10 Years

If you have ever been one of those people that have wondered if things could ever change with time then I'm here to tell you that so much can happen in a time that seems so short! Sharing my life with my wife has changed me forever. These are some of my reflections.

Today is the day that my beautiful wife and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage. We compiled of list of "accomplishments" that we've had in that time and it was pretty wild. We didn't only go over the good but we also reflected on how we have overcome much of the adversity to success that life has tried to throw at us, but you can't keep a good thing down!

Even throughout the bad times it's easy to take what we have for granted. I think that's one of the biggest temptations in marriage is to just accept that what you have is what you were given and that's just how life is. But the challenge in marriage and any relationship that you truly honour is that you have to not accept mediocre as ok but to really strive for better, whatever that better might look at the time.

There have been times in our marriage that better wouldn't take too much. There have been times that throwing in the towel would have been the easier thing to do. And then there have been times that better was unimaginable. What could be better than this? And so we enjoy those moments and soak it all in. But no matter what life has given us through our own choices or sometimes just our circumstances we have remembered our vows to one another to stick it all out, together!

That means being honest when it's hard. That means showing love when you don't feel it. That means talking it out when you'd rather just head out the door. That means having oatmeal for breakfast every morning because it was the cheapest thing to fill your stomach. I still hate oatmeal! It means day in and day out remembering that you chose to commit to each other. We have not always shared the feelings of love over the past 10 years but have always shared the choice of love and that has trumped the day.

I'm thankful beyond words of the many people that have shown us that marriage can last the test of time and many couples have given us standards that we strive for. My parents and my grandparents are two examples that are close to me but there have been many others. So to those of you who have been an example to me thank you!

We often wonder what life will be like on our 20th anniversary. And although many things will have changed I hope that there is two constants.

1. That what God has unified that no one will be able to break that apart!
2. That we will be able to look back and reflect of the many times that we chose to love rather than to walk and that we will always strive to enjoy the moment but never settle for second best.

Still to this day we have our vows framed and hanging in our room. I haven't looked at them for a while but from time to time over the past 10 years I have stopped by those framed words and reminded myself of the promise I made on that day, April 27, 2002. I have wept over those words because sometimes they seem too hard.

Thank you God that you have given me strength beyond compare and that we can truly celebrate how you have shaped our relationship into a beautiful dance that will carry on!

To my wife, I love you still. I love you more. I love you forever! Thank you for never giving up on us, on me!

Sexualization of Women

How is it that some guy puts on a suit, gets his voice remixed with thousands of dollars of equipment, thinks he's all that because he gets to choose his woman for the night and has money that most people only dream of can talk about women for one thing and one things only? If I had that would I talk about women like that too? Would I get tarnished and love the luxury of free flowing sex, fame and all that often goes with it?


Thank you to Chris Brown and Pitbull for their song International Love that comes on the radio far too often. Yeah I usually flip through the radio when in the car and sometimes get caught listening to this crap. It's obviously popular or else it wouldn't be played and yes it has a catchy beat but listen the the crap that is coming out from the mic. I thought that women were fighting for a better reputation than that of a creature used for sex but so often I get the other message. Our world is so sexualized and it does nothing but tears people apart both the ones who see women as objects and the women that allow themselves to be seen as objects and toys used for pleasure. It is killing most societies in different ways all over the world. It leads to the epidemic of pornography, prostitution, strip clubs and abuse with men who want to be pleasured how they want and when they want. It's one thing that leads to another that leads to another.

I heard a sad story of a man not so long ago that was a father, a husband and a well respected man in his church and community who started to get hooked on porn but after a while that wasn't enough. Over a process of events he ended up hiring a prostitute to fulfill his urges but believe me when I say that a few years earlier I'm sure that had never crossed his mind as something he would have even dreamed of.

But it's from crap like this song, like all the American Pie movies, like everything MTV puts on it's screen, like the stupid ads of the side bar that are advertising simple everyday necessities but get people to click the ad because it has a beautiful woman on it.

I have been caught up in lots of this myself to different levels and at different times. I meet with a group every week to hold ourselves accountable for the ways in which we've viewed women and how we can be counter cultural and not get trapped. There are computer programs to help as well and the one we've chosen to use is called www.xxxchurch.com. They have a lot of great material that can help people with their addiction but people seldom if ever get over these things by themselves so find a group that can support you.

To all the women in my life, some who have allowed themselves to be sexualized and the others that have been effected less so, I pray that you will know your worth and your beauty that goes far beyond what is seen in the mirror. Esther is a great example of someone who must have obviously been beautiful to be chosen by the king to be his wife but she didn't lean on her looks to get her through an easy life but stood up for something so much more. My friend Tara Teng has won pageants that don't focus on beauty but I'm sure it's reflected somehow and yet she puts her looks aside and is fighting the global fight against human trafficking and human slavery. I have many friends who will never make the cover of a magazine that have hearts of gold and change the people around them to find hope, love and meaning far beyond what Hollywood, MTV or Chris Brown could ever promise.

To the woman that I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with in faithfulness and out of choice I pray that you would know your beauty beyond the numbers of a scale and beyond your facial complexion and beyond the multitude of comparisons around you but because you were made 'very good' our of a God that loves you uncontrollably and unconditionally. Because you have a husband that is madly in love with you for the ways in which you are a great mother and for someone with the persistence to get through all that life has handed you and that you still fight for more. I love you more and more...

I hope Chris Browns lyrics, and the like, get blocked out from your life. I hope that the words of a loving God would ring in your ears that say, "I have come to give you life and have it to the full."

Words You Think You'd Be Happy To Hear

"You don't have cancer." 

I heard those words from my doctor about a month ago. 

Of course I don't have cancer! 

I take decent care of my body.

There isn't much history in my family. 

And by the way, it should stand for something that I'm a pretty good person! 

Doesn't that count for something? 

What?

You thought I might have had cancer?

Or are you just reassuring me in case I thought of it? 

But I never did until you uttered those words.

Now I've thought about it. 

To those who have heard the other side of these words I can't imagine your story.
I'm sorry...

 It can happen to anyone. 

It has happened to many who don't "deserve" it.
It has happened to a few that I know that never deserved it, but it happened.
Karma is bunk!

And I didn't even hear the words that I have "it".
Just imagine the wreck I'd be if I were on the other end.

Life isn't fair.
And for that I am often grateful
Because if life was fair then I deserve a life of separation
from my God who can have nothing to do with transgression.
Thank God He is not fair but that He is just.
For then I can be justified so that I can have that which is not fair.

And so I can live with whatever this life gives me
With unending peace and joy
Even through heartache.

But Karma still seems nice at times.

Comments

My main purpose for this blog is for personal reflection and if you read it then I pray that it might resonate with you but if you read this regularly I'd love to interact with you. So if you really like something then please comment on it. If you disagree then let me know what's up. If you would like to have me write about something specific then let me know. And if you just like spectating then tell me that too.

Thanks for tuning in!

Russ

All Things New

OK, so it's been a while since I've blogged but through the business and the lack of need to really regurgitate and process anything that I was thinking I didn't want to write something just to write. Whenever I open my mouth and whenever I process on here I want it to be of value driven by the Spirit of God himself working in and through my being that He says that has unlimited purpose and potential as I accept Him.

Thanks you Jesus! You have everything that I am right now! I pray that I can say that in the next moments of my life with better consistency. Thank you for not ignoring my sin but for taking it head on and overpowering its darkness with your light. Let me accept your light. My life is a thanksgiving offering to you. And only you!

I ran across a song that I've been looping on my computer and listen to as I write this. Here it is for you to look at. It's an old story put into a new song and the truth in it continues to blow me away that Christ Jesus was sent to make all things new!

2 Corinthians 5:17-20
¹⁷ If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 

Here is a comment from the YouTube sight that resonates with myself and a lot of other. It reads:

I can almost hear Jesus just screaming: "I have made you NEW! You are PERFECT in My eyes! I have accepted YOU! You are WANTED! You are LOVED! You are MINE! You are PRECIOUS! You are BEAUTIFUL! There is NOTHING you could ever do to make me stop loving YOU!"

In a society that has recognized that meaning can't be found in riches, the economy, security, sex, escape, indulgence, relationships, stuff, fame and all the like Jesus offers us ACCEPTANCE with no strings attached. Jesus says, "All you who are heavy with burden come to me and I will give you rest." Ahhh, rest. Jesus says, "Don't worry about what you will eat, drink or wear. If I can take care of the birds I'll take care of you." Ahhh, not to worry. Jesus says, "I have not come to condemn you but to give you life so that you can have it to the full." Ahhh, life. I could go for each one of those. Rest. No Worries. Life. Out of this offer that I have accepted then I live my life out of thankfulness. I do nothing out of having to do it! I do it because I am so thankful of what God has done for me.

So THANK YOU! Out of my choice and my free will I give my life as a bond slave to you, Jesus Christ, and all that you stand for. Let it be know.

If you would like to know the background of the song above then clink it! May you find the new life that God is offering to you. If you don't know what it is then ask.

"Peace be with you. My peace I give to you."