Dare to Care

So the other day my family and I sat down to watch a movie. I had traveled to my local Redbox and picked up Courageous, which is brought to you by the same people as Fireproof and Facing the Giants. (By the way, if you haven't seen any off these and you want to see a movie with characters trying to be true authentic Christians, you now have a whole weekend of movies to watch. These movies are all written by the same guys (brothers, in life and Christ) and it is released through their church. I'm off track at this point so I will return from my bunny trail.) Seeing as I have seen all the movies, I knew I was in for a God glorifying, tears running, nose sniffling 2 hours of enjoyment. BUT it’s not the 2 hours that makes the difference; it's what happens after the credits roll...

So, why am I telling you this…I want to show you what can happen when you realize that you may have a bowl on your head (Matthew 5:14-16). When you realize that you are in his presence but not participating in it.  I have been able to go months and months with reading His word and praying but it was during the movie I realized that I have recently stopped and have been absent in the conversations with God...this left me with a couple of questions for myself to answer...

Am I being the father that the kids would like, should have, need? Am I letting them see through actions that they are Loved by me, and God? Am I being a good example to my kids everyone of how their Heavenly Father loves them?

I took inventory of my life since then, and here is what I have (re-)learned in the last couple of days.

1. When you pray, you are rewarded with answered prayers.  I have been praying the last couple of days before work.  We have all been under a lot of stress so I have been praying for peace, breaks, calm clients and a joyful environment.  I think it's been working, nothings gonna be perfect but it's better than it was.
2. After watching the movie I asked God to remind me to stay focused on my family.  Help them to be reminded of the answers to the questions above.  Asked that he remind me of what I am to do and how I can do it.  He answered, they way He does best, through giving me a song.  This is now on my ipod like so many other songs God has used to remind me of my role, His love, or simply to slow down.  I can take stock in His reminders by simply hitting "shuffle".
3. Lunch with a friend can be so amazing when there is no itinerary.  I got the change (once a month) to hang with a newer friend this week for lunch and it truly was amazing.  I again started my day with prayer and remembered the lunch and asked God to "help make our time together good.  Help our friendship to grow" were my words.  Thank you God for helping that happen.
4. You don't need to meet someone to be a role model.  I had clients that taught me that.  They were so calm and patient.  So loving and kind.  He called her his queen, and they finished each other's sentences on the phone. Well when I was talking to some support people, in an angry tone, about these client's file and how it's not fair that this loan cannot get done because of things out of the client's control, I was reminded of their patience and God asked me "is this how they would respond?  They are a light, are you acting how my light should act?"  I then paused, and apologized to the support people for raising my voice and that they were doing their job and thanked them for that.  I then thanked my clients for being the example they are.  I hope pray that I can be as bright of a light as they were for me this week.  Thanks to them I have a new verse to memorize (Col 3:17)

Be present in the conversation that God wants to have with you...Simply put, he's always willing to talk with you, Call your Father, He'd like to hear from you, and He will have the right answer.  I didn't say the easy one or the one you want, but banging your head against a wall hurts too...why not try His way this time.

So needless to say, I will continue trying to show my family the right way to live. Being an example of God's love, helping my daughter see the way that a husband should love her, and teaching my son the ways to honor his wife.  Which in turn, is honoring to my wife.  That way, I know that I have raised them up in the ways of the Lord instead of my worrying about my actions, the other day.

What's Beautiful to you?

So the other day I was coming back from a meeting that I had attended in Brainard.  As I was driving a song came on the radio I sat there listening to it, smiling and shaking my head on how perfect this song matched my marriage.  There are songs that you hear that fit your mood, give you encouragement, fit the situation, or will just always spark that memory that you hope you never forget.  So this day, before I had a cell phone with cool features that could find a song and download it for me, I had to scrounge for a piece of paper and pen, yes while driving, listening to the words to see if there was any hint to what the song would be called in case the DJ failed to tell me afterwards all while driving down a dark country road...and they say texting while driving is dangerous.  I was successful in discovering the song was "That's Beautiful to Me" by Jason and the Long Road to Love.

Why am I telling you this, as I was driving in to work this morning it came on again, this time from my personal playlist, and I teared up was sentimental reminded of the first time I heard it and I though I would share it with you.  This song is not our song by the way, Savage Garden gets that claim to fame.

Really the enjoyment of a song like "...beautiful..." is that you see things that are "special" to you but as I re-listened to it, and thought outside myself, I realize that its probably pretty common.  I mean what man doesn't like seeing lines on his wife face from her sleeping on his chest or enjoy her singing the wrong words to his favorite song.  These are the things that make your relationship special but the same as everyone else's.  I'm sure I don't have the only wife in the world who gets tired of red roses.  She wants variety, so as soon as she says "you know, I wouldn't mind other colors too" you can connect to this song as being special.  Add your wife's decision to drink coffee on a weekend without putting on make-up and you can almost tie it all together.  See when I hear this song, all those moments that this song writes about come to my mind and even if I need to reach to tie meaning together like "I drove you down the boulevard" and it's obviously he's talking about our first date when, after going out to eat, I drove us down "Kirby Puckett Boulevard" on the day it was re-named or the fact that he wrote "What you doin' with a guy like me?...I don't deserve to have a girl as beautiful as you" and I smile cause he is so right.

So men, if you Truly, Madly, and Deeply love your wife; take this moment to tell her about that special something that is Beautiful to You.(Song of Songs1:15)  She'd appreciate knowing what it is that she did, the other day.