Comments on: Thirty and Counting http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting Sniffing out the work of God in the world... Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:10:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: xurudibaqokecn http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-66564 xurudibaqokecn Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:35:57 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-66564 <strong>xurudibaqokecn...</strong> nice post... xurudibaqokecn…

nice post…

]]> By: Beth http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50601 Beth Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:48:01 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50601 Wednesday I spoke to a girls' Bible class about commitment in marriage...and told some of our ups and downs in our 35 years...22 years of his being misdiagnosed, improperly medicated...but we survived it all by hanging on to each other and trusting God...even though there were years he did not go to church, moved like a zombie, and was not really there for me. Today, with proper medication, he's more like the man I married, although there are health issues that will always be present...but he's mine and always has been...and I've never doubted that! Wednesday I spoke to a girls’ Bible class about commitment in marriage…and told some of our ups and downs in our 35 years…22 years of his being misdiagnosed, improperly medicated…but we survived it all by hanging on to each other and trusting God…even though there were years he did not go to church, moved like a zombie, and was not really there for me. Today, with proper medication, he’s more like the man I married, although there are health issues that will always be present…but he’s mine and always has been…and I’ve never doubted that!

]]> By: Coping http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50572 Coping Thu, 15 Feb 2007 02:42:18 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50572 She also wrote, in a lighter moment: We're just a couple of comics. You are bald and I am fat. But you are still my valentine For all of that! If, of all the men that I have seen, I could choose one for mine The choice would still be you, my dear, My valentine. She also wrote, in a lighter moment:

We’re just a couple of comics.
You are bald and I am fat.
But you are still my valentine
For all of that!

If, of all the men that I have seen,
I could choose one for mine
The choice would still be you, my dear,
My valentine.

]]> By: qb http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50564 qb Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:53:59 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50564 Wow, what a great couple of minutes this has been, reading of all of this countercultural stuff. I just got through hearing on the radio how we Americans just think commitment and agape-love amounts to an interference with us becoming all that we can be...and those present stand and give that point of view the ol' Bronx cheer. 20 years here on the Golden Spread, and counting, as we return from the cemetery at Camp Ruby, in Polk County, where my beloved's father was buried just 29 short hours ago after 46 years of marriage and a lifetime of memories. I love how my love loves and loved her daddy, warts and all. Renews my hope, it does. I've never met any of you folks, but you inspire me anew. Here's to 20 more for us and 20 more for everybody else, too. qb Wow, what a great couple of minutes this has been, reading of all of this countercultural stuff. I just got through hearing on the radio how we Americans just think commitment and agape-love amounts to an interference with us becoming all that we can be…and those present stand and give that point of view the ol’ Bronx cheer.

20 years here on the Golden Spread, and counting, as we return from the cemetery at Camp Ruby, in Polk County, where my beloved’s father was buried just 29 short hours ago after 46 years of marriage and a lifetime of memories. I love how my love loves and loved her daddy, warts and all. Renews my hope, it does.

I’ve never met any of you folks, but you inspire me anew. Here’s to 20 more for us and 20 more for everybody else, too.

qb

]]> By: Rick J http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50555 Rick J Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:59:40 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50555 Thirty-five and one half years ago my beloved and I walked down a grassy aisle in a beautiful backyard in the hills outside Oxnard, California, and agreed to spend our lives together. It's really neat that today, (with going on 36 years together, a daughter who turns 30 this summer, both kids married to wonderful spouses and doing well, and one grand kid and another on the way) when I look at her I still see that intelligent, talented, and beautiful girl I married all those years ago. Oh... there are some differences... some of those physical things that happen to all of us over time... but the main change I see is that she has grown to love God more deeply and richly over the years and that has allowed her to love me more fully as well. So, as we "celebrate" Valentine's Day by going to praise team rehearsal tonight and by getting to bed early enough to be rested for tomorrow, I thank God for blessing my life (and the lives of others as well) with this special lady whom I am honored to call my wife. It just doesn't get much better than this!! Thirty-five and one half years ago my beloved and I walked down a grassy aisle in a beautiful backyard in the hills outside Oxnard, California, and agreed to spend our lives together.

It’s really neat that today, (with going on 36 years together, a daughter who turns 30 this summer, both kids married to wonderful spouses and doing well, and one grand kid and another on the way) when I look at her I still see that intelligent, talented, and beautiful girl I married all those years ago. Oh… there are some differences… some of those physical things that happen to all of us over time… but the main change I see is that she has grown to love God more deeply and richly over the years and that has allowed her to love me more fully as well.

So, as we “celebrate” Valentine’s Day by going to praise team rehearsal tonight and by getting to bed early enough to be rested for tomorrow, I thank God for blessing my life (and the lives of others as well) with this special lady whom I am honored to call my wife. It just doesn’t get much better than this!!

]]> By: Mike http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50550 Mike Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:18:35 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50550 Kathy - Thanks for that memory of your husband. You, too, Belinda. A good reminder that for some February 14 is bittersweet with joy and grief. HW and PW -- I remember that relationship getting stronger while you were young HU students. So proud of you both. Tell my buddy there I said "hello." Kathy - Thanks for that memory of your husband. You, too, Belinda. A good reminder that for some February 14 is bittersweet with joy and grief.

HW and PW — I remember that relationship getting stronger while you were young HU students. So proud of you both. Tell my buddy there I said “hello.”

]]> By: paul w http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50548 paul w Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:35:45 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50548 HW(comment #3), You are very kind. Thanks for all you do to hold down the fort while I'm away. My daily notes that you send along on my travels are the highlight of my week. Always.....PEW HW(comment #3),

You are very kind. Thanks for all you do to hold down the fort while I’m away. My daily notes that you send along on my travels are the highlight
of my week. Always…..PEW

]]> By: TCS http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50544 TCS Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:08:56 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50544 When we were getting married, I said that I knew she would help me get to Heaven, after almost 15 years, I had no idea. Kim constantly challenges me to be more like Christ not just for the future but for now. I love that about her. When we were getting married, I said that I knew she would help me get to Heaven, after almost 15 years, I had no idea. Kim constantly challenges me to be more like Christ not just for the future but for now. I love that about her.

]]> By: Belinda http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50541 Belinda Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:29:24 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50541 Okay. . . this is gonna be a long trip . . . First, January 1977, I married the most wonderful person. We were so young and so in love! He was quiet - I was loud. He believed there was good in everyone. We had two beautiful children together. Then one stormy May day, he was killed - on the job. I was barely 31! I had went straight from my parents' house to our home - what was I going to do?? Little by little, I begin to see how much he loved me and our children . . . through his planning . . . we had sufficient insurance to pay our bills and not want for anything. He was right - he never drew a dime from his social security payments, but our children were able to go to college because of those monthly checks we received. He had made a plan . . . a plan for us to always be able to survive, even without him. Okay, fast forward 10 years . . . it's now 1999. One innocent Sunday at church, our preacher and his wife have someone for me to meet. He's from Russia! Kinda scary - I haven't been on a "real" date since 1977! This relationship goes on and off for a few years . . . this is a very scary thing. He has never been married before, and his culture is so different . . . but there's something there, something we can't keep pushing away. Now it's April 2003, and we're getting married! This man - remember he's never been married - has been amazing! Don't get me wrong - we've had plenty of ups and downs. He has taught me so much. All that talk about no churches in Russia - hogwash! He knows way more about the Bible and spiritual things than I ever knew. He's taught me so much! It was hard for him to understand the close relationship my children and I had developed after the death of their dad . . . after all they're "adults" now - why do they always "need" their mother?? They both know that he would give them what for if they screwed up, but they also know he'd do anything for them. ANYTHING. He has a gruff exterior, but you'd never find another more caring person in the world. When my son moved away and couldn't take his dog, guess where the dog ended up? Our house! In all we have four dogs, and not little dogs either. He's so patient and loving and caring. I have MS. This man takes such good care of me! My kids and everyone that knows me knows how much he "spoils" me. These men are as different as daylight and dark . . . How lucky can I be to have found such love -- twice?? I have been blessed. God is good! Okay. . . this is gonna be a long trip . . .

First, January 1977, I married the most wonderful person. We were so young and so in love! He was quiet - I was loud. He believed there was good in everyone. We had two beautiful children together. Then one stormy May day, he was killed - on the job. I was barely 31! I had went straight from my parents’ house to our home - what was I going to do?? Little by little, I begin to see how much he loved me and our children . . . through his planning . . . we had sufficient insurance to pay our bills and not want for anything. He was right - he never drew a dime from his social security payments, but our children were able to go to college because of those monthly checks we received. He had made a plan . . . a plan for us to always be able to survive, even without him.

Okay, fast forward 10 years . . . it’s now 1999. One innocent Sunday at church, our preacher and his wife have someone for me to meet. He’s from Russia! Kinda scary - I haven’t been on a “real” date since 1977! This relationship goes on and off for a few years . . . this is a very scary thing. He has never been married before, and his culture is so different . . . but there’s something there, something we can’t keep pushing away. Now it’s April 2003, and we’re getting married! This man - remember he’s never been married - has been amazing! Don’t get me wrong - we’ve had plenty of ups and downs. He has taught me so much. All that talk about no churches in Russia - hogwash! He knows way more about the Bible and spiritual things than I ever knew. He’s taught me so much! It was hard for him to understand the close relationship my children and I had developed after the death of their dad . . . after all they’re “adults” now - why do they always “need” their mother?? They both know that he would give them what for if they screwed up, but they also know he’d do anything for them. ANYTHING. He has a gruff exterior, but you’d never find another more caring person in the world. When my son moved away and couldn’t take his dog, guess where the dog ended up? Our house! In all we have four dogs, and not little dogs either. He’s so patient and loving and caring. I have MS. This man takes such good care of me! My kids and everyone that knows me knows how much he “spoils” me.

These men are as different as daylight and dark . . . How lucky can I be to have found such love — twice?? I have been blessed. God is good!

]]> By: Beaner http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50530 Beaner Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:39:50 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50530 That poem is beautiful - someone needs to set that to music & sing it! That poem is beautiful - someone needs to set that to music & sing it!

]]> By: Mike http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50528 Mike Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:28:46 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50528 A poem my Grandma Bush wrote about marriage, called "Mountain Born": <em>Ours is not the meeting of two meadow streams, The quiet fusion of slow and placid waters, That start from gentle springs And meander softly to each other's arms. Ours is the whirlpool union of two rivers, Mountain born, That issue from the crags, close to the skies, And leap the rocks, and spill tempestuously To canyons far below, Where, with steam and vapors rising, Fired by earthbound mutterings, We meet, And in a maelstrom we mate, and run our course, Parallel, but never merging, downstream to the sea.</em> A poem my Grandma Bush wrote about marriage, called “Mountain Born”:

Ours is not the meeting of two meadow streams,
The quiet fusion of slow and placid waters,
That start from gentle springs
And meander softly to each other’s arms.

Ours is the whirlpool union of two rivers,
Mountain born,
That issue from the crags, close to the skies,
And leap the rocks, and spill tempestuously
To canyons far below,
Where, with steam and vapors rising,
Fired by earthbound mutterings,
We meet,
And in a maelstrom we mate, and run our course,
Parallel, but never merging,
downstream to the sea.

]]> By: Deana Nall http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50524 Deana Nall Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:15:06 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50524 How much I still look forward to our lunch dates. And how much I care about how I look on those dates even though he sees me at my "roughest" every morning. How much taller I stand up when someone I haven't seen since college says, "Oh, yeah -- didn't you marry Chad Nall?" Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I'm still proud that he picked ME. How much I still look forward to our lunch dates. And how much I care about how I look on those dates even though he sees me at my “roughest” every morning.

How much taller I stand up when someone I haven’t seen since college says, “Oh, yeah — didn’t you marry Chad Nall?” Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I’m still proud that he picked ME.

]]> By: Karen Heflin http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50518 Karen Heflin Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:28:25 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50518 I love that Houston insisted on driving the car with no heat when we lived in Denver. And that, now, a car or two later, he insists on driving the one with no air conditioning in Texas. I love that I have never once seen him lose his temper. I love that he constantly thanks me for little things I do. I love that he takes the time to soak up every moment with our two little girls (2 and 4). I love that he will put down whatever he is doing every single time they ask him to do something, because he is so thankful that they are still asking. I love how he finds a way to make me laugh just when I'm "revving" up about something. I love that he listens well. I love that we have so many memories of traveling the world together and many dreams of seeing more. I love that he loves to study and teach God's Word. That it is always exciting to him. That his excitement for it is contagious. That his desire to share God with others will take him to Siberia next week, even though he is miserable when he's cold. I love that his faithfulness to me and the forgiveness he has never held back have been the most real and tangible examples of Christ in my entire life. I love that I can trust him with everything, especially the most fragile and vulnerable parts of my heart. I love that Houston insisted on driving the car with no heat when we lived in Denver. And that, now, a car or two later, he insists on driving the one with no air conditioning in Texas.

I love that I have never once seen him lose his temper.

I love that he constantly thanks me for little things I do.

I love that he takes the time to soak up every moment with our two little girls (2 and 4). I love that he will put down whatever he is doing every single time they ask him to do something, because he is so thankful that they are still asking.

I love how he finds a way to make me laugh just when I’m “revving” up about something.

I love that he listens well.

I love that we have so many memories of traveling the world together and many dreams of seeing more.

I love that he loves to study and teach God’s Word. That it is always exciting to him. That his excitement for it is contagious. That his desire to share God with others will take him to Siberia next week, even though he is miserable when he’s cold.

I love that his faithfulness to me and the forgiveness he has never held back have been the most real and tangible examples of Christ in my entire life.

I love that I can trust him with everything, especially the most fragile and vulnerable parts of my heart.

]]> By: Beth http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50508 Beth Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:50:28 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50508 Jeremy is almost my polar opposite. But after 6 years of marriage, he still wants to be with me, and chooses me every day. I used to spend a lot of time waiting for the other shoe to fall--but it won't. I love his bad puns, his awful choices in music. I love that he loves his patients. He extends grace at every opportunity. He is GORGEOUS. He gives whole-heartedly. Jeremy is almost my polar opposite. But after 6 years of marriage, he still wants to be with me, and chooses me every day. I used to spend a lot of time waiting for the other shoe to fall–but it won’t.

I love his bad puns, his awful choices in music. I love that he loves his patients. He extends grace at every opportunity. He is GORGEOUS. He gives whole-heartedly.

]]> By: Victor Knowles http://preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50506 Victor Knowles Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:23:43 +0000 http://www.preachermike.com/2007/02/14/thirty-and-counting#comment-50506 I see That she Still love me! I see
That she
Still love me!

]]>