Love and Marriage

How do love and marriage cohabitate? Some people would say that they don't go together at all. I believe that we have it backward and that a successful marriage is built on happiness and then marriage. Most people enjoy happiness or really pleasure and attempt to use this as a foundation for a successful marriage. There are two problems with this assumption. 1. You should be happy with the person BEFORE you marry them and 2. Your happiness is dependent upon the other person. This is a quid pro quo or this for that relationship.

Loyalty

What is loyalty? The examples that were used in the Merriam Webster Dictionary are 'team' and 'dogs'. The interesting thing about this is that neither example spoke of an individual.
I've heard arguments that human beings are selfish by nature and incapable of true loyalty or allegiance to another person. This may be why the divorce rate is nearly 50%. It's literally like flipping a coin.
We have a gut feeling who they are. I believe that God shows us who that loyal person is by faith.

Your note

I used to sing in the church choir and I relied on the guy who stood next to  me to ensure that I was on key. There were Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses in our choir and I got confused if I didn't listen to my "Note". That's what I called him because he was reliable. He was always on pitch. He was "true".
In society people try to copy someone else too. They rely on them for their note. Life is different than a choir though. In a choir the goal is to sing the same thing as the group. In life, that goal is different. Most of us don't know that and so we try our best to blend in and not stand out. We don't want to be different.
History teaches us that the great people were different. Think of some famous people in history and the thing that stands out is their differences. They weren't the same and didn't try to be like anyone else. They are unique. We are created to be different. Even identical twins are different. What note are you supposed to sing in life?

Life is like a game of pinball

I was watching a young man play pinball and I noticed a few things about this game.
First off, the ball only goes as far as it does based on how hard the person "flips" it with the flipper.
Secondly, it doesn't move in a straight line to the top of the game.
And third, the number of points that the player earns is based on the number of obstacles that the ball bounces off of.
Life can be like a game of pinball. How much effort are you putting into it? Does it rise up high so that you can earn the most points? How many obstacles do you encounter on your journey?

Parallels of sacrifice

I once offered to pick up a friend and drive her to a get together for my friends from Australia. She resisted and said that I didn't have to and asked me why I made the offer since I didn't know her like that...
This exchange got me thinking about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. I am not comparing my sacrifice to His ultimate sacrifice, but there are parallels.
First, He was willing to do something that He didn't have to do. Secondly, it would require Him to go outside of His comfort zone. Third, He didn't know us personally like that. Lastly, He was willing to make this sacrifice so He could share the experience with His friends with them. One word sums it up: relationship.

Time Will Reveal

The title of this blog post is taken from a well known song by the DeBarge family. I thought about the title of the song and I thought about how my God given talent for writing has been revealed to me over time. One of the exercises that I have the students perform in my Life Coach classes is to list things that they enjoyed doing as a child. Not for money or notoriety, but for pure unadulterated enjoyment! Writing is that thing for me. I've done it since I was a kid. I enjoyed it and I am good at it. At least I've been told that I am.
Writing has been a consistent theme throughout my life. What's your consistent theme? What do you enjoy doing? What have you enjoyed doing from your childhood that you did not for money or notoriety, but because that's what you do? That's your gift. Time will reveal your gift. Embrace it!