Tag: Christian

Why I Do This?

My Family
Sophia, Kalene, Leonard Joshua (LJ) and Me

Why This Blog

Why do we do what we do? You’ve been receiving these emails from me for some time now. I don’t know if I have ever shared my heart with why I decided to write start this blog.

There used to be a time when marriage wasn’t looked at as being just a contract. A time where there were more couples who were married for 50, 60, 70 years. Today couples are considered lucky if they make it 20 or 30 years.

My Past and Moving Forward

I come from a divorced home. Probably like most of you, I saw what happened to my parents and I want something different for myself. I want to not only be married to one person, but also be happy, and having fun the longer I’m married.

It makes no sense to me that the divorce rate in America is nearly 50%. I think that we can and should do better. Especially for Christians out there. We’re called to be a light to world. One area that our lights should shine is in our marriages.

So thank you for joining me on this journey as we build each other up, strengthen our marriages for the long haul and have fun doing it.

To read more click here to check out my About Page

 

3 Ways Not to Drift in Your Marriage

New Year = New You = New Marriage

This New Year means a chance to start some new habits. The beginning of each year marks a time where we can start fresh. It’s the perfect time to ignite a flame that may have died down in your marriage. It’s the best time to get your mind wrapped around having the best marriage possible.

One of the biggest attacks to our marriages isn’t an outside person or something like that. We could protect our marriages better if we didn’t get lazy in them.

Threats To Marriage

[ctt template=”8″ link=”Xgmxo” via=”no” ]Complacency and laziness are the biggest threats to marriages.[/ctt]

Complacency and laziness are the biggest threats to marriages.

Part of the definition of complacency is to be content. Our lives, children, work and marriages should have points of accomplishment and pride. However there is a difference between taking pride in your accomplishments and not striving for anything else.

Complacency to the point that we no longer strive for self improvement is unsatisfactory. We can only contribute to our marriages with what we have on the inside of us. If we are no longer depositing into ourselves then at some point, our well will run dry of what we can put into the relationship.

Marriage requires work. Work on yourself first. For me it all starts with my relationship with God. As my relationship with Him grows and I learn more about Him, I find myself wanting to grow in other areas of my life. It is the desire for God first, hat  creates a desire which spills into other areas and pushes me to pursue my dreams and goals.

It’s time to Plan Ahead. I wrote an article to help you Plan Ahead.

Combat Laziness

I’m a firm believer in dreaming big and setting big goals. I always want something out in front of me that I am pursuing. It’s the pursuit that doesn’t allow me to settle for complacency. While our lives may be good according to some, we aren’t looking around us but looking forward to what’s ahead.

Laziness works very much the same way. Laziness is like the brother of complacency. It is the next rung on the ladder to nowhere. Once we reach complacency and we entertain it, the next step down the rabbit hole is laziness.

Laziness can take over a marriage and ultimately destroy it. When we are unwilling to work or put forth the energy into our marriages laziness will take over.

We have to actively fight laziness. Make sure to take the  steps to combat laziness and build strong healthy marriages.

Here are three ways to fight complacency and laziness:

  1. Self improvement: personal development is the key to making deposits into yourself. We should be well-rounded people. We have to have more to contribute to the marriage than our paychecks. Our lives have to be more than what we happened at work today.

 

  1. Have A Goal: There is a difference between goals and habits. The idea that I want to get across is that we need something to strive for. Set a goal or a habit that you want to accomplish.

 

  1. Pursue Your Spouse: I’m a big proponent of the idea of dating your spouse. For many couples the dating process was where we tried to impress the other person. We look for ways to get to know them better, or ways to get close to them. There’s no reason that this shouldn’t carry on when we get married. It may require more working around schedules, but it can be done.

 

Let’s fight complacency and laziness 2018.

3 Ways to Let Your Light Shine

Have you ever seen Tomorrowland? I recently watched this movie and there is a scene near the end of the movie where Hugh Laurie’s character gives a passionate speech. I won’t retell the entire speech, but it caught my attention because it was about being comfortable where we are. We can see signs all around us that are begging for us to step up and make the world better. Instead we don’t to anything because we don’t want to change. You can watch the speech here.

This got me to thinking specifically about my relationship with God, and then I thought broader to Christians as a whole and our place in the world.

Everyday I have the chance to impact someone’s life for the better. Each time I wake up and step out the door , I can show someone the love of God. I’ll admit that I don’t always do that. There are days where I just go about my business and get done what I need to for the day.

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The recent mass shooting in Las Vegas is front and center in the news right now. It is sad that it takes a tragedy as horrific as this to get people to open up and want to love one another. As Christians we should be leading the way in living lives that “Glorify our Father in heaven”. Our lives should shine brightest in the darkest of times. The love that we show should be what will draw others to Christ. Here is how we can let our light shine:

Be bold.

There is a reason that a candle stands out in a dark room. It draws your eyes towards it and it helps you to see what is around you. Being bold is not fighting on social media to defend your faith, or arguing with neighbors and friends about the “Christian thing” to do. Let your lifestyle shine and it will draw people in.

Be humble.

Matthew 5:16 says that our good works are seen but they are seen so that God can get the glory. It’s hard to point someone to the God of love, if I take credit for all the good in my life. I would be bragging on myself and I’m not that great that I can, nor should I do that. We have to give God  first place in  our lives. In times of tragedy, it can be easy to say what we are doing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to help, but it is better to put action to my words instead of just talking

It’s a matter of heart.

I truly believe that only God can change someone’s heart. Change them to see the value in life, including their own. It doesn’t matter the type of tragedy, what is important is that if we will let our lights shine then God will continue to get the glory. It is His love that fuels our lights. His love is what powers us day by day to live better lives and impact the hearts of those that we come in contact with everyday.

You[ctt template=”8″ link=”lbp5B” via=”no” ]Your life will shine better than anything that comes out of your mouth[/ctt]

Let’s not let another tragedy come without giving God the chance to shine through us. What can you do to be an example of God’s love today?