I quickly want to share my good news on this blog. With marriage, some couples choose to grow their family while others choose not to. Well, I just want to say that my wife and I will be growing our family by one. Sometime next summer, a new blessing will be added to the Wells' household.
I anticipate the next 7 or 8 months being another interesting journey. I know there is a lot to be learned during this process...as it was during the other pregnancy 4 years ago. I look forward to whatever comes...especially the daily husband to-do-list :(
That's all. Just wanted to share my news.
Take care and talk to you soon.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Touch Me, Speak To Me....Only in Love
A week or so ago I received some very disturbing news. One of my former co-workers committed suicide. When I heard the news, my mind immediately raced to figure out why this beautiful young lady would take her life. My memories of her only include her smiles and that she was extremely active and spirited. I could not think of anything that would give her an inkling of taking her life. I was then told that her parents requested that no gifts or flowers be sent on her behalf, but they did have a request for donations. Her parents requested that donations be sent to a shelter for battered women. Yeah, I couldn't believe either. That was the last thing that would have cross my mind...and it still didn't.
Simply put, as a married couple, neither the husband nor wife should ever put his or her hands (or any object) on the other in anger. Why would you have to? We should all have enough self control to refrain from such behavior. We should have enough sense to walk away from the situation if needed. It's not about being "The Man" or being "Miss Independent Woman"...it's about being a man and woman of God.
Now you may be saying that women don't do anything to abuse men; and I guess that may be true most of the time with physical abuse. However, there are other types of abuse that women may be the culprit of...along with men. The Mouth/Tongue. The Bible says in James 3:5 "So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do". Verbal abuse can occur so often in a marriage until it becomes a normal habit within a marriage. Slowly, it can chip away at your marriage until you open your eyes one day and there is a huge open crater in your marriage.
In all that we do in our marriage, strive to be God-like as much as humanly possible. I know this is an impossible task, but if we continue to attempt this task, it will become habitual. Once that sets in, then it becomes a part of your everyday life to touch and speak to your spouse only in love. Any other way is not of God.
Let me know your thoughts.
Take care and be blessed.
Help someone, encourage someone, pray for someone, pray with someone
Simply put, as a married couple, neither the husband nor wife should ever put his or her hands (or any object) on the other in anger. Why would you have to? We should all have enough self control to refrain from such behavior. We should have enough sense to walk away from the situation if needed. It's not about being "The Man" or being "Miss Independent Woman"...it's about being a man and woman of God.
Now you may be saying that women don't do anything to abuse men; and I guess that may be true most of the time with physical abuse. However, there are other types of abuse that women may be the culprit of...along with men. The Mouth/Tongue. The Bible says in James 3:5 "So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do". Verbal abuse can occur so often in a marriage until it becomes a normal habit within a marriage. Slowly, it can chip away at your marriage until you open your eyes one day and there is a huge open crater in your marriage.
In all that we do in our marriage, strive to be God-like as much as humanly possible. I know this is an impossible task, but if we continue to attempt this task, it will become habitual. Once that sets in, then it becomes a part of your everyday life to touch and speak to your spouse only in love. Any other way is not of God.
Let me know your thoughts.
Take care and be blessed.
Help someone, encourage someone, pray for someone, pray with someone
Thursday, September 18, 2008
In Agreement...Prayer...Confirmed!!!
Matthew 18:19 says...If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.
In my last blog I spoke about how my wife and I came into agreement on a situation we were encountering and we both were sure that we would not get the outcome we asked God for. Well as that verse says...if two of you agree and ask God, He will do it for you. Well, He did it for us and He did it when we, earthly vessels, had every doubt that we would not get the outcome we wanted. I learned a huge lesson...don't doubt what God can do. Something that may take man months or years to accomplish, God can accomplish in days or even minutes.
Now I do believe that if my wife and I had not come into full agreement on what we wanted, we would still be sitting in the same situation as before...we would still be pulling in opposite directions, and who knows what would happen.
I am so amazed at what God just did for us and what He is continuing to do to us. Let me share the situation with you. Please bear with me and I will keep it short...
We've had our house on the market for a year and on our way out of town the weekend before last, we got an offer for the house and the potential buyer wanted to close in 2 weeks. We accepted the offer and requested that the closing be pushed out 1 more week...so we would close in 3 weeks. Well, there was one problem now...we, family of 4, needed a place to live in 3 weeks. Now, one would think that we could get an apartment for 6 months or a year (my wife's suggestion). Well, an apartment would not work for me because I am an artist and I need extra space to continue doing my work...just not enough room in an apartment. My suggestion was that we find a home to rent. As you can see, my wife and I at this point are looking in opposite directions; and we only have 3 weeks to find a place to live. That's where this story picks up in my previous blog where God laid it upon my heart that my wife and I needed to be in agreement on this and then we come to Him in prayer and ask Him for what we need. We agreed in the car on the way back home that we wanted to find a home to purchase. We had specifics on what we needed in and around this new home...neighborhood, number of rooms, yard space, and a few other things. It is what I considered an impossible mission. All I could tell my wife was...now that we are in agreement, let's go to God in agreement and ask Him to help us with this situation and then let Him do his thing. Well skip ahead 1 week and skip over the 10 or 11 homes we went out and looked at, we rolled into a very nice neighborhood and walked in a house that had everything we needed. That night, we faxed an offer in that was under the asking price and well under what the home was originally priced at. The following day, the seller accepted the offer. Now here I am thinking that there was no way we would be able to find a house to purchase within 3 weeks, and God presented this house to us in 7 days. That's how God works. He makes the impossible possible.
That's the blessing that I wanted to share and I hope to have my family in our new house within 2 weeks (prayerfully everything will go smoothly leading up to the closing).
I now realize and fully understand Matthew 18:19 and can testify on what it says. I am anxious and anticipating going to God in agreement with my wife on all aspects of our life and allow Him to move in our marriage, family, work, finances, ministry, and everything else. I strongly encourage you to come in agreement with your spouse in any area that you need God's favor and direction. Go to Him in unified prayer and let Him do His thing.
Let me know your thoughts.
Take care and be blessed.
In my last blog I spoke about how my wife and I came into agreement on a situation we were encountering and we both were sure that we would not get the outcome we asked God for. Well as that verse says...if two of you agree and ask God, He will do it for you. Well, He did it for us and He did it when we, earthly vessels, had every doubt that we would not get the outcome we wanted. I learned a huge lesson...don't doubt what God can do. Something that may take man months or years to accomplish, God can accomplish in days or even minutes.
Now I do believe that if my wife and I had not come into full agreement on what we wanted, we would still be sitting in the same situation as before...we would still be pulling in opposite directions, and who knows what would happen.
I am so amazed at what God just did for us and what He is continuing to do to us. Let me share the situation with you. Please bear with me and I will keep it short...
We've had our house on the market for a year and on our way out of town the weekend before last, we got an offer for the house and the potential buyer wanted to close in 2 weeks. We accepted the offer and requested that the closing be pushed out 1 more week...so we would close in 3 weeks. Well, there was one problem now...we, family of 4, needed a place to live in 3 weeks. Now, one would think that we could get an apartment for 6 months or a year (my wife's suggestion). Well, an apartment would not work for me because I am an artist and I need extra space to continue doing my work...just not enough room in an apartment. My suggestion was that we find a home to rent. As you can see, my wife and I at this point are looking in opposite directions; and we only have 3 weeks to find a place to live. That's where this story picks up in my previous blog where God laid it upon my heart that my wife and I needed to be in agreement on this and then we come to Him in prayer and ask Him for what we need. We agreed in the car on the way back home that we wanted to find a home to purchase. We had specifics on what we needed in and around this new home...neighborhood, number of rooms, yard space, and a few other things. It is what I considered an impossible mission. All I could tell my wife was...now that we are in agreement, let's go to God in agreement and ask Him to help us with this situation and then let Him do his thing. Well skip ahead 1 week and skip over the 10 or 11 homes we went out and looked at, we rolled into a very nice neighborhood and walked in a house that had everything we needed. That night, we faxed an offer in that was under the asking price and well under what the home was originally priced at. The following day, the seller accepted the offer. Now here I am thinking that there was no way we would be able to find a house to purchase within 3 weeks, and God presented this house to us in 7 days. That's how God works. He makes the impossible possible.
That's the blessing that I wanted to share and I hope to have my family in our new house within 2 weeks (prayerfully everything will go smoothly leading up to the closing).
I now realize and fully understand Matthew 18:19 and can testify on what it says. I am anxious and anticipating going to God in agreement with my wife on all aspects of our life and allow Him to move in our marriage, family, work, finances, ministry, and everything else. I strongly encourage you to come in agreement with your spouse in any area that you need God's favor and direction. Go to Him in unified prayer and let Him do His thing.
Let me know your thoughts.
Take care and be blessed.
Monday, September 8, 2008
In Agreement...Prayer
In my last blog, I spoke about becoming a better spouse. One activity stated in the blog to do is "pray with your spouse". I want to touch on this activity for a few lines.
As we (wife, son, and myself) were driving back to Atlanta from an out of town trip, I had an opportunity to do some thinking and meditating (wife and son were sleep) on everything that we have going through in our current lives. As I pondered an important decision that would have to be made within the next few days, I realized that prayer would be needed to help us make it through this decision process. While I consistently pray for guidance and direction from God, I realized that this was something that my wife and I needed to pray about together. At this point, something hit me in regards to my individual prayers and my wife's individual prayers on the situation ...are we in agreement on what we want the outcome of our situation to be? As I thought about this, my spiritual eyes and mind began to open and I realized that my wife and I need to be in agreement with all of our prayers, both individually and collectively.
The biblical verse Matthew 18:19 speaks directly on this principle. It states...If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. I realized that I needed to talk to my wife about this situation and find out exactly what she expects to happen at the end of the day, and I needed to tell her what I expect to happen when all is said and done. After that, we would need to agree on an outcome that we wanted and expected. Once we agreed, we could then go to God together in agreement and ask for His wisdom, guidance, and favor on our situation.
When my wife woke up, I proceeded to ask her questions on what she thought about things and what she wanted and expected from the situation at hand. I then gave my thoughts and we then agreed on what we wanted out of the situation. Later that night, it was extremely easy and comforting to hold my wife's hands and go to God in prayer expressing to Him our concerns and needs. This is something we rarely do, especially to this extent...being in full agreement and praying together. It was a true lesson learned on praying with my wife...which is to make sure I have completed the prerequisite of being in agreement with my spouse.
I strongly suggest that if you and your spouse are going through any hardships, whether it be relational, spiritual, physical, or financial; take the time to come in agreement with each other on the outcome that you want and expect. Once in agreement, pray to God about it and then let Him do His work.
As always, let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
As we (wife, son, and myself) were driving back to Atlanta from an out of town trip, I had an opportunity to do some thinking and meditating (wife and son were sleep) on everything that we have going through in our current lives. As I pondered an important decision that would have to be made within the next few days, I realized that prayer would be needed to help us make it through this decision process. While I consistently pray for guidance and direction from God, I realized that this was something that my wife and I needed to pray about together. At this point, something hit me in regards to my individual prayers and my wife's individual prayers on the situation ...are we in agreement on what we want the outcome of our situation to be? As I thought about this, my spiritual eyes and mind began to open and I realized that my wife and I need to be in agreement with all of our prayers, both individually and collectively.
The biblical verse Matthew 18:19 speaks directly on this principle. It states...If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. I realized that I needed to talk to my wife about this situation and find out exactly what she expects to happen at the end of the day, and I needed to tell her what I expect to happen when all is said and done. After that, we would need to agree on an outcome that we wanted and expected. Once we agreed, we could then go to God together in agreement and ask for His wisdom, guidance, and favor on our situation.
When my wife woke up, I proceeded to ask her questions on what she thought about things and what she wanted and expected from the situation at hand. I then gave my thoughts and we then agreed on what we wanted out of the situation. Later that night, it was extremely easy and comforting to hold my wife's hands and go to God in prayer expressing to Him our concerns and needs. This is something we rarely do, especially to this extent...being in full agreement and praying together. It was a true lesson learned on praying with my wife...which is to make sure I have completed the prerequisite of being in agreement with my spouse.
I strongly suggest that if you and your spouse are going through any hardships, whether it be relational, spiritual, physical, or financial; take the time to come in agreement with each other on the outcome that you want and expect. Once in agreement, pray to God about it and then let Him do His work.
As always, let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Learn How to Be a Better Spouse
Do you think you know all there is to know about being a great husband or being a great wife? If so, please sit down and write out that manual and sell the first copy to me. I don’t think there is anyone living that can rightfully say that they know everything there is to know on being a great spouse. With that being said, every couple in a marriage should be permanently enrolled in the school of marriage. Simply put, couples must strive to learn how to be a better spouse. I would guess that this learning process continues until you leave this earth.
How do you learn to be a better spouse? Well, I can give you my thoughts on that question…and please know that these items are ideas that I follow or that I am trying to follow in becoming a better spouse.
1. Pray. (a) Pray for answers to the many questions that come up in your marriage. Pray for understanding of what marriage is and what marriage is for. Pray for the purpose of your marriage. Pray for increased wisdom within your marriage. Pray for improvements within yourself before praying for improvements within your spouse. Pray for any and everything that you can think of that will improve your marriage. An open relationship with God will allow Him to reveal many of the answers that you will need to improve your marriage and become a better spouse to your significant other. (b) Pray with your spouse. This may be one of the most intimate activities you can have with your spouse. Praying with your spouse may also be one of the most challenging for some…especially if you don’t have a solid personal prayer life established. If you are not completely comfortable with this, make it an extremely short prayer. Take your spouse by the hands and quickly say “Thank you Lord for my spouse and my marriage!” Leave it at that and then make it longer next time.
2. Learn from daily experiences. You and your spouse will go through something each day that may or may not challenge your marriage. It may be small or it may be something big. Regardless of the size of the event, you should make every effort to learn from the event to ensure that you handle the situation better the next time around.
3. Learn from other married couples’ experiences. If possible, it is great to learn from others’ experiences so that you can avoid going through a stressful situation. If you encounter a couple going through a negative period in their marriage, it would be wise to learn from their negative situation so that you don’t go through that same situation in the future. On the positive side, be sure to learn as much as you can from couples that have positive periods occurring in their marriages.
4. Read. While there is nothing better than on-the-job-training, there are many books, articles, and other media that offer very good advice on many marital subjects. One of the best books that give precise instructions on how to have a successful marriage is the Holy Bible. There are specific instructions on how a husband should treat his wife and instructions on how a wife should treat her husband. This book is filled with many accounts of marriages that you can read about and learn from. Additionally, there are other books written by today’s authors that give good insight on maintaining a healthy and loving marriage.
When you said “I DO”, a commitment was made to love your spouse forever. A commitment also should have been made to be the best spouse possible. How do engineers become great engineers?...how do doctors become great doctors?...they go to school to learn the skills to be a great engineer and doctor. When you get married, you become a spouse…something that you have never been before. What are you going to do to learn how to become a great spouse? GO TO SCHOOL!
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
How do you learn to be a better spouse? Well, I can give you my thoughts on that question…and please know that these items are ideas that I follow or that I am trying to follow in becoming a better spouse.
1. Pray. (a) Pray for answers to the many questions that come up in your marriage. Pray for understanding of what marriage is and what marriage is for. Pray for the purpose of your marriage. Pray for increased wisdom within your marriage. Pray for improvements within yourself before praying for improvements within your spouse. Pray for any and everything that you can think of that will improve your marriage. An open relationship with God will allow Him to reveal many of the answers that you will need to improve your marriage and become a better spouse to your significant other. (b) Pray with your spouse. This may be one of the most intimate activities you can have with your spouse. Praying with your spouse may also be one of the most challenging for some…especially if you don’t have a solid personal prayer life established. If you are not completely comfortable with this, make it an extremely short prayer. Take your spouse by the hands and quickly say “Thank you Lord for my spouse and my marriage!” Leave it at that and then make it longer next time.
2. Learn from daily experiences. You and your spouse will go through something each day that may or may not challenge your marriage. It may be small or it may be something big. Regardless of the size of the event, you should make every effort to learn from the event to ensure that you handle the situation better the next time around.
3. Learn from other married couples’ experiences. If possible, it is great to learn from others’ experiences so that you can avoid going through a stressful situation. If you encounter a couple going through a negative period in their marriage, it would be wise to learn from their negative situation so that you don’t go through that same situation in the future. On the positive side, be sure to learn as much as you can from couples that have positive periods occurring in their marriages.
4. Read. While there is nothing better than on-the-job-training, there are many books, articles, and other media that offer very good advice on many marital subjects. One of the best books that give precise instructions on how to have a successful marriage is the Holy Bible. There are specific instructions on how a husband should treat his wife and instructions on how a wife should treat her husband. This book is filled with many accounts of marriages that you can read about and learn from. Additionally, there are other books written by today’s authors that give good insight on maintaining a healthy and loving marriage.
When you said “I DO”, a commitment was made to love your spouse forever. A commitment also should have been made to be the best spouse possible. How do engineers become great engineers?...how do doctors become great doctors?...they go to school to learn the skills to be a great engineer and doctor. When you get married, you become a spouse…something that you have never been before. What are you going to do to learn how to become a great spouse? GO TO SCHOOL!
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
To The Wives...Be Noble - Part 2
In my last post, I spoke of several verses in the last chapter of Proverbs which outlines the character of a noble wife. I was asked to go deeper into my comment regarding verses 11 & 12 which states..."Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life".
Here are my thoughts on these verses. I asked my wife for her hand in marriage approximately 8 or 9 months after we started dating. Once married, there was a major challenge of now growing with each other...trusting each other. I think trust has different levels or can be sectioned in different categories...such as trust with feelings and emotions, trust with money, trust with hopes and dreams, etc. Within each category, the trust level may differ; nonetheless, there is trust there. If I trust my wife in all these categories, then I can have a clear path to enjoying my marriage without a bunch of distractions and concerns coming into the picture. When there is a lack of trust in an area, negative thoughts and feelings have the potential of entering into the mind and eventually the relationship. Once negativity is in the relationship, other areas can become affected which can slow down the growing and maturation of the marriage. Hopes and dreams of the marriage, as well as other areas, are now being hindered or delayed because the two are not on the same page. You may not communicate properly with each other concerning emotions, money, or even personal dreams and aspirations.
Now, having a wife that I can trust allows me to be expressive and be the best husband, father and provider I can be. A few personal examples of this in my marriage are:
1. Money - we had to cover 2 mortgage payments for one year that put a financial strain on our household and marriage. Thru this time period, our trust between each other grew tremendously regarding money and how it is utilized within our household. This experience gave me the assurance that I can trust my wife whole heartedly when it comes to money matters in our marriage. Trust me, having that peace of mind enriches my life a lot :)
2. Dreams, goals, and aspirations - I am in the process of starting a side business selling my artwork, as well as potentially publishing a book in the future. When I told my wife about my goals, she gave me her full support and told me to go for it. While her words were not many, they were meaningful. She did not question or hinder me in any way. Her words were only motivation. Her show of confidence in me gives me that extra push that I need sometimes to keep me striving towards my goal. Of course the potential benefits of the outcome is very attractive to her :)
Nonetheless, knowing that I can trust my wife with these areas in my life and our marriage makes things so much easier in daily life...it enhances life and marriage.
The best thing that a woman can do for a man (and I would say that this is one of the key things that a man wants from his wife) is "To make your man truly feel like a man". This will open up all doors in a marriage and you might be surprised what you get in return. I will leave it at that.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Here are my thoughts on these verses. I asked my wife for her hand in marriage approximately 8 or 9 months after we started dating. Once married, there was a major challenge of now growing with each other...trusting each other. I think trust has different levels or can be sectioned in different categories...such as trust with feelings and emotions, trust with money, trust with hopes and dreams, etc. Within each category, the trust level may differ; nonetheless, there is trust there. If I trust my wife in all these categories, then I can have a clear path to enjoying my marriage without a bunch of distractions and concerns coming into the picture. When there is a lack of trust in an area, negative thoughts and feelings have the potential of entering into the mind and eventually the relationship. Once negativity is in the relationship, other areas can become affected which can slow down the growing and maturation of the marriage. Hopes and dreams of the marriage, as well as other areas, are now being hindered or delayed because the two are not on the same page. You may not communicate properly with each other concerning emotions, money, or even personal dreams and aspirations.
Now, having a wife that I can trust allows me to be expressive and be the best husband, father and provider I can be. A few personal examples of this in my marriage are:
1. Money - we had to cover 2 mortgage payments for one year that put a financial strain on our household and marriage. Thru this time period, our trust between each other grew tremendously regarding money and how it is utilized within our household. This experience gave me the assurance that I can trust my wife whole heartedly when it comes to money matters in our marriage. Trust me, having that peace of mind enriches my life a lot :)
2. Dreams, goals, and aspirations - I am in the process of starting a side business selling my artwork, as well as potentially publishing a book in the future. When I told my wife about my goals, she gave me her full support and told me to go for it. While her words were not many, they were meaningful. She did not question or hinder me in any way. Her words were only motivation. Her show of confidence in me gives me that extra push that I need sometimes to keep me striving towards my goal. Of course the potential benefits of the outcome is very attractive to her :)
Nonetheless, knowing that I can trust my wife with these areas in my life and our marriage makes things so much easier in daily life...it enhances life and marriage.
The best thing that a woman can do for a man (and I would say that this is one of the key things that a man wants from his wife) is "To make your man truly feel like a man". This will open up all doors in a marriage and you might be surprised what you get in return. I will leave it at that.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Friday, March 14, 2008
To the Wives...be Noble
The Book of Proverbs is a book of the Bible that teaches us about wisdom and discipline. A month or so ago, my wife stated that she was going to read all of Proverbs and really work on understanding the content and she asked me to do the same. Being that I love reading the first few chapters of Proverbs, I have never read the entire book. So I took it on. Upon completing the book, I ran into some interesting scriptures that pinpoints the character of a noble wife. You can find these scriptures in the last chapter of Proverbs (Prov. 31:10-31). I read from the New Living Translation version.
Verse 10 starts off by saying that a wife is "worth more than precious rubies". Wives, you must realize your worth in a marriage; and husbands, you must recognize your wife's worth. I am sure we do recognize this, but we may not acknowledge this as often as we should. Now the next two verses (11 & 12) really caught my attention. It states..."Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life". What more can a husband ask for. For me, that just about sums up what I need and want from my wife...this encompasses every detail in a marriage. The remaining verses go on to give more insight into different aspects of a noble wife. Now of course, some verses appear to speak of actions of that time period; so I challenge you to see how your activities in today's time can relate to the activities mentioned in these verses.
Take a look at it (Proverbs 31:10-31) and let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Verse 10 starts off by saying that a wife is "worth more than precious rubies". Wives, you must realize your worth in a marriage; and husbands, you must recognize your wife's worth. I am sure we do recognize this, but we may not acknowledge this as often as we should. Now the next two verses (11 & 12) really caught my attention. It states..."Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life". What more can a husband ask for. For me, that just about sums up what I need and want from my wife...this encompasses every detail in a marriage. The remaining verses go on to give more insight into different aspects of a noble wife. Now of course, some verses appear to speak of actions of that time period; so I challenge you to see how your activities in today's time can relate to the activities mentioned in these verses.
Take a look at it (Proverbs 31:10-31) and let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Anniversary Celebrations
I just reached another milestone in my life. As of this past Thursday, 6 March 2008, my wife and I have been married for 4 years. I know you may say that it's only 4 years, but it is another year and that should be considered a milestone and a success. We should always look at each year of our marriage as a success, whether it be 2 years or 40 years of marriage. With so many divorces consistently taking place in our society, we need to celebrate each year so that we can look forward to the next year's celebration.
I have been trying to think of a way to celebrate anniversaries so that we all can show people that marriages do work and that marriage is a gift from God. The idea that I came up with to start this anniversary celebration movement is to have a picture slideshow on this blog site of married couples along with the number of years they have been married. I think that alone will serve as a little inspiration to keep things going...or at least I hope so. With that being said, I need you to send me a nice picture of you and your spouse and let me know how many years you have been married and your anniversary date. If you feel that is too much information, then just send me the picture and I will work to get it celebrated. Please send your pictures to cedricwells7@gmail.com .
Thanks in advance for the celebration.
Be blessed and talk to you soon
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Love Languages - Part Two (1 Mar 2008)
I want to continue my discussion of the five love languages. If you have not read the previous post which talks about the first two love languages, please do so to get an understanding of the need for knowing your spouse's love language as well as your own love language. Additionally, let me remind you that these 5 love languages are outlined in greater detail in the book "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. The remaining three love languages being covered are in bold:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch
Receiving Gifts
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch
Receiving Gifts
This is the love language that most men would think that their wives fall into. While that may be true for a lot of couples, that is not the case for all. I can honestly say that this is not my wife's primary love language; and I am very thankful because she has very expensive tastes. It is easy to think that this love language requires buying items for your spouse and that's it. It is more than that. If this is your spouse's love language, any present or gift given by you will be received as love. The gift is a physical or visual representation of love. Spending money is not a requirement...you can create your own gifts to give to your spouse. Now this requires thought on your part to determine what you can create or purchase (let's say under $20) that your spouse would truly appreciate. When my wife and I first started dating, she surprised me by sending flowers to my job...and this was withing the first 2 weeks of us dating. I was truly surprised and impressed. I wanted to do or give something to her to show my appreciation. I could have easily gone out and spent money on a gift, but instead, I took one of the flowers that was given to me and created a drawing of that flower, framed it, and presented it to her as a gift of appreciation. She loved it. Creativity plays a big role when fulfilling your spouse's need with this love language. Here is something else that can be done that does not require spending alot of money...go and buy 2 or 3 packs of your spouse's favorite snack or dessert and present it in a small gift bag along with a hand-written note expressing your love and appreciation. That should do it! Matter of fact, I need to do that one soon for my wife :) I hope you get the point I am trying to make with this love language. Now please understand that if this is not your spouse's love language, the gifts will be appreciated, but they will not fill the love bucket of your spouse. That can only be done by expressing the true love language of your spouse.
Acts of Service
To me, this is an interesting love language...especially within marriages. To put it as plainly as possible and as Janet Jackson sang years ago...."what have you done for me lately?". Let me run some things off to you: cooking, making the bed, washing dishes, washing clothes, washing the vehicles, vacuuming, mopping, folding clothes, cutting the grass, putting gas in the vehicles, grocery shopping, bathing the kids (infants and toddlers), putting kids to bed,....shall I go on...I hope you get the point. It's not hard to know what to do to fill your spouse's need if this is their primary love language. Now that you know it, you have to do it. 9 times out of 10, if this is your spouse's primary love language, he or she wants you to take care of things around the house. I know this to be the case from first hand experience...and I am being told that I am still not doing enough :) This love language may require the breaking down of stereotypes, especially when it comes to what the man should do and what the woman should do. Some husbands may feel that it is the wife's responsibility to take care of the household and that it is his responsibility to bring home the bacon and pay the bills. Outside of this mentality being that of a 1930-40-50's family...which is not the case today, this mentality must be thrown out if this is your spouse's love language (specifically if this is the wife's love language). If this is the husband's love language, the couple must be careful not to make the wife feel like a maid and unappreciated. Like I said up front, I find this to be a very interesting love language. For this love language, a good practice you can do each day is ask yourself "What can I do for my spouse today to make them feel good?". If you take action on this question, you will be well on your way to giving your spouse all the love that is needed.
Physical Touch
To fulfill this love language, some type of body contact must take place. There is no alternative method around it. To put this in some type of perspective, think of how much joy and warmth you felt as a child when your mom or dad gave you a hug. Did that not make you feel great?...did that not make you feel loved? Well for those of you out there that get this same feeling when your spouse touches you (whether a hug, a kiss, a rub, or sexual intercourse), "physical touch" very well may be your primary love language. If this is something that your spouse consistently does or wants from you, then you should realize the importance of physical touch within your spouse. It is then important to know where, how, and when to provide the physical touches required by your spouse. No two people are alike and each person has special points on their body that burst in emotion when touched by his or her spouse. You need to invest the time to find out these pleasure locations on your spouse. It could be the caressing of the ear, or the rubbing of the calf, or the kissing of the belly...I will stop there because you should get the picture by now. If you are not a touchy feely person and your spouse is, then you must make adjustments in your lifestyle to ensure your spouse is loved. The fact that you don't like being physically touch will not change your spouse's need to be physically touch. You need to make the necessary adjustments in you life to become accustom to physically touching your spouse. Doing this will eliminate future potential marital issues.
All of these love languages require special attention and must be worked on to master. Taking the time to learn and know your spouse's love language is one of the most valuable investments you can put into your marriage. It will ensure that your spouse's love bucket is always filled. If you don't learn your spouse's love language and no actions are taken, then you open the door to all types of potentially negative and sinful situations...
If your spouse is not feeling the love from you in the love language that is needed, then where are they going to get it from? Do what you have to do to make sure that question is never asked.
I will end this with the last paragraph from Part One of this topic:
When you are looking at these love languages, you must determine what your love language is and what your spouse's love language is. I think it is natural for us to attempt to love our spouse in our own love language. This is a big mistake if your spouse does not share the same love language as you. All you are doing is loving your spouse the way that you want to be loved. While you may think you are showing your spouse all the love you have, he or she will not receive what they are looking for because it's in the wrong love language.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Friday, February 1, 2008
The Love Languages - Part One (10 Feb 2008)
I want to take time to share something with you that I have found to be very beneficial in my marriage. It is a piece of knowledge about your spouse and yourself that has to be learned. The knowledge that I am referring to is our "love language". This is the language that when expressed/communicated to you, you feel loved and appreciated...you feel the love of your spouse. If your love language is not expressed/communicated to you properly, then you may feel some emptiness because that emotional need is not being fulfilled. And it goes the other way also, if you don't express/communicate love to your spouse the way he or she needs to receive it, then your spouse may not be fulfilled. It is your responsibility as a spouse to know how the other half needs to be loved. Once you know that, then you have to take the steps of showing your spouse LOVE in the language that they understand.
Let's briefly discuss 2 of the 5 love languages that are outlined in the book "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. They are:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch
Words of Affirmation
This is the verbal or written praise/appreciation given to you or your spouse. Do you love to hear your spouse say "I love you" or "you look beautiful or handsome"? Or maybe you like to see short love notes expressing feelings of appreciation and love. If you are miserable when you don't receive statements or compliments such as these, then "Words of Affirmation" may be your love language. When it comes to "words of affirmation", it doesn't have to be all about "I Love U's" and "U Look So Good To Me's". Words of affirmation can be as simple as saying to your spouse, "Baby, thank you for cleaning the kitchen tonite" or "Baby, you really put your foot in that Macarroni & Cheese". This love language is simply telling or writing to let your spouse know how you appreciate them or an activity that they have done. I see it as one of the easiest things we can do in our marriage...give your spouse a compliment. Even though it is that simple, many of us may not even do that. If we do, we may not do it enough. Words of affirmation help to build your spouse up. I can honestly say that I do enjoy when my wife tells me that she appreciates me as a husband and a father. To hear that coming from my wife helps to put the icing on the cake when I wonder how I am doing as a father and a husband. My wife's words help affirm that I am ok in those categories. Nonetheless, this is not my primary love language. I score this as my #2 love language.
Quality Time
I may not need to say much on this because the name says it all..."quality time". How much time does your spouse need with you or how much time do you need from your spouse? This means more than just sitting in a room with your spouse watching T.V. This love language requires 100% focus on your spouse or on you. A person with this love language as priority #1 may only need 30 complete minutes a day or even less to fulfill their need. Then again, 1 or 2 hours may be needed to fulfill the love need. Something as little as an intimate conversation could be just the right thing to show love. While intimate conversation is extremely important when spending quality time with your spouse, there are other things that can be done to fulfill the quality time need. One such thing is doing an activity with your spouse that he or she loves. If your spouse loves bowling, then that would be a great quality activity the two of you could do that would provide quality time to your marriage. It will show your spouse that you love and care about the things they enjoy and that you are willing to invest the time to enjoy the activity with them. The activity may be something that you both enjoy which will make it all the better. If this is your spouse's love language, then you must make time in your busy schedule to spend the time with your spouse. Nothing else will fulfill the need that your spouse has.
When you are looking at these love languages, you must determine what your love language is and what your spouse's love language is. I think it is natural for us to attempt to love our spouse in our own love language. This is a big mistake if your spouse does not share the same love language as you. All you are doing is loving your spouse the way that you want to be loved. While you may think you are showing your spouse all the love you have, he or she will not receive what they are looking for because it's in the wrong love language. I hope I am making sense to you on this subject.
In my next posting, I will continue this discussion by covering the remaining 3 love languages...receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. FYI...if your spouse's love language is receiving gifts, please remember to get them a gift for Valentine's Day this week.
Let me know your thoughts on the two love languages discussed in this posting.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Let's briefly discuss 2 of the 5 love languages that are outlined in the book "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. They are:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch
Words of Affirmation
This is the verbal or written praise/appreciation given to you or your spouse. Do you love to hear your spouse say "I love you" or "you look beautiful or handsome"? Or maybe you like to see short love notes expressing feelings of appreciation and love. If you are miserable when you don't receive statements or compliments such as these, then "Words of Affirmation" may be your love language. When it comes to "words of affirmation", it doesn't have to be all about "I Love U's" and "U Look So Good To Me's". Words of affirmation can be as simple as saying to your spouse, "Baby, thank you for cleaning the kitchen tonite" or "Baby, you really put your foot in that Macarroni & Cheese". This love language is simply telling or writing to let your spouse know how you appreciate them or an activity that they have done. I see it as one of the easiest things we can do in our marriage...give your spouse a compliment. Even though it is that simple, many of us may not even do that. If we do, we may not do it enough. Words of affirmation help to build your spouse up. I can honestly say that I do enjoy when my wife tells me that she appreciates me as a husband and a father. To hear that coming from my wife helps to put the icing on the cake when I wonder how I am doing as a father and a husband. My wife's words help affirm that I am ok in those categories. Nonetheless, this is not my primary love language. I score this as my #2 love language.
Quality Time
I may not need to say much on this because the name says it all..."quality time". How much time does your spouse need with you or how much time do you need from your spouse? This means more than just sitting in a room with your spouse watching T.V. This love language requires 100% focus on your spouse or on you. A person with this love language as priority #1 may only need 30 complete minutes a day or even less to fulfill their need. Then again, 1 or 2 hours may be needed to fulfill the love need. Something as little as an intimate conversation could be just the right thing to show love. While intimate conversation is extremely important when spending quality time with your spouse, there are other things that can be done to fulfill the quality time need. One such thing is doing an activity with your spouse that he or she loves. If your spouse loves bowling, then that would be a great quality activity the two of you could do that would provide quality time to your marriage. It will show your spouse that you love and care about the things they enjoy and that you are willing to invest the time to enjoy the activity with them. The activity may be something that you both enjoy which will make it all the better. If this is your spouse's love language, then you must make time in your busy schedule to spend the time with your spouse. Nothing else will fulfill the need that your spouse has.
When you are looking at these love languages, you must determine what your love language is and what your spouse's love language is. I think it is natural for us to attempt to love our spouse in our own love language. This is a big mistake if your spouse does not share the same love language as you. All you are doing is loving your spouse the way that you want to be loved. While you may think you are showing your spouse all the love you have, he or she will not receive what they are looking for because it's in the wrong love language. I hope I am making sense to you on this subject.
In my next posting, I will continue this discussion by covering the remaining 3 love languages...receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. FYI...if your spouse's love language is receiving gifts, please remember to get them a gift for Valentine's Day this week.
Let me know your thoughts on the two love languages discussed in this posting.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
COMMUNICATION...The Journey - Part 2 (13 Jan 2008)
Tone. The tone of your voice says a lot when you are communicating with your spouse or with anyone else that you are talking to. I am coming to realize that I can get my point across a lot better by controlling the tone of my voice; and I most definitely receive information better when it is spoken to me in a reasonable and inviting tone. Now I know this is not a perfect world and I don't expect all conversations with my wife to be perfectly orchestrated like a smooth jazz band playing a song. However, I do expect that we work to control our tones when talking to one another no matter what the situation is. This may be harder for some than others. Many may be accustom to an atmosphere where there is consistent negative tones in the majority of their conversations with others. There is no problem with this as long as the other person in the conversation is also accustom to these negative tones. If not, then there will always be a breakdown in communication between the two individuals.
Now bringing this closer to a marriage relationship...let's say that you want your spouse to stop doing a certain thing that completely annoys you...like the man leaving hair in the sink after shaving or the woman leaving fingernail polish somewhere it doesn't belong. Because this may be one of your pet peeves, when it occurs, you probably shout out your displeasure of what your spouse has done. Is your shouting out effective? Did your spouse receive what you were saying? I am sure it was heard, but there is a chance it wasn't received due to the tone in which you were speaking. As couples, we must do all we can to control our tone when speaking with our spouse. Your tone when communicating can turn a potential explosive situation into a mere small encounter with your spouse if properly controlled.
All in all, I just think we need to learn how to talk to one another...husband to wife and wife to husband. In the same way we are careful when talking to people at work, we should be just as careful when we talk to our spouse at home. It is our spouse that we should have the most regard for when speaking to them...showing the utmost respect.
For me, I have thrown out sarcastic remarks to my wife on many occasions...and I know I am wrong. The tone of such remarks are unnecessary...the remarks themselves are also unnecessary. This is something I am working on within myself. We all have to do this. Find that flaw in your communication style and work to improve it. It may take some spiritual and human intervention to get the area corrected.
Take an honest self-evaluation of yourself on how you communicate with your spouse. As you find things that can be improved, make a plan to improve it. Ask your spouse about how you communicate with them, and make a plan to improve any areas that your spouse feels could be improved. I don't see any downsides of doing this. You can only get better.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Now bringing this closer to a marriage relationship...let's say that you want your spouse to stop doing a certain thing that completely annoys you...like the man leaving hair in the sink after shaving or the woman leaving fingernail polish somewhere it doesn't belong. Because this may be one of your pet peeves, when it occurs, you probably shout out your displeasure of what your spouse has done. Is your shouting out effective? Did your spouse receive what you were saying? I am sure it was heard, but there is a chance it wasn't received due to the tone in which you were speaking. As couples, we must do all we can to control our tone when speaking with our spouse. Your tone when communicating can turn a potential explosive situation into a mere small encounter with your spouse if properly controlled.
All in all, I just think we need to learn how to talk to one another...husband to wife and wife to husband. In the same way we are careful when talking to people at work, we should be just as careful when we talk to our spouse at home. It is our spouse that we should have the most regard for when speaking to them...showing the utmost respect.
For me, I have thrown out sarcastic remarks to my wife on many occasions...and I know I am wrong. The tone of such remarks are unnecessary...the remarks themselves are also unnecessary. This is something I am working on within myself. We all have to do this. Find that flaw in your communication style and work to improve it. It may take some spiritual and human intervention to get the area corrected.
Take an honest self-evaluation of yourself on how you communicate with your spouse. As you find things that can be improved, make a plan to improve it. Ask your spouse about how you communicate with them, and make a plan to improve any areas that your spouse feels could be improved. I don't see any downsides of doing this. You can only get better.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
COMMUNICATION...the Journey (5 Jan 2008)
I don't even know where to start. The subject of communication covers so many different areas. To keep things as simple as possible, I thought it would be best to separate this topic into two areas...what I would call conventional and nonconventional communication. I want to talk about the conventional form of communication for now which will include verbal and nonverbal communication. The nonconventional communication can be discussed at a later time which may have to be broken down even further into what is called "Love Languages".
Now let me apologize up front for anything I may say that may rub someone the wrong way. I am a man, and it is already stated that men don't communicate well in marriages. My wife lets me know too often that I fall into this category. Nonetheless, I can honestly say that I am working consistently to improve myself in this area.
The Webster’s Dictionary definition of communication is…"the exchange of ideas, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, or writing". This seems as though it is the simplest thing to do. If so, then how do we get it so wrong? All we have to do is tell our spouse what we need and want to tell them, right? Let’s look at this beginning point…”tell our spouse what we need and want to tell them”. I think this is the first roadblock to poor communication. We don’t tell our spouse what it is that we need and want to tell them for one reason or another. That thought or discussion may be on your mind, but then you forget or think it isn’t important or you just might not want to tell your spouse what is on your mind. Whatever the reason is, it needs to be corrected. If you don’t get past this step, then you will more than likely have a communication problem in your marriage. We all need to make it a practice to say what is on our mind to our spouses.
The next key section I see in the definition is “the exchange”. “Exchange” means to give or receive from another. Therefore it is a two way process…one must give and the other must receive. Just because you say something to your spouse doesn’t necessarily mean they received it. I must confess that this is one of the areas I must improve on (and I am working on it)…receiving everything my wife tells me. Honestly, I just forget some of the things she tells me. A great solution that we came up with is a large monthly calendar that sits on the side of our refrigerator. This is where we put key daily items for the month. This tool has greatly helped a specific area of our communication. I am sure there are many other innovative tools out there that couples use. If you have a unique communication tool that you use with your spouse, please share it with us. Just remember that the goal is to give and receive information between you and your spouse.
Now the next thing I am about to discuss can be a killer when it comes to communication or it can enhance your overall marriage life. That is the “nonverbal”. I consider “body language, the look on your face, and the tone of your voice” the main driving forces behind nonverbal communication. These items can say a lot more to your spouse than words can when communicating. If you look directly in your spouse’s eyes when giving or receiving information from them, then you are showing genuine interest in the conversation. On the other hand, if you are looking at your spouse with a snarl or not looking at all when trying to communicate, you could be relaying harsh nonverbal words to your spouse. Nonverbally, you could be saying “you better not come near me” or “what on earth are you talking about” or “does it look like I am interested in what you are saying”. Just remember that your nonverbal actions can play a much larger role in communicating with your spouse than any words you can say. The old saying is ”actions speak louder than words”…don’t forget that.
Lastly, you have to make time to communicate with your spouse. In today's society, we get bogged down in work, chores, T.V., and any other distractions that are present in the homes. If these areas are not addressed, then they will consume your time and will not give you the total time you need to communicate with your spouse. You and your spouse must make communication time a priority each day. It doesn't have to be 2 or 3 hours...it could be an uninterrupted 30 minutes. While it may not seem like a lot of time, 30 minutes could be more than enough quality time to ensure you and your spouse are exchanging information, messages, and ideas to one another.
I will leave you with this. Your spouse should be your best friend. If that is the case, don't you want to tell your best friend everything that is on your mind and also hear everything that is on your spouse's mind. Make sure you have both the verbal and nonverbal communication channels open to give and receive with your spouse. It will make things go a lot smoother in life.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
2008...The year of New Beginnings
Happy New Year to All!!! I pray that you had a blessed Holiday Season with family and friends and are now ready to have the most fulfilling and successful year ever. I am going to make every effort to have the year that I know God wants me to have...spiritually, physically, socially, and financially.
Over the holiday season, I took some time to try and figure out what my purpose is on this piece of land we call earth. Well, I figured one thing out...it takes more than a week to determine what your purpose is in life. Nonetheless, I did determine some areas (gifts, talents, and/or resources given by God) that I need to expand in my life that may open doors in determining what my purpose or purposes are in my life. A few of the key areas are "my mind", "my art", and "my relationships". I realize that these are key areas that I must continue to grow throughout my lifetime.
It is said that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity. If that is the case, what is the other 90% doing? I am planning to use at least an additional 1% over the next year to improve my intellect, my common sense, and my overall perception of life and the world we live in. And I pray that I can use a portion of that 1% to become a better husband to my wife. I think we men may have a 350-pound defensive lineman in our brain preventing us from using that additional brainpower to think of new and innovative ways to make our wives happy. Even though our wives may be as happy as they can be, I know there are a million ideas roaming around in our (the husbands) heads that we can do to make our wives even more happier. I am going to try and find a few of those ideas in my head this year. I hope I don't get lost looking for them.
My Art. God gave me the gift/talent of art...drawing, painting, and even singing. I plan to expand or stretch myself in all three of these areas this year. I have ignored a couple of them for quite some time now and I know that God has a purpose for the gifts/talents he has given me. I have to make it happen in 2008.
My Relationships. Well the first one I am focusing on is my relationship with God. That is a relationship I feel that everyone reading this should focus on...no matter what level you feel you are on with God. There will always be room for improvement until the day we leave this earth...might as well start now since tomorrow is no guarantee. Next relationship is with my wife. I won't even start listing the areas that I know I need to improve on with this one. All I will say is that I going to give my all to develop and expand this relationship. Then comes my family...immediate and extended. The hustle and bustle of life sometimes takes a lot of time away, causing time to be lost with keeping up with family. I am not talking about anything drastic, but it may be drastic for some people out there. As a goal, let's take the time to reach out to family members periodically to see how things are going in their lives. The same goes for friends. It is my goal to make time to build and make stronger relationships with my friends, both old and new. There is something to be gained on both ends when you have strong relationships.
My pastor and my spiritual mother (also a pastor) stated that 2008 is the year of new beginnings. Let's make it that...a new beginning. Leave all the negative aspects of your life in 2007. Let 2008 be your new beginning...especially in your marriage. Let this be a year of growth in your marriage, a year of understanding in your marriage, a year of ever increasing love in your marriage. I know I am throwing out some big challenges, but I have to hype myself up to really get this year going. I hope you are doing the same.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
Over the holiday season, I took some time to try and figure out what my purpose is on this piece of land we call earth. Well, I figured one thing out...it takes more than a week to determine what your purpose is in life. Nonetheless, I did determine some areas (gifts, talents, and/or resources given by God) that I need to expand in my life that may open doors in determining what my purpose or purposes are in my life. A few of the key areas are "my mind", "my art", and "my relationships". I realize that these are key areas that I must continue to grow throughout my lifetime.
It is said that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity. If that is the case, what is the other 90% doing? I am planning to use at least an additional 1% over the next year to improve my intellect, my common sense, and my overall perception of life and the world we live in. And I pray that I can use a portion of that 1% to become a better husband to my wife. I think we men may have a 350-pound defensive lineman in our brain preventing us from using that additional brainpower to think of new and innovative ways to make our wives happy. Even though our wives may be as happy as they can be, I know there are a million ideas roaming around in our (the husbands) heads that we can do to make our wives even more happier. I am going to try and find a few of those ideas in my head this year. I hope I don't get lost looking for them.
My Art. God gave me the gift/talent of art...drawing, painting, and even singing. I plan to expand or stretch myself in all three of these areas this year. I have ignored a couple of them for quite some time now and I know that God has a purpose for the gifts/talents he has given me. I have to make it happen in 2008.
My Relationships. Well the first one I am focusing on is my relationship with God. That is a relationship I feel that everyone reading this should focus on...no matter what level you feel you are on with God. There will always be room for improvement until the day we leave this earth...might as well start now since tomorrow is no guarantee. Next relationship is with my wife. I won't even start listing the areas that I know I need to improve on with this one. All I will say is that I going to give my all to develop and expand this relationship. Then comes my family...immediate and extended. The hustle and bustle of life sometimes takes a lot of time away, causing time to be lost with keeping up with family. I am not talking about anything drastic, but it may be drastic for some people out there. As a goal, let's take the time to reach out to family members periodically to see how things are going in their lives. The same goes for friends. It is my goal to make time to build and make stronger relationships with my friends, both old and new. There is something to be gained on both ends when you have strong relationships.
My pastor and my spiritual mother (also a pastor) stated that 2008 is the year of new beginnings. Let's make it that...a new beginning. Leave all the negative aspects of your life in 2007. Let 2008 be your new beginning...especially in your marriage. Let this be a year of growth in your marriage, a year of understanding in your marriage, a year of ever increasing love in your marriage. I know I am throwing out some big challenges, but I have to hype myself up to really get this year going. I hope you are doing the same.
Let me know your thoughts.
Be blessed and talk to you soon.
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