The Amazing Katherine:
You’re my favorite. I love you more now than I did the day we were married. Thank you for loving me and making these past three years the best in my life.
Happy anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, My Love
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Tag Archives: relationship
How Well do You Maintain Relationships?
- Image via Wikipedia
I don’t do a great job of maintaining relationships. I can talk a good game but in the end I do a much better job of maintaining distractions than I do in actually sharing my life with people. In fact, if I don’t see you on a regular basis there’s a good chance I won’t really do a good job of keeping up with you.
Most of my relationships are geographic
I seem to do the best job of maintaining relationships with those I see regularly. This works well with my wife, my colleagues at work, and my fellow parishioners. But it doesn’t work nearly as well with people who aren’t in my regular weekly routine. Because of that, I tend to focus on my relationships in this order:
- God
- My amazing wife
- Friends and colleagues I see regularly
- My parents
- Everybody else
The problem with that is that far too many of my very close friends are ending up in the “Everybody else” category.
This is to my detriment because I’ve done a very poor job of keeping up with some close friends of mine. Those where we used to interact regularly but aren’t in my weekly circle any more. Some of them have been friends for years and have poured wisdom, spiritual insight, and love into my life. In fact one was the closest of my friends for several years and lives only a few miles away, yet we now have trouble even scheduling time to hang out. But it gets worse.
Marriage Retreat Weekend
We are heading out for a marriage retreat this weekend. While I’m looking forward to learning more about myths of marriage, solid foundations for marriage, and what spouses can do to be good to each other, I’m most looking forward to spending some quality time with Katherine – my amazing wife – and some quality time with God.
We have never been on a marriage retreat before, so this will be a new experience for us. We would certainly appreciate your prayers over the weekend. Without the hand of God, we’ll just be spending time away from our usual weekend.
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What Can God Do?
Today at lunch Curt said something that surprised me. It’s something that I’ve known – and is clear in scripture. But for some reason, it struck me today.
Curt is a former roommate of mine and a friend to me and Katherine. We used to hang out more but today at lunch was the first time in a while. The food was good and the conversation was easily blessed.
He said that when he was praying a few days ago, he was asking God how to help people know what he (God) can do in their lives. And that God just impressed on him that people begin to have faith in what can happen in their lives when we share what God has done in our lives.
God has done amazing things in Curt’s life. I am continually astounded by the grace that God has given him and how much his relationship with God has improved over the last year or so. While Curt has a strong heritage of faith through his mother, he hasn’t always waked in a tight relationship with God.
What God has done in Curt’s life often encourages me and reminds me of what he can do in each of our lives. God is truly amazing and can do absolutely anything. My life is a testimony to his grace and power. So is Curt’s. And so is Katherine’s.
If you need to be reminded of the amazing things God can do in your life, get to know Curt and ask him about his. Or ask me about mine.
And if God has done amazing things in your life, be sure to share them with others.
How to Improve Your Relationship With God
Have you ever wondered how to improve your relationship with God? After all, a deep and abiding relationship with God is a wonderful, awe-inspiring thing. It is the desire of God’s heart and is the very thing he created us for. This kind of relationship with God is nothing short of a gift from God.
We grow into this kind of relationship as we are released from slavery and formed into the image of Christ – a process that begins when we submit our lives to God through Jesus and which will continue until his work is completed in us. It is a work that God does in us but which involves us as well.
I don’t want any confusion about this – God forms this relationship with us if we will let him. Everything that we can do is a response to what he has already done and is doing as he searches our hearts and reveals his will.
Here are some things that you can do to improve your relationship with God – the same things that I can do to improve my relationship with God. This list is not all-inclusive and is in no particular order. In fact, it’s intentionally short so that you can leave your suggestions and comments as well. Continue reading
What’s Your Investment Strategy?
photo by bransorem
I normally hesitate to make the analogy between investment and eternity but earlier this week I was reading something that piqued my interest.
I was reading a getAbstract book summary on Warren Buffett’s investment strategy. The summary said that, contrary to other investors such as Merrill Lynch, who could often argue both for and against any investment, Warren would only buy if he was convinced that the company was better than its value.
I think that we often sell a relationship with God as though we’re pitching an investment to day traders. We tell people that God will make their lives better. So they invest with a short-term mindset.
To be truthful, we’re often in the same boat – looking at God with the mindset of “What have you done for me lately?” We view our current circumstances as a predictor of our eternity. As though the God-economy owes us something right now. But that is not the call of Christ. Continue reading
It Takes a Village
You may have noticed over the last few days that I’ve posted several pieces showcasing the work of other people. There’s a reason for that. I listen to them and what they’ve posted is good.
One of the fallacies of modern middle-class USAmerican life is that we have to be able to do it all on our own. That, especially in areas of faith, is simply not the case. We were never intended to live out our faith by ourselves. Rather, God intends for us to live in community – in proximity to and in relationship with other people. People who agree with us and people who don’t. It is in that place that we experience the blessing of God as we walk in unity (not unanimity) with our neighbors. It’s there that the Lord commands a blessing.
In community and relationship, we learn to extend and receive grace. To forgive and be forgiven. And, while our primary relationship will always be in Christ, that relationship should be expressed in the way we live with others on the earth that we have been given.
From one villager to another, be encouraged: read widely, converse openly, and serve freely.
The Root of it All
In the LifeOptimizer blog posting “Two Basic Relationship Problems,” the author, Donald Latumahina, breaks down both the value of relationships and what he sees as the two most basic pitfalls:
- Selfishness
- Misunderstanding
While I agree with Donald, I would like to add that the overarching problem with relationships – in fact in everything – is simply sin.
Selfishness has its root in sin. In the Garden, Adam and Eve Continue reading
