Tag: 2019

Faith and Love

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,” – Ephesians‬ ‭1:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What are you planting?

Your Life Speaks

This scripture from the Bible has stood out to me because of something that Paul says. While writing this letter to the church at Ephesus, he says that their faith  and their love are what he heard about. I’ve been thinking about this the last couple of days and I wonder if the same could be said of us. 

Your life speaks...what is it saying? #youspeakvolumes #livelife Click To Tweet

Does our faith speak? Does our love speak? They should speak to those around us. Our lives should be filled with faith and love. Everyone wants to make an impact, but how does real impact happen? 

Paul said that their faith and their love is what impacted him. The same should be said of our faith and love. One area that our faith and love can be seen is in our marriages. 

 

Faith in Your Marriage

 

Faith in your marriage can look like persevering  through hard times. It’s not always that you have to be on the brink of divorce for you to have faith in your marriage. Faith can look like praying for your marriage in the morning. It can also look like having peace in your day to day. Faith in your marriage can look like believing for a consistent date night. The point is that having faith in and for your marriage is more than waiting until your about to file for divorce. 

 

Love In Your Marriage

 

How does love in your marriage look? Do you picture it as your favorite rom-com movie? Or does it look like a relationship that you saw as a child?

 

Love in your marriage is two parts; how you give love and how you receive love. You need to know both. Does love look like handwritten letters or exotic vacations or even sitting on the couch watching your favorite show. 

 

So what does love look like for your marriage and what do you do to maintain it? Love has to continue to grow and develop. It’s a living part of your marriage and has to be treated as such. There are some practical things you can you like praying together, date nights, vacations together and communication are a way to get started. 

 

Building the faith and love in your marriage is what will speak to those around us.  Like Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesians ,their faith and love are what spoke to Paul. Your faith and love will also speak. 

 

Discussion Question:

What do you want your faith and love to say?

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?

Dreamer vs Planner

How well do you know yourself? Better yet, how well do you know your spouse? Dave Ramsey uses the terms  “free spirit” and the other being the “nerd” when identifying spouses. I like to think of them as the dreamer and the planner. In a marriage you need to have both. It’s a new year and to have successful relationships we need to know which one we are. In a marriage you need to know which one you are and which one your spouse is.

Searching for God

Being a Dreamer

My wife and I recently had this conversation. I also saw a video on YouTube with Kevonstage where he and his wife also talked about it. It’s worth the listen or watch. In our relationship, I am the dreamer and my wife is the planner. Sometimes this is a fluid relationship. What I mean is there are times where we reverse roles and I am the planner and she is the dreamer. I tend to dream for myself, and my family. I dream of business ventures, being able to bless people and setting our children up for success in life. While I dream these things in my heart, my wife helps to plan them out in the here and now.

Being a Planner

My wife can have moments where she is the dreamer. Where God has put something in her heart to do. A business, an idea or whatever it may be, she will dream about it. In these situations she is the dreamer and I am the planner. It’s a great feeling to be able to support your spouse in their dreams. If you want to be a more supportive spouse you can read an article I wrote about  here.

There's nothing wrong with being a dreamer to a planner...the key is to know yourself Click To Tweet

So, which one are you? Are you the dreamer or the planner? Knowing yourself allows you to know how to plan your year. It can help you set your goals.

Knowing yourself also helps you to know what you need around you. Your inner circle is vitally important to your success. Your inner circle shouldn’t just be people that are like you, you need people that will challenge you, think differently than you and want the best for you. If you don’t have an inner circle that should be a goal for this year. Developing the proper relationships can propel you to new levels or keep you grounded.

 

Discussion Question:

Are you the dreamer or planner and how do you know?