Tag: Christian

Happy Post Labor Day

I hope that you had a fun and safe Labor Day holiday. Most people spend their holidays with family and friends. Mine was no different. In fact I was able to travel to Nebraska and be there for my sisters wedding. Throughout the weekend I was able to sit back, observe and enjoy my family. I just wanted to offer up some observations to you all.

  1. Your place in your family

 

This one I’ve known about for awhile now, but I was able to see it in full effect this past weekend. Whether you’re the drunk uncle at every family gathering, the dancing child, the silent one or the religious prayer warrior, we all have a part in our families. It might not be defined role with a title and it may change as we grow older and new generations come behind us, but each person is needed and makes the family unique. 

 

  1. Love and Laugh

 

What makes families so great is that you’re able to love each other through all of the ups and downs of life. It’s that love that makes the family unit stronger. Will there be arguments and disagreements? Absolutely. Those things that you argue about today will be the things that you’re able to laugh about a year from now. Laughter has been medically proved to be beneficial for your health. Laugh together with your family!! 

 

  1. Everything isn’t meant for Social Media

 

This past weekend was yet another reminder that we don’t need our phones to enjoy life. Life is happening all around us. We can get caught up in posting about the things that we’re doing rather than enjoying the events. Every once and awhile it’s good to not post anything, put your phone down and just enjoy the moments. 

 

  1. A group of dancing kids makes everything better

 

This one is just fun. At my sister’s reception, there wasn’t a better moment that when the DJ plays the kids favorite songs and they start dancing. You can’t help but to smile and cheer them on. Every adult that seems to have forgotten to just have fun and not care about what other think it back to being a child again. From the latest dances to the ones that are just pure energy and movement. It’s always a good time. 

 

These were just a couple of things that I thought about this past weekend. I pray that you’re holiday was great and that the rest of your year is filled with Love and Laughter. 

 

Discussion Question:

What did you observe from your family this past weekend?

Family is Important to God

Have you ever wondered why family is so important to God. From the beginning of the Bible, you can see that God wanted to be able to enjoy the benefits of family. Following God’s example, we should value it too. 

The family unit is a part of our lives that we don’t regularly attend to. While we plan for a lot of things when it comes to our social life and our career life, when it comes to our family there can be a lack of planning. 

In recent years there has been more of a push to have balance in life. People are recognizing the value of family. They don’t want to work 60 or 70 hours a week. There are too many stories out there of successful people who worked so hard, but in the process they lost their marriages, families, health or a combination of things. 

We can plan everything in our lives, but still leave our family out Click To Tweet

Why work so hard to achieve a financial or career status and get there not have anyone to enjoy it with?  The family unit is important for 3 reasons.

 

  1. The foundation

 

Our families are foundational to our lives. When everything can seem like it is going out of control, your family can serve as an anchor in the storm. Christians are often referred to as the Body of Christ. Showing that we are all connected. 

 

  1. Support & Celebrate

 

We know how valuable a support group can be. When we need support to get through a difficult situation our family members tend to be the ones to pick us up. The same can be said of when we celebrate significant moments in our life. Think of the milestone birthdays, the promotions, the bonuses, marriages, children being born and all the things that are important to us. Who are the people that are most likely to be there and celebrate with us? Family. 

 

  1. God at the Center

 

When it comes to organizing and evaluating our lives, it makes it easy to compartmentalize everything. We can treat our lives like rooms in a house. One room is our career.  A room for our family. The basement is where all the things we don’t want to deal with go. There’s a room for our emotions and there is a room for God. 

What we have failed to realize is that God is in every room. He is the foundation that our house is built on. God doesn’t want to be regulated to just one room. He wants to be involved in every area of life. 

 

Discussion Question:

Why is family important to you?

Family Foundation

A marriage with a strong foundation can stand against any storm that comes along! Click To Tweet

Foundations are important. That might be the understatement of the year, but while they are the most important part, they are also the most overlooked part. When it comes to foundations most people just assume that you’re talking about a home or other type of building. You might have even thought that is what I was referring to, but foundations are not exclusive to buildings. 

A Building Foundation

Looking for a Home

I remember this time when my wife and I were looking to buy our first home. We had looked at a couple of houses and couldn’t find what we were looking for. One house we looked at in particular was beautiful. It checked all the boxes that we would have wanted. When I asked about the price as we walked through, I was shocked. Why would it be so low? This house was a quarter of the price of any other house we had looked at. 

As we walked into the basement I could see why the price was so low. There was a floor to ceiling crack that ran along one of the walls. There was a crack in the foundation. Needless to say that we did not buy that house. It would have cost twice as much money to repair the foundation. 

Just like there are foundations to buildings, we have a foundation to our marriage that is just as important. Click To Tweet

While foundations are mostly associated with buildings we have foundations to our marriages and many other relationships. For the most part we just don’t think about our foundation. Many of us want a successful marriage. We want to have a marriage that is happy, successful and all the things that we want. The only way to get there is having the proper foundation set. Here are the 3 P’s of a solid marriage foundation:

 

  1. Plan

Having a plan isn’t a bad thing in a marriage. It should regularly be discussed and adapted as your life ages. The Bible says that without a vision people will perish. The same can be said of our marriages. A vision is just a written down plan. It can be hard to get anywhere if you don’t know where you’re going. 

 

  1. Prayer

Prayer is the foundation to everything that is important to us. When it comes to our marriage, prayer is a necessity. Marriage is more than just a contract. It’s binding two souls, two minds, it is the intertwining of two lives with God into this one thing called marriage. As much as there are two people involved, God is just as involved and it is through prayer that we involve Him. 

 

  1. Pursuit

Most men pursue their wives while dating and maybe a little at the beginning of marriage. As our marriages go along we tend to stop pursuing and get in a comfortable groove. Fight the comfort and continue to pursue your spouse. 

 

Discussion Question:

What are some of the foundations of your marriage?