Giving Thanks
By · CommentsIn my worldview, it is ridiculous to say that I am a lucky man. No. I am just abundantly blessed by a loving, all-wise, heavenly Father. No where is this more evident than in Erin, my wife. For it is plain if you know me well (or maybe if you just read her blog) that blessing upon blessing comes through her…all the time.
I say this and post the picture below (which by the way, is one of just two recent ones I could find of just the two of us…Erin, let’s do a better job with that in the near future and kick the kids out now and again). Anyhow, I say all this because today we give thanks for eight years of marriage. Eight years of incredible joy and growth in grace and perfect marital harmony.
Ok, so I am overstating it here with the perfect marital harmony. After all, we are both sinners. But because of God’s grace in our lives, we really do enjoy a harmony and a joy unlike anything else. And it is one I give thanks for today. For she is the most precious gift in my life; and our marriage, though not easy, is the place of greatest joy and delight. To look back over the past eight years (has it really been eight already?), is, if I am seeing clearly, to look back upon grace upon grace, gift upon gift. It is to marvel at the Lord bringing us together and sustaining us and blessing us as we seek Him first together. I’m not sure how many places we have lived or all we have had to work through, but it doesn’t matter. The Lord has His plans and they are good and gracious and wise. No where is this more evident than in Erin and in our eight years of marriage together…at least to me.
So I give thanks today for you my love. I delight in you and praise God for you and pray for many more years to come. I could make some long list of all the things I appreciate about you and give thanks for, but we both know that everything I mention cannot help but be inadequate. For there is nothing sweeter than saying and meaning, “I love you just because I do.” And thankfully, that is easier for me to say and mean with every passing day.
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22). Amen to that. Thank you Lord for so much favor.
Get Organized or De-Clutter?
By · CommentsI count myself blessed a thousand times over to have a wife who is very orderly and organized. It no doubt contributes to the joy of our home and the joy of those who enter our home. But I know that one of her secrets is that she isn’t afraid to get rid of stuff. In that respect, I told her that she will love this post called “Eleven Myths of De-Cluttering.”
Who Am I?
By · CommentsAccording to this ESPN story, that seems to be the question that Jennifer Capriati is having a difficult time answering right now. If you recall, or as the story will remind you, she was a tennis star at around age 13, who after falling out of the game, returned for a while, only to have to retire due to a few injuries.
As a professional athlete, I really feel for her, because I know this isn’t an easy thing. The question of an athlete’s true identity is often difficult to define apart from sports, because when you reach a certain level of success, most people begin to relate to you on the basis of your place as an athlete. Combine this with the tendency of every human heart to identify oneself with what one accomplishes, and athletic success often makes it difficult to really define who you are in any real and lasting fashion.
From a Christian perspective, the only real answer to this concern is Jesus Christ. Sure, as a Christian, I still struggle with viewing myself as God views me, but to a great degree I have found the freedom that I believe only Christ can give, so that when that question arises, “Who am I?”, there is an answer that doesn’t change. Indeed, by God’s grace, He used athletic success in my life to show me that I needed Him.
And interestingly enough, I have found that the more I find my identity and security in Christ, the more free I am to enjoy the game I so love and in turn, the more free I am to play it better. When you aren’t defined by how well you perform, there is much less heat to perform great. There is freedom. And where there is freedom, there should be great play.
Of course, there is more to it than that, but there certainly isn’t less. And even if you aren’t an athlete, you should have compassion for Capriati, because you are just as prone as her to seek your identity in what you do rather than whose you are.
