Radical

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. Too many are made and then broken. Ecclesiastes 5:5 says "it is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it" so I don't make resolutions. However I do like to choose one word which helps give me direction for the year. Last year I chose "Passion". I didn't want to be asleep in my faith anymore. I wanted to walk out passion in every aspect of my life. I couldn't just go through the year, day by day, going through the motions. I spent the year passionately chasing after God and what he has for me. This year my word expands on that. My word for this year is "radical". I still want to passionately give myself to Christ but I also want to walk out my life this year in a radical way. I no longer want to be in the box of society. I no longer want to be in the  box of religion. Jesus walked outside the box and broke all the boundaries. God has been working on me to "no longer conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of my mind" -Romans 12:12. I want to pray radically, love radically, take a radical approach to hospitality, serve radically, speak radically, worship radically, and live out a radical faith. (1 Peter 4:7-11) My prayer is for God to show me what a radical life looks like and then for Him to equip me to live it out.

Love

"Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength and with ALL your mind" Luke 10:27

Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 13:3; 30:6

Joshua 22:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30

I am officially a big sap. Whoever would have thought that after 21 years of marriage I would miss Jason this much when he is gone? A few years ago, at the thought of his retirement, I imagined I would get sick of him being home all the time but now I would love to spend all day, every day with him. A couple days ago when we talked on the phone we were talking about how he feels the same. He commented that it was like when we were dating again and I have to agree. I think the only other time I missed him this much was when he was in basic training. There was a time in our marriage though that I actually wanted him gone and when I did miss him it was because I needed him to do things. This time though, yes things are stressful and I could use an extra pair of hands but I just miss him. I miss just hearing his voice, I miss the way he gives me a kiss when I'm sleeping before he leaves for work. I miss him texting or calling me during the day. I miss the hug and kiss I get right when he gets home and most of all I miss laying in his arms at night.
As I contemplate how much I miss Jason, it makes me think of God's love. If the church (me) is the Bride and Jesus is the Groom then how much does He miss us when we are not with Him. He tells us in the Bible He will never leave us. He is always with us, yet how does God feel when we are too busy for Him or ignore Him when He speaks to us? As great as my love for Jason is and my desire to be with him and share everything with him, it's almost unfathomable to think that God's love for me is infinitely more. How much does God long to hold me in His arms? How much does He long for me to take time out of my day to talk to Him and tell Him how much I love Him? The intimacy God desires to have with me? The oneness, the closeness; it's just unimaginable. I can only somewhat measure how I feel and how deep my love for Jason is and his love for me, but how much deeper is God's love for me? WOW. When I just try to grasp that how can I not run after Him, seek Him, worship Him and serve Him with everything that I am?

Side step- Teenagers

I know this is a blog about marriage but I have to take a side step here and talk about something very dear to my heart that has been bothering me lately. That subject is teenagers. Yeah I know what you are thinking,"aren't teenagers supposed to bug you?" But that is exactly what I want to talk about.
This past weekend we went with some friends to see the movie Courageous for the second time. (Fabulous movie) Laying in bed that  night there was something that bothered me from the movie. There was one scene in particular that portrayed the steroetypical teenager. You know what I'm talking about, lazy, disrespectful, rebellious, and annoying. I talked in my last blog about how society and media have dumbed down fathers, but what has it done to teenagers. Think about it.  Can we all be that way at times? In the movie, it shows fathers how important being there for your kids is, but how important is how we look at our kids?  What happens in our marriages when we buy in to what society tells us about our spouses? They tend to fall apart, but don't we do that with our teens? When I focused on the negative in Jason it made the negative grow, when I started seeing him as God saw him change started to happen.
Are we speaking, thinking and praying life over our teens or death? I'm not saying to go be your teens best friend that's the last thing they want or need. The teenage years are practice for being an adult, are we lookng at our teens as adults or still children. Our job as parents is to "train them up in the way they should go." Look at that again, "...in the way they should "GO". That means we need to let them go, let them practice, encourage them to practice being an adult. You want to keep communication open with your teen, quit talking to them as if they were a child. Maybe they do still have a lot to learn but don't under estimate what they already know. Their perspectve may surprise you. Give them their wings, teach them how to use them, and let them practice. That way if they fall you are there to catch them.
I love my teenagers and their friends. I refuse to see them as irresponsible kids who don't know what they are doing. Take the time to get to know the teens in your life and you will see they can be responsible if that's what you speak over them. And as for not knowing what they are doing, yes at times they may need guidance but they know far more than we give them credit for. Have confidence in how you raised your kid. I have learned so much from my teenagers maybe just as much as I have taught them.

4 Little Words

In my Christian journey there have been 4 little words that have made the biggest impact in my life. I have been reflecting lately on what my life would have been like if my dear friend Zoila (I miss you, and am jealous that you are with Jesus) would not have said them to me many times. I now find myself saying these words to others, and I realize that even though they were said to me in the context of my marriage they fit in every aspect of my life.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

In the years that we were struggling in our marriage I would go to Zoila for guidance and to complain about Jason and she would simply look at me and lovingly ask, "but Carrie, What are you doing?" I would get so mad at her for saying that but I knew she was right. No matter what was being done to me I was also contributing to the situation. I now look at other areas of my life and ask the same question. When I'm driving down the road and someone cuts me off and I get angry and I can feel the road rage begin I ask, "What am I  doing?" When I am irritated with my teenagers not communicating with me or being disrespectful or disobedient, I pause and ask ,"What am I doing?"

  Matthew 7:2-5 “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"

It is so easy for us to point the finger at the other person when we are offended or hurt but we must remember that we too are guilty. We are guilty by how we react to that offense or hurt. So before you jump to a reaction ask yourself, "What am I doing?" make sure there is no plank in your own eye before you start pointing out the speck in your brother's or sister's eye.  

Do Not Conform

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." - Romans 12:2

The Message Bible puts it this way "Do not become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit in without even thinking."

     Looking back over the last 2 years I can see how God has taken that verse and showed me that I didn't have to accept the "pattern" of this "culture" for our marriage. I questioned God why he wouldn't take the desire and dream I had for my marriage; He wouldn't because He put it there, he had something better in mind. He didn't want our marriage to "conform to the pattern".
     I have read so many books and done so many Bible studies about what God says marriage should be; I should say what people think God says marriage should be. So many of the studies contradict each other and it leaves those seeking feeling even more hopeless and confused than before. What God has shown me though is that He does have a design for marriage. It is a design and purpose so unique to each marriage that no one could ever write about it, yet they all should have the same result; to show God's love to the world.
     Lying in bed with Jason Sunday morning I was thinking about how Strong and deep our love is and it was as if I heard God say, " You feel this love for Jason  and you feel this love from Jason; how much more do you think I love you? The intimacy you share is only a fraction of what I want to share with you. The desire for time together is infinitesimal compared with My desire to spend time with you." Wow!
     To think of where God has taken us in the past few years is incredible and He has done that for a purpose. Just 2 years ago I had so much hurt in my heart that I didn't want to be in the same room with Jason. Now I hate being away from him. When I look into his eyes I see and feel the love he has for me. He cherishes me, he is leading me, he even defends me. When I feel his love for me and then I think of God and that Jason's love is only a fraction of what God's love is, it blows me away.
     God doesn't want His people to have marriages like everyone else. He calls us to "not conform"' He wants us to have something extraordinary. He even gives us what we need to accomplish it. If only His people would quit settling for mediocre. Wake up to the passion God has for you in your lives and in your marriages. God wouldn't let me accept anything less and now we have something extraordinary, and what really blows my mind is that God isn't finished with us yet.

Our Sacred Romance

God has given us a glorious gift in the restoration of our marriage. As I meditate on everything that God is doing all I can do is just stand in awe, and yet my heart breaks for others. They just don’t comprehend what God desires our lives to be like. He wants to bless us beyond measure but we need to turn, with all we are, to Him in order for Him to pour out His love and mercy.

The church has settled in this life and became passive in the pursuit of God’s will for their lives. In the years of struggles we had in our marriage I was told by many well-intentioned godly women to just accept things and be the dutiful wife. That was what I was supposed to do. I wanted to scream at them about the aching hunger I had inside, “don’t you understand that there is more! There has to be more than this or it is not worth living!” I would even pray to God to take that burning desire of what I felt God wanted for my marriage away; after all everyone around me was telling me it was an unreachable dream; unrealistic. I now thank God that He kept that passion burning. He gave me the promise to “restore the years” (Joel 2:25) and I held to it with everything I had.  

Jason and I stand now as a testimony that “all things are possible with God” (Matt. 19:26) and that God doesn’t just restore, He remakes all things new. (2 Cor. 5:17) But now the burning desire is still there; not for God to renew our own marriage; but the desire to shout it to the nations that this (what Jason and I have found) IS God’s will for marriage. He is still shaping us and I know He is not finished with us but as He molds us my prayer becomes this… Lord, Let us show others what Your will is that they too can have this sacred romance, which glorifies You. They too can understand God’s love, if at least a little and live it out daily in their homes. They too can join hands with their spouse and do battle for the hearts of their children; they too can be a living testimony to the heart of God. -In Jesus Name, Amen

Vulnerability- Tearing Down the Walls

Lamentations 4:1-2 “How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner.  How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!”

I admit I’m no Bible scholar but I have always loved the analogy of being “clay in the potter’s hands”. When I first came to Christ I had a passion in me; a drive to learn all that I could about my Jesus. Over time though that passion faded and I became dull. But God is a gracious God and wasn't finished with me yet. If you have ever worked with a pottery wheel you know that often times when you begin a work you must start over. You throw the lump of clay on the wheel and as the wheel begins to spin your hands begin to shape it. Everything is going great and you can see your masterpiece beginning to take shape then something happens and everything is split in two. You gather all the clay up and slam it back down on the wheel again and start over till you have perfected the piece you are working on.  When your piece is finished you then place it in the fire of the kiln. As the piece is heated and tested by the fire it cracks and you must start again.

So many times in my Christian journey I have felt like that piece of clay. At times I may have even made it to the kiln but I didn't make it through the fire. The difference between us and a piece of clay is that clay is an inanimate object and doesn't fight what is being done to it. We on the other hand often fight the Potter’s hands because it hurts or we don’t like what it is turning into. At times what we see isn't what the Potter sees and we think if we can just get our hands in there then we can help Him. When we do that often times that is when things fall apart.

God has been walking Jason and me through some stuff lately that we didn't imagine we would have to walk through. But especially with me; he is shaping me into something new. In the past when a trial in our marriage has arisen I went to my defenses and put up a wall to protect myself. God is telling me to stop. I need to quit turning to my own defenses and let God be my protector. Instead of putting up my wall I need to run to Him. And in that, I need to be vulnerable and open to Jason. When God first started telling me that, I argued, “No way God. I’m just going to get hurt and I can’t take anymore hurt”. But He was persistent because He could see the finished product. As I open up to Jason and let my walls down the Lord is doing some amazing healing. Not just in our marriage but in us as individuals. What I thought were walls to protect me were actually walls keeping the blessings that God had for me and for my marriage out. He has been showing me how “when I am weak, He is Strong”.

 No marriage is without trials but how we react to each other in those trials will determine the outcome. By me not putting up my walls when a conflict starts it allows Jason the opportunity to minister to me and encourages him to step out of his comfort zone. This allows us to grow closer together and closer to God and allows the Holy Spirit room to do His work in us and through us.