdom/knowledge/insight/etc.." Do NOT be fooled, my friends, into believing you can do anything on your own without God's guidance. That's a dangerous place to be! The Israelites were warned against this. Note the part I underlined. Reread it. Then, read it again. Remember it. Your marriage may be at stake. Believe me, He knows way better than you and me. And your marriage can be like "a good land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valley and hills... and you will lack nothing..."
☮
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Our song and interview!
Here it is! The long awaited link to our song and interview from when we went to Nashville to meet Matthew West and the other storytellers!
Click on the link and watch this video! It is powerful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MptqnvPYAI4
Thanks!
Click on the link and watch this video! It is powerful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MptqnvPYAI4
Thanks!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
"I can't do this. No, you can't."
I heard a message this morning that included this line, "I can't do this! No, you can't!". It went on to explain how we need to put ourselves in God's hands and depend on His strength. We cannot live the Christian lives we are called to live on our own.
This reminded me of how much Cheryl and I depend on God, and have depended on God, to restore our marriage, and how blessed we are because of it! I do not take credit for where we are in our relationship. I, nor Cheryl, could have got us to the beautiful place we're at!
The other day someone commented to me that they admire us for our level of commitment, and what we've come through to be where we are. I thanked her, and I was thrilled that people do notice! But that praise should not come to me and Cheryl. This was, and is, a mighty work of God! The commitment, the forgiveness, the devotion, the love, the joy, the contentment, and all other aspects of our relationship, happen, and continue to happen, because we are in a right relationship with Him! Our lives....everybody's lives....would be in turmoil if they choose to ignore that fact. We, and I mean we collectively as the human race, are all dysfunctional! Sin makes us that way. The only cure for our dysfunctionality (is that a word?) is Christ's redeeming sacrifice, and aligning ourselves with that truth!
So rely on God to bring you to a beautiful place in your relationship! Put your marriage in His hands, and follow His way. For some strange reason, He seems to know a whole lot better than we do what works and what doesn't!
☮
This reminded me of how much Cheryl and I depend on God, and have depended on God, to restore our marriage, and how blessed we are because of it! I do not take credit for where we are in our relationship. I, nor Cheryl, could have got us to the beautiful place we're at!
The other day someone commented to me that they admire us for our level of commitment, and what we've come through to be where we are. I thanked her, and I was thrilled that people do notice! But that praise should not come to me and Cheryl. This was, and is, a mighty work of God! The commitment, the forgiveness, the devotion, the love, the joy, the contentment, and all other aspects of our relationship, happen, and continue to happen, because we are in a right relationship with Him! Our lives....everybody's lives....would be in turmoil if they choose to ignore that fact. We, and I mean we collectively as the human race, are all dysfunctional! Sin makes us that way. The only cure for our dysfunctionality (is that a word?) is Christ's redeeming sacrifice, and aligning ourselves with that truth!
So rely on God to bring you to a beautiful place in your relationship! Put your marriage in His hands, and follow His way. For some strange reason, He seems to know a whole lot better than we do what works and what doesn't!
☮
Friday, February 21, 2014
How does repentance help?
I heard a message on repentance this morning. It made me realize that without true repentance we would NEVER have been able to "Restore" our marriage! I repeat for emphasis, TRUE repentance is necessary.
So, what is TRUE repentance? It is turning your back on your sin, your shortcoming, your wrong direction, not because you got caught, not because you're embarrassed, not because it makes you look better, but because you are truly and sincerely desirous of doing the right thing. We need to be willing to do it God's way. We need to do everything within our power to move in the other direction. Turn around. Move forward away from what you were and toward what you can become! I needed to see what I was doing to our marriage, to my wife, to my relationship with God, through the eyes of God. I needed to see it in the right perspective. And it was not pretty.
The effect of true repentance is immense! When we choose to do things God's way, God is there for us! What more can be said about that? How and why would we want it any other way? It makes such perfect sense to me now, but.....of course when I was in the midst of it, this didn't even cross my mind. We allow ourselves to be blinded by our willful ignorance. We choose to not see. It's more comfortable to close our eyes to the truth than to face it, and deal with it. Yup, that's true...but the consequences are drastic and far-reaching!
There is no comparison to being in the right place. I'm not talking about locale, I'm talking about spiritually. There is such a peace! There is such blessing! There is contentment!!
It's not always easy. No. Sometimes it's a struggle to keep ourselves on track. But there is help and strength available to us that is unbeatable! Of course our enemy wants us to fail, and fall! Of course there will be attacks! So what! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world".
So, with all that said, I encourage you (and myself) to keep on keeping on in the direction we were meant to go. Seek Him out constantly. Fellowship with Him. Read His word to us. Follow His plan for us. It is such a blessing!! And, I repeat and earlier statement, there is comtentment.
God bless.
☮
So, what is TRUE repentance? It is turning your back on your sin, your shortcoming, your wrong direction, not because you got caught, not because you're embarrassed, not because it makes you look better, but because you are truly and sincerely desirous of doing the right thing. We need to be willing to do it God's way. We need to do everything within our power to move in the other direction. Turn around. Move forward away from what you were and toward what you can become! I needed to see what I was doing to our marriage, to my wife, to my relationship with God, through the eyes of God. I needed to see it in the right perspective. And it was not pretty.
The effect of true repentance is immense! When we choose to do things God's way, God is there for us! What more can be said about that? How and why would we want it any other way? It makes such perfect sense to me now, but.....of course when I was in the midst of it, this didn't even cross my mind. We allow ourselves to be blinded by our willful ignorance. We choose to not see. It's more comfortable to close our eyes to the truth than to face it, and deal with it. Yup, that's true...but the consequences are drastic and far-reaching!
There is no comparison to being in the right place. I'm not talking about locale, I'm talking about spiritually. There is such a peace! There is such blessing! There is contentment!!
It's not always easy. No. Sometimes it's a struggle to keep ourselves on track. But there is help and strength available to us that is unbeatable! Of course our enemy wants us to fail, and fall! Of course there will be attacks! So what! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world".
So, with all that said, I encourage you (and myself) to keep on keeping on in the direction we were meant to go. Seek Him out constantly. Fellowship with Him. Read His word to us. Follow His plan for us. It is such a blessing!! And, I repeat and earlier statement, there is comtentment.
God bless.
☮
Monday, October 28, 2013
Lesson from the leaves
I SO hate to admit this. But I think there is some value as a lesson here.
The other day I was confessing something to my wife and I wasn't entirely honest. I left out a vital part of the story. In other words....I lied to her. I won't go into the details, but, suffice it to say that I gave her what I thought to be the basis of the facts, but changed the rest. I think I was just trying to placate her. BIG mistake!
She left to go and do a job, and I was left to stew in what I had done. I felt terrible! I want to be open and honest! I NEED to be open and honest! I felt very unsettled...guilty...convicted!
I was outside blowing leaves. The wind was sporadic, and every now and then it would come from in front of me and blow the leaves back at me and behind me. God spoke to me through that. He made me think of what I'd done. Just like blowing the leaves over the stone wall to get them out of the driveway and yard, I had told Cheryl a little piece of the truth, to try and please her. But, just like the wind blowing them back and behind me, my purposeful omittance of the whole truth was causing an unseen mess. It caused a chink in the armor that makes a weak spot. It caused a separation. It caused an anxiety. I thought I was doing ok by blowing those leaves, but I couldn't keep up with them as they were coming right back in my face! Just like my lie was coming right back on me.
Later, when she got home, we sat down to talk, and I came clean. It turned out that the part I left out was worse than what I had originally told her. It hurt her pretty bad. It chipped away a little trust. It was awful to tell her. It wasn't pretty at all. But, you know what? I definately did the right thing. There will be times in our marriage and, perhaps, yours' too, when it's not easy to be open and honest. Oh well! It's the way that God wants it. He gives us a perfect model of what marriage should look like, and there is no place in that model for lies, deceit, or molding the truth to fit our needs.
From now on I will be doing this thing the right way! That way I won't have anything to be worried about sharing with her! I just need to put it in God's hands and do it His way, putting Him first, then Cheryl, the way it's supposed to be. Then....all will be well! Sounds so simple! And, in reality, it truly is!
I hope I didn't burst anybody's bubble of me. I know how you all thought I was this perfect husband! (Yeah, right!) Well, I'm not sure there is one out there anywhere, but, we all need to strive to be just that! Matthew 19:26 "....with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Never EVER doubt your God.
The other day I was confessing something to my wife and I wasn't entirely honest. I left out a vital part of the story. In other words....I lied to her. I won't go into the details, but, suffice it to say that I gave her what I thought to be the basis of the facts, but changed the rest. I think I was just trying to placate her. BIG mistake!
She left to go and do a job, and I was left to stew in what I had done. I felt terrible! I want to be open and honest! I NEED to be open and honest! I felt very unsettled...guilty...convicted!
I was outside blowing leaves. The wind was sporadic, and every now and then it would come from in front of me and blow the leaves back at me and behind me. God spoke to me through that. He made me think of what I'd done. Just like blowing the leaves over the stone wall to get them out of the driveway and yard, I had told Cheryl a little piece of the truth, to try and please her. But, just like the wind blowing them back and behind me, my purposeful omittance of the whole truth was causing an unseen mess. It caused a chink in the armor that makes a weak spot. It caused a separation. It caused an anxiety. I thought I was doing ok by blowing those leaves, but I couldn't keep up with them as they were coming right back in my face! Just like my lie was coming right back on me.
Later, when she got home, we sat down to talk, and I came clean. It turned out that the part I left out was worse than what I had originally told her. It hurt her pretty bad. It chipped away a little trust. It was awful to tell her. It wasn't pretty at all. But, you know what? I definately did the right thing. There will be times in our marriage and, perhaps, yours' too, when it's not easy to be open and honest. Oh well! It's the way that God wants it. He gives us a perfect model of what marriage should look like, and there is no place in that model for lies, deceit, or molding the truth to fit our needs.
From now on I will be doing this thing the right way! That way I won't have anything to be worried about sharing with her! I just need to put it in God's hands and do it His way, putting Him first, then Cheryl, the way it's supposed to be. Then....all will be well! Sounds so simple! And, in reality, it truly is!
I hope I didn't burst anybody's bubble of me. I know how you all thought I was this perfect husband! (Yeah, right!) Well, I'm not sure there is one out there anywhere, but, we all need to strive to be just that! Matthew 19:26 "....with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Never EVER doubt your God.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
...and the story spreads.
We were asked by someone involved in our church to start some type of group. Either a Sunday school class, or bible study group, or whatever. So, this Sunday begins our group in our home. Every other Sunday evening for a couple hours.
To kick it off, at church on Sunday morning we will share a video that Matthew West put out where he talks about our story, the song it inspired, and it also includes clips of me talking about it too! It was shot when we met him at the Storytellers Weekend he invited us to in Nashville last year. He performs our song acoustically on the video also!
It's pretty powerful, and I expect there will be lots of people welling up with tears (as I know I will be!). I liked the way they shot and edited it. There are clips of me just focusing on my face and you can see how the story affects me by my expressions. I have a hard time telling this story without breaking down at one spot or another.
So, I hope this has an effect on many people in the congregation. It's real. It's raw. It's transparent. There is a message that needs to get out there so people know that restoration is possible! And/or that the problems can be faced and overcome! God touched our lives in such a way, and we need to share that so others' lives can be touched and changed as well!
Once I figure out how....I'll post the video on here so you can all see it for yourselves.
☮ ♥
To kick it off, at church on Sunday morning we will share a video that Matthew West put out where he talks about our story, the song it inspired, and it also includes clips of me talking about it too! It was shot when we met him at the Storytellers Weekend he invited us to in Nashville last year. He performs our song acoustically on the video also!
It's pretty powerful, and I expect there will be lots of people welling up with tears (as I know I will be!). I liked the way they shot and edited it. There are clips of me just focusing on my face and you can see how the story affects me by my expressions. I have a hard time telling this story without breaking down at one spot or another.
So, I hope this has an effect on many people in the congregation. It's real. It's raw. It's transparent. There is a message that needs to get out there so people know that restoration is possible! And/or that the problems can be faced and overcome! God touched our lives in such a way, and we need to share that so others' lives can be touched and changed as well!
Once I figure out how....I'll post the video on here so you can all see it for yourselves.
☮ ♥
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