This is my hubby, Harold ! He and I will celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary this Fall ! Through the good times, the bad times, the sad times, the joyful times, we've weathered the storms that have assailed us ! Only by God's grace and learning how to forgive each other, to love unconditionally, and to center our lives in Jesus Christ ! To God goes the glory !
| Zondervan Daily Inspiration |
| Lighten Up if You Want to Live |
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  What makes people act in unloving ways toward those they once loved the most? Does a marriage license also provide a legal right to mistreat those closest to us, to treat each other and our children worse than any other person we know, or to micromanage changes only God is qualified to make? Marriage, to survive the satisfying yet challenging thing it is, must be playful and kind, or it cannot be healthy. It cannot remain sacred if it is not healthy, and it will surely not be full of the life you want and need if it does not remain playful. The lighthearted side of life, the part that gives us balance and makes us happy, like the children we are meant to become [if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven; this lighthearted side] must infuse our attitudes, our emotions, and our deepest life struggles. We have the power to destroy those we love. The trick is not to. In other words, quit acting like everything you say is a revelation from God.
Learn to appreciate the positive power of opposites and how beautiful your differences can be. This power, first and foremost, is love. By it we can create a life worth celebrating, and when we do, the joy of our hearts will provide for others a glimpse now and then of what heaven must be. Marriage is also mystery, and it is part of a larger mystery. Union emotionally, spiritually, physically, and intellectually with a soul who is a polar opposite is a reflection of the mysterious differences and unity we experience with God. In our failings, the differences between us are a wide chasm, yet with love these same differences become the source of great celebration and fulfillment in life. To betray the joyful fountain that sustains you is to destroy part of yourself...
You and those you love are the main characters in the story of your life. Whether yours is a story worth telling depends on how you live it, on how well you love each other.
-Bond of Brothers: Connecting with Other Men Beyond Work, Weather, and Sports by Wes Yoder
Q: What can "becoming like a child" look like when Jesus says, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). Join the discussion on Facebook
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