What is the most important thing when it comes to getting married?  That two people are committed to loving each other and that they love each other.

It doesn’t matter the place, the time or those in attendance.  It’s all about a covenant between two people before God.

Crystal Newsome and Robert Vickrey decided that the right place for them was in the Wal-Mart Supercenter’s Lawn and Garden Department in York, Nebraska.

Though it may seem odd, it’s not that odd considering all the other types of weddings (from scuba diving to parachuting) that people have tried, and it had significance for the couple.  Their first kiss was in Wal-Mart.

What God hath put together, let no man put asunder!

Back in May when we visited the Creation Museum, we picked up at their bookstore a book on teaching children how to handle money.  As we read through it, we were told that we should use multiple jars to keep track of what we needed to give, spend and save.

So we did that.

But it was convicting, encouraging and it caused us to think more about what we give and why.

Why Do I Have To Give?

It’s taken some time for my kids to wrap their heads around why, when they earn a dollar, they don’t get the whole dollar.  Though they’ve enjoyed giving my money in church, this is the first time that they’ve connected the work that they have done with the money that they’ve made with giving.

Well, almost.

I’m not sure that they get it totally, but they are really wanting this light saber that they saw at the store, and it’s teaching them patience (I think?) that they have to wait until they’ve earned the money.

A Lesson for the Parents

I’m one who gives regularly to church, and have done so for most of my life.  The only times that I haven’t done it regularly was when I lost my job last fall and received a severance package—but I did make it up—and just this past May when I lost my job—which I just made up this Sunday.

I’ve tried to keep in focus the idea that God wanted the first fruits, and He wanted them willingly.  He wanted it before it was spent, before it got something else attached to it.  It was for God.

God Deserves Our Best

I think that all too often the position that God gets is the leftovers.  While I’m fully behind the concept that family should come before church or social obligations, sometimes we stuff a lot into “family” and leave nothing for God’s work.

It’s true that our family is our primary mission field, and we’ll be accountable for the way that we bring them up.  But if we’re not modeling service to the church—if we have time for every sporting activity, family vacation, and music lessons we can think of but we don’t have time to teach a Sunday School class, show up for a church workday, or show up to a prayer meeting/Bible study, what are we teaching our kids about priorities.

It reminds me of a story I read on a friend’s blog recently.  There was a single, young mom that needed some shoes for her baby boy.  After looking around for someone to donate something second hand, her husband said “[W]hy are you looking for old stuff?  Just buy her something new,” and that reminded her that God wants our best.

Sometimes I think that we’re willing to give God the cast-offs of our things and our time, but if we truly want to be people of God, He should be getting “firsts”.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned while being between jobs, it’s that there are always needs and the more that you’re able to meet the needs around you, the more the people that are around you will be blessed.

So, this weekend, be alert to the needs around you—it could be something as simple as needing some help getting into or out of a store, helping do a chore around the house that you do not normally do, or being a friend to someone in need—but meet that need.

Don’t do a half job.  Don’t get in it half-way and bale.  Make the decision to meet a need and finish the job.

You’ll be happy you did, and you’ll have made a difference.

Some of you may or may not know this, but I have another blog that seeks to help wives know what their husbands think and what they believe.  I’m currently going through a set of things that I believe hurt both spouses, and I’d like to highlight 5 things I believe that wives believe that they shouldn’t.

1. It’s Ok to Let Children Change The Relationship

Children definitely add a different dynamic to the household, but if you let them get in between you and your spouse, the odds are that it could create a rift that’s not easily healed.  Many couples let the children become their lives, and lose their identity in them.  When the children are gone, what happens is that there are two people that haven’t been growing together—not a good thing.

2. It’s Ok to Put Off Intimate Relations

Sex is the glue that holds a relationship together.  It’s meant to be the most secure of fastening material because it was meant for that relationship alone.  It’s also meeting his needs.  If you think that it’s ok to have a sexless marriage, then you have been deceived, and you’re encouraging him to look for meeting that need elsewhere.

3. It’s Ok if I Flirt

Flirting is a means of getting attention—it’s a way to tell someone you’re interested.  Whether you’re a man or woman, you should not be sending the wrong signals to the opposite sex!

4. Does He Still Find Me Hot?

If he hasn’t said that he thinks you’re sexy lately, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s found another woman.  Best to talk with him and see what’s going on.

5. A Family Vacation is the Only Type of Vacation

Think that the family vacation is the only type of vacation there is?  Sometimes there’s a lot to be gained from finding a sitter and going out on a second, third or fourth honeymoon.

If you’ve liked these, head on over to Lies Wives Believe and see what else is there!

In the above cartoon, Thor gets into trouble because of deception.  The lesson to be learned is that you should be honest with those you deal with.  Honesty is kindness because it’s telling the person that you respect them enough to deal truthfully with them.

The amazing thing about a lie is that you usually have to tell more to keep the first one going, and they eventually are found out—if not now, sometime in the future.

Best to tell the truth!

It was eight years ago today that my wife and I got married—I remember that day very well.

We spent the night before getting the hall where we’d eat the reception all ready, before heading a half hour away for the rehearsal dinner.  That night, the guys all shared a room, and I got the roll-away.

The funny thing was the next morning.  Having packed my car for the honeymoon, I’d left all my toiletries in the car—back a half hour away!  So, we rushed back to the church to get the things I needed, and a half hour before the ceremony I’m in the men’s room, shaving.

That was about the time that my sister-in-law came around with the video camera asking if I had anything to say to my soon bride.  Needless to say, with half a face of shaving cream I should have said something, but I did not.

The service flew by, and we were off to the different places.  The hall we had for the reception had naked ladies in the men’s room—didn’t find that out until during the reception—and the whole bridal party decided that they thought it’d be more fun to spend time doing stuff to my car than to be in the actual reception!

On the way out of there to our hotel, I ended up passing it and trying to do a U-turn—and I ended up with a front wheel in a ditch and the opposite back wheel up in the air!

But it was a day I’ll never forget, and it was the beginning of a life with my wife that I’ll always cherish.

Remember the good times, focus on your love for each other, and practice kindness daily!

Happy Anniversary, My Darling.

What can a story called The Pearl Necklace teach us?  That while we hold onto things that we think are the best, we may be missing something even better.

One of the chapel sermons that I heard at Bob Jones University that stuck with me the most was the one preached by Dr. Greg Mazak.  In it, he said that if God was going to offer us a BMW, and we had a beat up VW Beetle, why would we refuse the BMW?  And yet that’s what many Christians do because they miss the fact that God has our best in mind, even when we do not see it.

In the story of The Pearl Necklace, it is only when the daughter lets go of the cheap necklace that she gets the real one—though it is painful.  In real life, sometimes we hold to something that is of less worth because we think it is important, when it reality God has something much better for us—but we cannot immediately tell that from looking.

What are you holding on to that you should let go of?  What is it that God’s trying to tell you that He has better for you than what you currently have now?

It’s best if you let Him be your guide instead of trying to guide yourself.

This weekend, the United States of America will celebrate its independence from Great Britain.  It was 233 years ago this year that our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and stated that we were going to be free from the King’s rule.

Take time to thank God this weekend for your liberties and freedoms.  Pray for your leaders.  Attend a parade or a fireworks display.  Take some time to be with family and friends.

It’s a great time to reflect on who you are as a person and who your country is and what it will be.  For a country is, according to the Declaration of Independence, what the people make it to be.