My Bride

I love Brittney. We have only been married for coming up on four years, but she has been such a blessing in my life. My love grows deeper for her every day. We laugh together, cry together, hang out together, disagree with each other, correct each other, and share our lives with each other. Her daily encouragement and love is so reflective of Christ. Neither she, nor I, nor our marriage will ever be perfect and sometimes that makes marriage tough. Although her observations about my many short comings and mess ups may often be painful, they are also usually needed and correct! The Lord uses her as a big reflective mirror to show me where I need to be more "transformed" into His likeness. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me so abundantly through Brittney and it is my prayer that all may have such God-centered love in their own marriages :)

Here are some of my more favorite marriage verses...guys, our standard is high...don't know about you, but this convicts me!

Proverbs 5:18 "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth."

Colossians 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. "

Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her"

Depressed? Try Psalm 77

Psalm 77 offers a great solution for the Christian who may be going through hard times or depression. In it you see the Psalmist have a self-focused and depressed perspective in the first nine verses. Then you see in v.10-15 an intentional refocusing of their thoughts from their own situation to God. The Psalm continues and finishes (v.16-20) with the remembrance and praise of God's providence and blessings of the past. Is is not amazing how the altering of our perspective from self-focus to God-focus can carry us from depression into praise! Psalm 96:1-4 "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods."

Wailing Wall

I always wanted to see the Wailing/Western wall when I got to Jerusalem, so when I arrived in Israel this past New Year's Eve it was our first destination! It is a small section, 200ft. wide by 100ft. tall, but you can see, even late at night, orthodox Jewish men praying on the left and the women on the right behind the covered area. Later in the trip I was able to climb in tunnels underneath the wall. The wall itself is part of a 2000+ year old support structure for the temple mount...more pictures and videos in the future! Want more info? Click here...

The Wailing Wall (along with many other spots in Israel) was also a ready reminder of the fact that the worship of our God is not constrained to "holy spots" or temples, but that as Christians our body is "a temple of the Holy Spirit." What a blessing it is to be able to have His Spirit within us!