In a conversation with his pastor, the dad was challenged to read the whole Bible. Up to that point, he had stuck with man-sized books – ones that were not more than a half-inch thick. Then the pastor added, “If you do not know the Word of God, you do not know Jesus the way He wants you to know Him.” Wow! That got his attention.
He had attended church most of his life, accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord and was baptized. But ...read on
It was audition time for honors band and emotions were running high. The assignment required completing a continuous recording of all twelve scales played to tempo. She enjoyed band and had done well across the year. This particular evening, she was determined to raise the bar and play every scale flawlessly. What started out with a confident “I can do this!” mantra rolled into “I don’t know if I am good enough for honors band.” Finally, there was a frustrated scream, “I can’t do this!” She stomped upstairs and slammed her door.
He grew up in a violent alcoholic home. Evenings could get disrupted in a moment by arguments, outbursts of anger and violence. Being loud and intimidating was his takeaway on how to win an argument. She grew up in a more stable home environment where arguments were rare. If a discussion got heated, the practice was to shut it down and talk later. She saw heated discussions as disrespectful. The respective influences of their unique upbringing led to communication challenges over the first few years of marriage.
As has been, and continues to be for so many, several feet of water invaded his home for a number of days courtesy of hurricane Harvey. When the water receded enough to enter the house, here they came. Some were friends and some were complete strangers stepping up to get the soggy furniture out of his home and begin removing the sheetrock and insulation. Large military trucks and boats were bringing more volunteers to his neighborhood to offer help with the cleanup efforts. In the midst of widespread devastation, the love of Christ is shining through.
In a conversation with his pastor, the dad was challenged to read the whole Bible. Up to that point, he had stuck with man-sized books – ones that were not more than a half-inch thick. Then the pastor added, “If you do not know the Word of God, you do not know Jesus the way He wants you to know Him.” Wow! That got his attention.
It was audition time for honors band and emotions were running high. The assignment required completing a continuous recording of all twelve scales played to tempo. She enjoyed band and had done well across the year. This particular evening, she was determined to raise the bar and play every scale flawlessly. What started out with a confident “I can do this!” mantra rolled into “I don’t know if I am good enough for honors band.” Finally, there was a frustrated scream, “I can’t do this!” She stomped upstairs and slammed her door.
He grew up in a violent alcoholic home. Evenings could get disrupted in a moment by arguments, outbursts of anger and violence. Being loud and intimidating was his takeaway on how to win an argument. She grew up in a more stable home environment where arguments were rare. If a discussion got heated, the practice was to shut it down and talk later. She saw heated discussions as disrespectful. The respective influences of their unique upbringing led to communication challenges over the first few years of marriage.
As has been, and continues to be for so many, several feet of water invaded his home for a number of days courtesy of hurricane Harvey. When the water receded enough to enter the house, here they came. Some were friends and some were complete strangers stepping up to get the soggy furniture out of his home and begin removing the sheetrock and insulation. Large military trucks and boats were bringing more volunteers to his neighborhood to offer help with the cleanup efforts. In the midst of widespread devastation, the love of Christ is shining through.
