I believe Emerson Eggerich hit the nail on the head with this post. It’s so much easier to read than to live it, but life goes better when I remember this.
http://emersonandsarah.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-response-is-my-responsibility.html
My Response Is My Responsiblity (Emerson Eggerichs)
Posted in Communication, Marriage
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Long Term Consequences of Divorce
Especially if a couple has children when they divorce there are a lot of long term consequences to divorce. I have observed the awkwardness and uneasiness of parents and children at such things as graduations, weddings, and funerals where there has been a divorce and now there are new partners involved. I was just at a funeral of a friend’s father. He is a child of divorce and his biological mother was not there at the funeral. He pointed out that “Divorce messes up a family even grieving a lost one together.”
If you are a person who is actively pursuing a divorce from your spouse, I plead with you to slow down and give all you have to saving your marriage and truly ponder the long term implications of your actions.
If you are a person whose spouse is actively trying to end your marriage, I plead with you to keep praying and keep trying, keep looking for answers and I encourage you that “All things are possible with God.”
I became even more inspired to keep trying even when things looked hopeless after I watched the video series at “Choosing Wisely Before You Divorce”. It did a great job of bringing home the reality of the long term consequences of divorce.
Kardashian Wedding and Divorce
Revelation 19:5-8:
Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Pastor John Piper helped me understand several years ago that marriages on earth, even those of non-believers, point to the ultimate wedding of Christ and his bride the Church.
So what does that have to do with the Kardashian wedding and divorce? If you happen to keep up with the news you know there are many cynics that say Kim only got married as a publicity stunt and to make money. On the other hand she has said she married with the dream of life long love. With the news media the way they are, it is hard to tell for sure what is the the truth. Whichever scenario is true I feel sad for Kim and her husband Kris.
If the truth is that it was all a publicity stunt it is very sad that they seem to have no clue as to what God intended for marriage, or the beauty of the ultimate marriage of Christ and his church. They truly don’t have a clue to what they may be missing.
If in their heart of hearts they married with the dream and goal of life long marriage, then it is sad that she gave up and filed for divorce after 72 days. It’s not like they didn’t have the money to travel wherever they needed to to get the most competent marital help in the world. 72 days isn’t very long to put all of your effort into a life long commitment.
Obviously Kim is very successful in the entertainment business. Quitting marriage after 72 days would be similar to her quitting the entertainment business after the first couple of bad reviews, rejection letters, etc. I hope both Kim and Chris eventually realize all that marriage can be and I dream they find it with each other.
Posted in Divorce, Marriage
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Lauren Scruggs Accident
We have featured Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs in this post https://stubbornpursuits.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/adultery-recovery-jeff-cheryl-scruggs/. Tragically, their daughter was injured badly by walking into the moving propeller of a small airplane on Saturday evening. I am posting this so people can pray for the Scruggs and their daughter Lauren.
You can follow Lauren’s progress at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/laurenscruggs.
Posted in Random
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The iHusband App – How NOT to Listen to Your Wife!
Most men have heard that wives long for their husbands to listen to them, but many husbands don’t see the importance or take the time. We believe it is important also for husbands to really learn to listen to their wives and we teach skills to help them do a great job at listening. However, if there are husbands out there who just want a cheap shortcut to listening to their wives, then they need this phone app.
If you are a husband and try to use this to convince your wife that you really care – don’t call us whining when she leaves or kicks you out!
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Top Ten Marriage Blog Nominations
Stu Gray has a wonderful compilation of marriage blogs that have been nominated for his Top Ten Marriage Blogs contest. This is a great place to find new marriage blogs to follow. I probably watch about a third of these on a regular basis and in just perusing the list quickly, it looks like there are some more good ones that I will start to follow.
To Russia with Love
Our home church, Fellowship Christian, has been ministering in Russia for 20 years. The ministry is done through an organization called Russians Reaching Russians.
Sharon has been to Russia four times in the past and I have been twice and we’ve met many of the leaders of RRR. This year was the 20th anniversary trip which included Russians and Americans celebrating 20 years of working together. We were honored to be asked to do marriage communication training for a group of pastors and a church congregation. What is so amazing is that just seven years ago we were still coming out of our marital crisis. Both workshops were very well received and it was very encouraging to see people hungry to learn more about how to communicate in their relationships.
One of our dreams when we reconciled was to go back to Russia to share our testimony of God’s grace in healing our marriage and to share some of the practical tools that have helped us so much to have a better marriage. It was so satisfying to see that dream come true.
This was the first time we had shared our testimony and the tools using an interpreter and that went very well although it took some practice. What comes through so strongly is that people the world over, no matter what the language or culture, have the same longings of the heart for better marriages and relationships.
Where Have We Been?
Our regular readers have probably noticed that we were blogging right along and then stopped. Don’t worry, no major crisis. We finally got started harvesting and from there moved right into fall manure handling.
Then we went to Russia with our church and did a couple of marriage trainings along with other ministry. When we got home, a day late because of flight problems, our son came home for the holidays and brought us his cold as we were recovering from jet lag. Our daughter got home for Thanksgiving and we had a great time as a family.
Then it was back to harvesting for a couple of days. Still not done yet because of rain, but thankfully have made progress. So hopefully now we are healthy enough, and alert enough, and have some time to get back to blogging. We appreciate those who follow us on a regular basis as well as our one-time readers. We hope that everyone who reads here gets one idea or inspiration on how to have a better marriage.
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That Voice
This post is worth sharing. Let it sink deeply into your mind and heart. To hope against all hope.
The Marriage Daily
I have found The Marriage Daily, an internet based newspaper, a helpful place to see lots of marriage articles all at once.
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