The other night I had the most amazing conversation with my dad. My initial purpose was to inform him of Veronica’s time in Ann Arbor this Christmas and our general ideas about the wedding. One of the topics we talked about was the financial aspect of the wedding and marriage.
He then abruptly asked: “Are you guys getting a pre-nup?”
There's a question that I've been mulling over for some time: why is it that following Christ seems to entail hurting my family, especially my parents, who have done nothing but sacrifice for me - changing my dirty diapers, driving me to violin/piano/swimming/tennis/etc. lessons, putting me through private school, delivering fruit to my desk as I studied late at night?
Continued from “Growing in Godly Manhood, Part 1”
4. Service
Tied intimately with humility, service is translating selflessness into action. In other words, it’s love in motion. You can think about other people and truly desire for another’s best, but if it isn’t translated into action, it is all for naught.
This past week, our church had the privilege of hosting Pastor Robert Barriger from Camino de Vida in Lima, Peru.
One evening, Pastor Robert gave a talk to the men in our church and really challenged us to be men who think of “them.” In other words, men of God are those who abide by 1 Corinthians 10:24: “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
On Saturday, Nov 17, 2007, 16 young adults from the Focus ministry volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit Christian ministry dedicated to building decent, affordable housing in partnership with those in need in the city of Detroit. We started the day early, fully aware that we would be missing the biggest GAME of the year (only to realize later that our time was probably much better spent building homes)!
I hear that all families are dysfunctional in one way or another, and my family growing up was no exception. I wouldn't say my childhood was an altogether unhappy one, but it did have it's share of frightening and lonely moments. The constant verbal and physical fights between my parents had a negative impact on how I viewed marriages. As with most girls, I did think about boys and marriage, but those thoughts would be overshadowed by my parents troubled marriage.
When I was in high school, I played on both the football and wrestling team, each for one season. My parents were extremely hesitant about me participating in these sports because they didn’t want me to jeopardize playing in the orchestra or see me fail AP Physics. However, I eventually convinced them that I had to play these sports through strategic whining and complaining – they reluctantly agreed.
