Its the Relationship, Stupid

This year my wife and I have been together 21 years. Sometimes it seems like yesterday, others, forever. We have lived through the earthquakes and joys that bring a couple closer together and rip them apart. We have been on the ragged edge of split up many times and we have shared the amazing moments of joy that combine you so hard into one person, we might as well be a confluence of beings. These are my perceptions.

 Marriage is awesome! Sharing your life with the one you love is one of the greatest things in the universe. You share: God, sunshine, a home, love, children, puppy dogs, rainbows, long trips into the unknown, the purist sex, laughter, joy, family, and hilarity. 

Feel free to add your own.

Marriage is hard work: storms, long work hours, tension, stress, stupidity, anger, resentment, dry spells,bile, death, accidents, judgement, fear, jealousy, nagging, being an ass, and broken dishes, again, feel free to add your own.

Your spouse is capable of being Superman, or Mother Theresa,  Tasmanian Devil, or Oj Simpson, sometimes, a combination. My wife and I fight as passionately as we love.

When God is our focal point the fighting is a lot less.

What about you?

Larry

The Dry Place

Life is amazing, and so hard to figure out at times.
Grace is a mystery and hard to accept.

The last two years or so have been so interestingly hard. Like driving on a road in the desert and occasionally stopping at a rest area in an oasis. Its a nice break but once you have visited the bathroom and seen what the vending machines have to offer, it is time to move on to finish your journey.

When Lisa and I took the plunge and moved to East Texas so I could go to school, we had no Idea what was in store for us.

The desert can be beautiful for its scenery but hey, people get heatstroke.

Times have been hard, and I'm not talking about the current "economic crisis". It is difficult to make a living, raise a family, and take 16 hours full time at school. We have been in survival mode, and when you are in survival mode in the desert the only thing you worry about is getting to the next water hole.

However, God has been using this time to prune us. To strip off the things that weigh us down so we can run the race faster and with more endurance. And as a former pastor of mine once said, pruning hurts.

Lately things have been changing. We are now living on campus in a married student apartment. Rent is so cheap with all bills paid. I scaled back a bit on my hours at school, and I'm not having to work so much. God has clicked everthing into place like a budding engineer makes a Lincoln Log House.

I've been looking over my shoulder so long that its kind of freaking me out.

But thats a good thing

O' God you are my God,

Earnestly I seek you;

My soul thirsts for you,

my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.

Psalm 63-V1

It makes the rest stop so much sweeter.

Larry