I'm a Christian, Father, Husband, Geek. That likes to call it as I see it. I'm not here to be an expert on anything, but I want to be a inspiration to someone.
Welcome back to another Married Monday. This week I decided to go a little different. Up to this point, I have kept it about just being a couple. But for most of us, at some point after marriage comes, kids. Let’s face it, we all have families, and they are always there. We grow up and build our own families.
We build our families as we grow as a couple. We are an example to our children, we show them what a family is. We hopefully show them a strong happy marriage. Your relationship is what will show through as you raise your family.
As much as I have talked about making time to be there for each other, we must make true time for Family. In America, we see so much of a decay in the value of the family, the family gets bogged down with the stuff of life. We have to go to this practice, and this appointment. We have to go here and there. At the end of the day we have only a few hours or maybe even minutes together as a family.
Find ways to do more together as a family. Don’t rely on the annual summer vacation, or spring break, to be your only time devoted to each other. I’m writing this after spending just a normal weekend at home, but some stuff that I wanted to do didn’t happen, and it was a blessing. Having the time to spend with the wife and the munchkin, that I didn’t expect to get, was the highlight of the weekend.
So I want to challenge all of you, beyond spending time just with each other, and building your relationship as a couple, keep up with your family. It’s easy to focus on one or the other. It’s easy to concentrate on just family, it’s easy to focus on just your relationship. It takes work to balance both. It takes work to balance, a relationship, a family, a job, a career, a social life. When you step back at the end of the day, and look at what is most important, I hope that you make the right choices.
Welcome to another Married Monday everybody. I apologize now to anyone reading this with kids, as you now have a song from The Princess and The Frog stuck in your head. If not you do now. Or maybe I brought up a bad memory of 2 days ago when you had to dig a little deeper just to find your car.
Where I’m going this week, is that we need to take our communications to another level. Many times we know that something is bothering our spouse. Over time we learn their tells, we know when something is off. Too many times we get caught up in our lives, we get caught up in doing things to take our minds off of things, we work to get away from things, we leave work to get away from things. But it is when we get home, when we try to veg out, when we don’t really want to get into what is going on outside.
If you or your spouse are they type that tends to shut down and veg out, when you’ve had a rough few days, don’t shut them out. When you see this start happening in your marriage, go ahead and give the other person a little time to relax open up on their own. But don’t let too much time pass. Knowing the other person, you can tell when things are just off. It’s at this point, if they aren’t opening up, you have to start digging. Use your words wisely, and dig carefully. Not because of what you will uncover, but to continue to be thoughtful, because no matter how long you have been together, sometime things are just hard to explain. Sometimes we will shut down and not really know that we are doing it.
Dig deeper whenever things feel off. It is your responsibility to dig. It is your responsibility to call the other person on their BS, when they aren’t fully saying what is going on. When you dig, and explain what you are seeing, the release will be better for both of you. You are a team, you are there to help each other through whatever is going on.
So I challenge you this week, to watch, to dig, and to keep each other accountable. Keep each other lifted up. Keep each other communicating. Be there for each other and listen to each other
So in contrast to my other post,But I’m a Good Person, I want to flip things around for you a little bit. Again along the lines of Grace being for ALL not SOME. Many people feel that they have too much baggage for God. Too much wrong in their past for God to love or to use them.
So I wanted to give you a list of jacked up people in Bible:
Let’s start here:
Matthew 1:1-2, 6
1The [a]record of the genealogy of [b]Jesus [c]the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham [d]was the father of Isaac, [e]Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of[f]Judah and his brothers
6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by [h]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
Abraham — Yes, Father Abraham, didn’t believe God could make good on His promise of having a son, because his wife was barren. Had a son with a hand maiden. After his wife got pregnant, he sent off the hand maiden and her son. So here we have an adulterous dead-beat dad…
Jacob — Ever heard the story of Jacob and his brother Esau.Twin boys, Jacob was momma’s boy.Manipulated his brother into giving up his birthright.He also with the help of his mom, tricked his dad Isaac who was dying and going blind, taking his brothers family rights, and making his brother his slave.To the point that his brother Esau wanted to kill him.
David — David was a great man of God.He was a loved ruler of Israel.But verse 6 above says a lot.David had Bathsheba’s husband killed so that he could be with her, after he got her pregnant while her husband was away at war.
Genesis 9:20-21
20 Then Noah began [j]farming and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
Noah — Builder of the Ark, after the flood got drunk and naked.
Exodus 2:11-12
11 Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their [c]hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he [d]looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Moses — Leader of God’s people out of Egypt, Holder of the 10 commandments; was a murderer.
Joshua 2:1, 8-9
1 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and [a]lodged there.
Now before they lay down, [b]she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have [c]melted away before you.
Rahab — One of a few women in the bible with her own story.She was a harlot.She protected the Israelite spies in Jericho.
Are you feeling any better about what is in your past yet?God has used murderers, drunks, prostitutes, tax collectors, and cheaters.
No matter what your situation is, no matter what you have done in your past, no matter how ruined you feel that you are, God can and will use you.All you have to do is listen to Him, when he is calling to you.He is waiting on you to call out to Him and ask for His grace and forgiveness.He is waiting on YOU to say, Lord I know I’m a sinner, and that I am far from you.I want you in my life.I want to receive your forgiveness and grace.Lord please forgive me and come into my life and make me new.Use me Lord, to reach those around me that are far from you.Clean me Lord and restore me.I know that it is only though you that I can be saved.It is only through you that I am made whole.Thank you Lord for making me whole and saving me.Thank you for your grace and your love and your mercy.
Welcome back to another Married Monday. This week I decided to go a little different. Up to this point, I have kept it about just being a couple. But for most of us, at some point after marriage comes, kids. Let’s face it, we all have families, and they are always there. We grow up and build our own families.
Ramblings of a Christian Father 