Happy Birthday Dawn!

Today is my lovely wife’s Birthday and unfortunately we are about 250 miles apart but I want to take the time to thank God for a wonderful wife who has supported me through a lot of stuff and helped me to become something better. She is the one God used to draw me to Himself and marrying her was the second best decision I have ever made. She has given me two wonderful sons and a multitude of blessings. I am truly blessed. What can I say… I love my wife. Happy Birthday, Honey!

Incidentally, if you’re reading this and you’re single, this is the kind of spouse you should be looking for. One who builds you off and helps you to become better than you can be on your own and helps you to walk close with your God. If you’re married, the above is the type of spouse you should try to be.

I should probably add at this point that Dawn and I will be married 25 years this Tuesday. As a result, as soon as I leave the conference I am currently at, We will be taking a few days off. AMOKArts will most likely go silent from the 21st to the 23rd.
I’ll be back Wednesday.

Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life

Today is my wife Dawn’s birthday. I won’t tell you which one… What I will tell you is we have been together now for over half our lives. Marrying her was the second best decision I have ever made, the first being coming to Jesus, and she had a huge part in that decision too.

My wife is an amazing, wonderful woman. I won’t say she completes me, that’s God’s job, but she is definitely strong where I’m weak. I am blessed to have her in my life. Happy Birthday Honey, I love you.

I try to have a teachable point in each of these posts, and this one is no exception. For any of my readers who might be single, the kind of mate you’re looking for is one that will love you through whatever life throws at you. Someone who will not only support you in your faith and calling but will join you in it. Someone who will help you to be closer to God. I’ve found mine, yours is out there. Hold out for the right one.

If you’re dating, remember this, (Since most of my readers are creatives, I’ll give a creative analogy) dating is audition. You are auditioning this person for the role of spouse. If they don’t fit the role, they may have to go. Ask yourself this question, if they behave this way while they’re still trying to impress you, what are they going to be like when they think they “have you?” Pray that God will bring you to the right person and don’t compromise yourself (or Him) along the way.

Finally if you’re already married, work at it and work hard. I consider myself to be very happily married, but that doesn’t mean we’re always happy. Life gets tough and in the midst of our struggles we don’t always do what we should. The struggles of life should drive us into each others arms and drive us to our knees, closer to the Father and to each other. Dawn and I have been together a long time and we’ve been through a lot. I’ve never known anyone that has had my back like she does. Work hard and keep God in the middle of your relationship.

My Bride

I hope you’ll indulge a little personal reflection. Below is an image of the happiest day of my life.

We thought we had it all figured out, but we were so young. I’m 48 now, I’ve been married over half my life and I’m here to tell you we didn’t have a clue. It was so much harder than either of us could have imagined. It was also so much better.

Let me tell you about my bride. We met when I was 22 and I was a mess. I had spent the previous three years drinking my problems away and she was far too good for me. Good thing she didn’t know that. She helped me through my troubles, helped me get sober and got me to go to church for the first time in over 10 years. She was the one who led me to Christ. She’s given me two great sons, walked me through a heart attack. She was the angel that feared to tread when this fool wanted to rush in on too many occasions to count and as a result she saved me from a lot of problems. We’ve weathered a lot of storms together. I’ve often preached this life is a battle and I have a lot of friends, including some pretty tough guys, but there is no one I would rather have had by my side in this battle than her.

She’s been my voice of wisdom (of at least she’s spoken up when I was ignoring the Spirit), my sounding board, my strongest human supporter, my wife, my lover and my best friend. I love her more each day. I’ll be with her ’til God takes me.

And guys that’s the thing. The hearts and flowers of romance and the mountain tops are wonderful and we have had plenty of those times, but it’s the tough times that forge the bond. If we had left the tough times break us, we would have missed the wonder of an amazing life together. Too many people bail just when it’s getting good. The key is really simple. The Bible says “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” It’s you, your mate and Jesus, hold on to each other tight and press on together. The family is God’s main building block in society and, as a result, it regularly comes under attack. Don’t quit, press on (unless your spouse puts you in physical danger).

If you’re not married yet, this is what you’re looking for. Someone who will stand by you in the tough times and love you regardless of circumstances. Follow God’s plan. Live God’s way. Build on Christ’s foundation and weave your three strand cord.

Part of the reason I posted this today is to ask you for prayer. My bride is having surgery tomorrow. It’s routine. She should be out by Saturday and we’re believing God for speedy recovery. I should be fine and totally confident. I trust the Lord, but she’s my bride so I’ll take all the prayer I can get. Please keep my wife Dawn in your prayers.

Another Praise…

I love being a minister, and there are few things more exciting than the privilege of performing weddings. Unfortunately there are few responsibilities of ministry that are more frightening. It is for that reason that I have two rules in place.

1. I don’t marry anyone I haven’t counseled and I reserve the right to refuse when the counseling is over.
2. I will NEVER, EVER marry anyone with a prenuptial agreement.

You can call me conceited, judgmental, whatever you want, I don’t care. You don’t have to stand before God and answer for why you married those people, I do. The pre-nup thing hasn’t come up for me yet, but this much I know. If you don’t have the trust and the love of the other party and you don’t value that more than your stuff, it probably isn’t going to work. You’re entering a life-time commitment with an exit strategy in place.

So far this doesn’t look too much like a praise but it is. You see today my wife Dawn and I are married 23 years and for us it’s 23 years on our way to eternity. We do have an exit strategy, one of us in a box and the other in mourning. I know that sounds a little morbid, but that ’til death do us part thing, God meant that. I love my wife and I plan on loving her until they close the box on me and with God’s help I will keep that commitment.

I know this sounds a little harsh, and I know this might offend some of my readers and I certainly don’t mean it to. We live in a broken world and sometimes things break, even marriages. If you’ve been through a divorce this is not a slam on you. We love you and pray God’s blessing upon you. I write this for the other married folks, maybe those who are teetering on the edge in hopes of pulling them back. It’s for the ones who have not yet chosen a mate, in hopes that something written here will help you choose well.

When Dawn and I first started dating and even into our marriage everything seemed perfect and wonderful. We were young and in love. Then life started to happen and things got tough. We experienced losses, struggles, tough jobs, financiall struggles, kids, schedules, conflicts and there were times in all of that when we might have felt like throwing up our hands and saying this is just too hard. Praise God, that’s not what happened, instead we pulled together and pulled each other through. There were times where it was very hard, but at the end of the day we’ve faced the last 23 years side by side and there is no one but Jesus I would rather have by my side to face anything.

Marriage isn’t easy and I am convinced it is targeted by Satan like almost nothing else, after all the marriage relationship is a “type” for Christ’s relationship with the church. It’s a symbol of the love of the one who told His people, “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Trials give us a choice, we can let them tear us apart or we can allow them to forge a bond that nothing but death can break. Dawn and I have chosen the latter, and with God’s help we’re sticking to it. What’s your choice?

I want to close by saying I love you Dawn, Happy Anniversary.

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Joshua 11-12; Mark 8; Psalm 127
You can also download your own chart here.

Celebrating One of My Life’s Greatest Blessings

I hope my regular readers will indulge me in a little personal reflection. You kind of have to because to be honest were it not for this person you would have no reason to read anything I write. On this date, an undisclosed number of years ago, one of the most important people in my life came into this world, my wife Dawn.

This woman met me at one of the toughest times in my life and saw something in me. She led me to the Lord and believed in me when few others did. She gave me two wonderful sons and has been my faithful wife for nearly 23 years. I can never repay you for all you’ve done for me honey but because you introduced me to Jesus, I’ll have forever to try.

I love you Honey. Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dawn

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Joshua 7; Mark 4; Psalm 29
You can also download your own chart here.