Get a Room

Tonight our study of the Six Essentials of a Healthy Marriage focuses on essential #3:

Nurture Romance

Then we’ll be half way through the six. Selma and I are excited because we’ve never really taught on this subject per say. It has been our focus at Romance & Roses many times but never in a formal teaching session.

I look forward to what we have to say!

Join us at 6:30PM in the auditorium at the LifePoint Smyrna campus as we look at the need to – not be what everyone else tells you is romantic – but to find out what YOUR MATE feels is romantic and go after that!

Future sessions will include

– Celebrate Sex

– Treasure Trust

– Cultivate Communication

In coming posts …

* a reading update

*marriage enrichment last weekend in Atlanta with Team Bangkok!

See you tonight.

A strong turnout for our entire Wednesday night offerings last week. A great start for the 6-week term. Eddie Mosley, our Group Life guy at LifePoint, is impressed and excited. Thanks for your positive comments on our first session of Hurry Home. For a Wednesday night, the energy in the auditorium was  quite high.

Now let’s look at this week. Wednesday, April 14, we will look at Include God. This will highlight the spiritual intimacy side of marriage. Note that we are not digressing from marriage enrichment. Rather, your spiritual life is an essential of a healthy marriage. It will never be what it can be without including the Lord in your everyday life together. Selma and I will cover how to share where you are spiritually with each other, especially if you’ve never “gone there” before. Your marriage has opportunity to go to another whole new level of intimacy when you include God.

Finally, if you missed last week, don’t worry. You can jump in at any time as these essentials are not necessarily built on each other. They stand alone and you can learn from the ones you attend. We want you there every time of course, but come when you can. You are welcome for sure!

Tomorrow night, April 7, Selma and I are beginning a series we are calling “The Six Essentials of a Healthy Marriage.” Each of the six sessions will begin on Wednesday at 6:30PM and will go about an hour in the auditorium of LifePoint Church, Smyrna campus.

The sessions will actually be a review of the essentials we have covered through several marriage events over the last 2-3 years. Here is where we are beginning.

April 7 — Hurry Home

Others are listed below. Note that they are not in any particular order at this time. I will keep you posted on this blog each week as to what is coming up. Here are the other five essentials:

* Include God

* Cultivate Communication

* Celebrate Sex

* Nurture Romance

* Treasure Trust

We sure hope to see you there.

Every marriage needs a boost once in a while. Is this your time?

I know it’s Monday but here are a couple of thoughts I came across on the subject of marriage. They are both from Mike Mason’s book, The Mystery of Marriage.

Consider:

“Marriage is not the joining of two worlds, but an abandoning of two worlds in order that one new one might be formed.”

“In marriage a man is given the opportunity of seeing one woman, one person, as he has never seen any other woman or person before. Marriage not only affords us as deep a glimpse into the heart and soul of another being as we shall ever have, but it cannot survive without deliberately striving to preserve the spontaneity and freshness of this insight. And how we long for such freshness! There is a giddy taste of it in the experience of falling in love, but only a loving marriage offers the long, deep, steady draught of it which, perhaps without even knowing it, we crave.”

Pretty heady stuff for a Monday. Feel free to return and read it on Tuesday. Maybe it will digest better then.

However, these thoughts, deep as they are, offer up the strong argument that commitment – in the context of marriage – contains the key to the quality and depth of intimacy we desire in our lives. The Lord is of course the giver of every good gift. The above statements simply remind us what His gift of marriage offers.

Good stuff, this book called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Don’t stop reading this because of what I am going to say, but I’ve never read a Donald Miller book before. I will read more however, starting with Blue Like Jazz.

Miller’s book (A Million Miles) is one of those that carries story within story within story In fact, “story” is what the book is all about. Finding yours. Would have been a good mid-life crisis book for me (if I could remember that far back!) but its big picture view of life and living would apply at any stage you are in. Several inspirational vignettes provide encouragement. His words caused me to reflect on my own ambitions: which ones are selfish and which are noble.

Miller is honest and quite transparent in this offering. If you are looking for an opportunity for introspection as well as motivation, this would work well.

Have you read Blue Like Jazz? Tell me about it.

David and Jennifer have been married 4 years on March 25. two days ago. They have never celebrated a wedding anniversary in the USA.

David is our student pastor at LifePoint. He and Jen have taken a group of students to Brasil each of the last four years on spring break, on which March 25 always falls. This year, they ‘celebrated’ with David’s mother-in-law. That would be my wife, Selma, as she was one of the adult leaders who went.

So proud of their experiences as I’ve kept up with them through several blogs. (Selma’s even called a couple of times. By the end of next year we ought to have those two calls paid for!) If you want, you can take a quick look and even see a few pics of what they’ve experienced. Please pray for their safe arrival home as they travel overnight TONIGHT.

Here is David’s blog. In one of his postings David has a link to Alan’s blog as well. Alan is one of the great leaders on the team.

davidmccaman.org

Let’s see, by the time Selma and I had our 4th wedding anniversary, I think I was taking her to Sonic …

Here is an article from jolly ole London town. Short article (as most web ones are) and it contains some British politics. Yet it also has some strong quotes on the benefits of a lasting marital relationship. Enjoy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7064642.ece

We all need to feed ourselves with the positive concepts of marriage from time to time. The good Lord knows there is enough that tears at its fabric every day. So stop and celebrate with me for a moment.

Here are some new books I’ve gotten on Kindle lately. It’s a whole new list of readings for the spring. Will let you know which ones, if any of them are any good. (I think they will be!)

* Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years – This one is “homework” from my wife. She just read it for her work and wants to discuss it w/ me upon her return from the Student Brazil trip she is on. I’ve only got till next Sunday – read fast! I’ll say this, it has opened well.

* Michael Leahy, Porn Nation: Conquering America’s #1 Addiction – This one I just saw at Barnes and Noble, went home and downloaded it. Promising.

* Rushell and DuArt, Couples Who Pray – See recent blog posting on this one.

* Leslie Leyland Fields, Parenting Is Your Highest Calling and 8 Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt – Recommended by my daughter, Jen, (also in Brazil)   who discovered it on while assignment for HomeLife magazine.

That ought to keep me busy for a few days! Please let me know what you are currently reading. Hopefully you are reading and learning as you have time. Well, reading as you have time. You can learn whatever you are doing, as you go through life.

And may you do just that.

I just downloaded a new book on my Kindle.  I’ll let you know if it’s any good but it sure does have promise.

First some background.

One of the most resourceful couples I know in this marriage ministry area is that of Bob and Yvonne Turnbull. I got on their email list years ago and it’s simply a super marriage enrichment site. They always have new websites they are recommending.

Here is one site they mentioned that I am looking at. It contains the book I have just begun reading. It’s called Couples Who Pray. The book goes by the same name. You can check it out on their website or on amazon.com.

Like I said, it’s got potential. I’ll keep you posted.

Pat Hood’s message Sunday was special in that it contained several what could come to be cliches. The words he shared were simply memorable phrases, easily applicable to where we are today. A trademark for Pat’s messages: relevance.  He spoke from Luke 6. (We are going through the entire book of Luke this year and it is already an amazing adventure.) Here are a few thoughts from yesterday from Luke 6:

* v. 39 The bind can’t lead the blind. (I didn’t say they were all original!)

*v. 40 You cannot lead someone beyond where you are. He has said that to our staff for years. Each time I hear it I find myself studying more into marriage and family issues, to be able to lead our marriage planning team and couples at LifePoint into more growth.

* v. 41f  Concerning the speck of dust in your brother’s eye: someone overwhelmed with their own righteousness cannot help someone overwhelmed with their own sin. WOW!

* v. 43f  What you put inside you will overflow. You will bear the fruit that is inside you. “For our of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

God, help me to put godly things of You inside me, for I want to help people with godly advice and not junk. I know I am capable of giving them either.

1) Won’t you join me in this same prayer that we can be effectively used by Him today?

2) If you are in the area, don’t miss the services @ LifePoint. Or if you have a computer (tee-hee), catch each message online @ LifePoint Church. The worship is incredible and the messages truly rich and sooo applicable to our lives today.

Have a great week!