I love love

This is a guest post by Josh Hood. A great young speaker and blogger. You can catch up with him at joshuamhood.com and twitter.com/JoshuaMHood

I love love.

I love how it compels young couples to hold hands. It’s like love makes their hands magnetic.

I love how it fills their stomachs with butterflies and their eyes with stars.

I love love.

I love how it covers a multitude of faults (1 Peter 4:8). I love how it has the power to melt the hardest heart and soften the bitterest soul.

Like the pounding surf washes away words written in the sand on the beach, the waves of love can wash away the offenses and disagreements etched in the sandy soil of our hearts.

I love love.

I love the loyalty and commitment love gives birth to. It compels an old man to stay by the bedside of his dying wife in the hospital. It compels a young mother to sit up all night with her sick child.

A thousand miles seems a long way to drive… unless it is motivated by love; then it seems as nothing. A thousand hours seems a long time to work… unless it is motivated by love; then it seems as nothing. A thousand dollars seems a lot to give… unless it is motivated by love; then it seems as nothing.

I love love.

Love has an impressive resume. A long list of relationships healed and great feats accomplished. But at the very top of the list is the greatest thing love ever did…

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Love sent a Savior.

I smile softly and let out a gentle sigh every time I read those words.

Yes, indeed. I love love.

Comment below: Do you have a story of unending love?

Copyrighted by Jim Laudell. Material contained in this post cannot be reproduced or copied without permission from the author.

Rating Children's Movies

In the reinvention stage several black and white classical themes and characters are being recreated into culturally relevant pseudo movies. These cartoon character movies are aimed at children, ages 7 to 14, but characterize demonic, anti-God and sexual innuendoes aimed at diverting, de-sensitizing and perverting.
According to a Christian publication, in one children’s movie, rated PG, there was 1 sexual verbiage, 5 profanities, and twice disrespected God with a laugh and a sneer. Focus on the Family reports a recent pirate cartoon includes 5 curse words, including taking the name of the Lord God in vain plus, several sexual allusions, including a nudist boat, (though all is covered by camera angle) and an island where the women are covered only by their long hair and flowers.
Without being thought a prude, old-fashioned, negative or “holy Joe” let me contend for the children. While it is most impossible to cover the “little ones” eyes every time they go into the grocery store it is most possible to shield our children from the entertainment that introduces crude language, amoral sexual behavior and other “innocent(?)” attacks on moral standards of the Christian family.
This is no longer the clean humor of Porky Pig, Mickey Mouse or Clifford the Dog. Cartoon or otherwise, PG rating or not, we must guard the hearts of children and maintain their innocence as long as possible. And in the popular Facebook language, “Just sayin….”

Moments Change into Milestones

Within the last ten days we have found much to our surprise that my wife was diagnosed with colon cancer. Just the word colon cancer stirs emotions of fear of the unknown. Words of surgery, tests, chemotherapy and more was thrown around like a racket ball. Surgery was scheduled and friends called, emailed, texted and visited to show their support. Within ten days our emotions was torn from despairing words, "my wife died of colon cancer - she was gone within 60 days," to words of faith and love.

Moments of life have been recorded in journals. diaries, books and scripture when at 4:00 you are rejoicing and by 5:00 you are crying. When the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River it was a divine moment of praise and celebration that was quickly commemorated and memorialized by placing 12 stones inside and outside the Jordan River. "For when your children come by this place they will remember what God has done."

With the surgery, tests, lab work and diagnosis behind us we now are rejoicing. The cancer was removed, found "in time", was contained in the colon, not in the lymph nodes, and no chemotheraphy. So when we talk about the "scare of the last week of May." we will rejoice when a "Moment changed into a Milestone."

Agitation May Be Your Friend

A clothes washer works best when there is a slight agitation with the water, soap and clothes but too much agitation on soft clothing may damage or weaken the fibers. Not trying to be your friendly Maytag repair man with your "Monday Washday Tips," but a reminder that daily agatation may be destructive to the body, mind and life.

Things that agitate:
Not enough money to pay bills
Disobedient children
Unreliable job
Family pressure
Car problems
Marital stress
and the list goes on!

Before you cry out in exasperation let's look at two insights:

We can't stop all areas of agitation. We must learn to live through them.Lot's righteous soul was vexed daily until he collapsed but Daniel when tempted "daily" resisted and fled. There is a strength to fill every believer. "When sin abounds grace does much more abound." Hold your head high, you are a child of the King, fill your heart with His Word for there is a"peace that passeth all understanding."

Secondly, as a washers agitation is meant to clean - so life's agitation. God takes the trials of life and brings us through a better person. When Daniel was in the pit (his brother's put him there) but he was willing to see God was creating his purpose in life. You may look at your present situation without hope but looking back, after several years have passed, you may see what God has brought into your life. Purpose isn't always planned, percieved nor pleasant but it is always personal.

Attitude - the Greatest Ingredient to a Life Long Marriage

When Brad and Leah (fictitious names) decided to get married Leah had long been ready. However, Brad had always wanted to start his career first, and then after he hit the top mark in his company, he would think about getting married but love changed his plans. You would expected this young entrepreneur to come home each day with excitement in his voice as he took his young, beautiful bride in his arms but just ten months after their wedding day she joyfully expressed to him that she was expecting. Brad slipped into a depressive mode, he worked late hours, he was explosive at home and his young bride was confused and hurt.Brad was depressed over educational bills, his attempts at climbing the corporate ladder was more difficult then he first assumed, his first year of marriage (in his interpretation) was disrupted by the unexpected pregnancy and his wife seemed distant.

When "career" is placed first and family is placed a distant second or third or even fourth, then the inevitable happens and home is no longer a castle but rather the moat. We can always use hindsight and say it would have been better had they waited but they didn't. Now we must work with what we have instead of focus on what we haven't.A change of attitude cannot make the bad go away but a change of attitude can make the bad better and more bearable. A change of attitude can make the home smell like a fresh cut bouquet instead of smelling like a sewage treatment plant. But isn't changing our attitude in our marriage easier said than done. It isn't easy but it is possible. Taking Brad through the steps of an "attitude change" wasn't easy but the improvements were noticeable right away. Here are a few steps into making an "attitude adjustment" at home:

1. Say "I Love You" often and mean it. Seems to be a simple process but it is definitely the first step. The Holy Bible tells us that "Love covers a multitude of sins." Being a loving and forgiving individual is the first step to an abrupt attitude change.
   
2. Don't play the blame game. Blaming others for our own circumstances causes our own heart to react like a volcano. We never know when he is going to blow. "If you don't like what you have then leave" is the quick advice of overpaid counselors but laying aside the blame and walking into forgiveness can rectify the most damaged of lives.
   
3. Your goals are still attainable. It is easy to think that you haven't reached your "pie in the sky" because of the hindrances at home but you goals are still attainable. You still have the job, the education, the future and now you have a family to take with you.
   
4. Set priorities for life. Set your priorities to win life not money. Many have escalated quickly into the upward spiral of finances only to lose the things that were closest to their heart. Who do you really love? What do you really want? You can find the greatest satisfaction in your home when you change who is important. Don't lay aside your career decisions just reevaluate what is important - make a decision that will give the longest lasting results.
   
5. Hang your coat outside. A business man, with an overloaded mind, would always hang his coat outside, as his way of saying, "Whatever it was that got to me today, I am not taking it in the house." Leave your work at work and find the joy of loving the time spent, priority time, with your husband/wife and children.
   
6. Attitude is everything. Great business advice and even better home advice. Take a fresh new attitude home and watch the children run to you instead of away from you. Isolation is not fun but an attitude can bring amazing changes into your life and marriage.