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The management

In Christ......

Week Four: Soloman de-railing

The weeks just keep getting better with the Peasant Princess series. This week, what I once held as a fact(Christians and non-Christians have the same divorce rate), was strongly disputed. Great use of statistics and I thought it was interesting that he used a non-Christian P.H.D to do the research.

Over the weeks my wife and I have become more gracious with one another. I for one have become more aware of my position as the spiritual leader in the family and the idea that I am capable of anything if I walk away from God isn't just a little bit disturbing, its down right frightening!

The ripples of my actions are immediately felt by my wife and children and the responsibility is mine to bare. Part of the fall was Adam's skirting of his responsibility for Eve and himself, and I think that has passed down through the generations from man to man. I see it in my self at times and it is sin that I need to confess and repent of. It may not look it from the outside, but it is there.

God Bless

Peasant Princess Week Four

Week Three: The Little Foxes

This was a great,  easy to apply sermon. 

Dealing with --

- home organization

- extended family

- technology in the home

- scheduling and budget

The two things that my wife and I talked at length about was how we have dealt with our extended families and hour budgeting skills. Extended families has been a serious fox for us in the past on both sides,  and maybe thats true in all families. Setting boundaries and defining ourselves as a family is something that we have had to work toward. Mark mentioned him having the guy deal with his family and the lady with hers, which sounds a little too exclusive. I like that on some issues my wife will deal with my family and me with hers. 

What are your foxes? 

 

In passing

Even though we are still packing, I thought it might be a good time to sneak in a little post. I was thinking the other day that some of you might not know exactly who Mark Driscoll is and what exactly Mars Hill Church is all about. Im going to include some links below. A Bio from the Resurgence blog on Mark, a link to the "About" section on the Mars Hill website and a link to a NY Times article on Mars Hill Church Not a puff piece .

and....pause

We will be moving this week, so we are going to put our finger right here in the sermon series for the next week. Our next sermon will be "The Little Foxes" dealing with the things that stress marriage... like moving. So in the spirit of the next sermon, we will stamp out a fox and pick this up again with a post on the last week-end of January.

God Bless,

Eric and Julie

Week Two: Oh! Super Hot Hotty!

This week hit me on two counts. First, I felt encouraged by the burden of manhood. We have been a single income household for some time now and in my heart I have always felt that that put us  in a deficient category, like I could use it as an excuse for things. "Yah, we can't afford that right now, cause you know, its hard being a single income household." Woe is me.  On the flip side I could be arrogant about it too! "Hey, we don't even take home xx,000 dollars a year." Ridiculous. 

God has called me to lead my family with Julie by my side and that means providing for the family. Financially, yes. But also spiritually and emotionally as well. I heard somebody once say "Guys are like trucks, they drive straighter with a load." I think thats true.

Secondly, I felt challenged to speak encouraging words and complements toward my wife. This is something that I've tried to take to heart, but I know that I haven't made it an active daily decision. By taking that step to serve my wife in this way, I can see it bearing fruit in our marriage for sure! 

Here are the three questions that Mark --I look like a security guard-- Driscoll posed to the congregation.

1. What is your love language(s) (Touch - Time - Gift - Words - Service)?

2. What is engedi to you?

3. Where are the dry areas in your relationship, and what could be done to nourish or remedy these abandoned or neglected areas (not necessarily sexual though it could be)?

Peasent Princess Week Two      

Week One: Let Him Kiss Me

"To you she is beautiful, but to me there is only my wife and my son"

Vito Corleone : from The Godfather II

Song of Songs 1:1-7

"In the first sermon of the series, Pastor Mark Driscoll gives an introduction detailing the sexual sin that saturates our culture. Sex can be viewed as either a god, as gross, or a gift. The Bible teaches us that sex is a gift that is to be stewarded wisely." Summary taken from the Mars Hill website.

In this first sermon, Mark covered a lot of ground.  From summarizing the cultural attitude toward sex from O.T. to N.T. and on into our day, to drawing in your spouse through love and communication. However, what came across to us the clearest was the concept of having your spouse as your standard of beauty. 

-As the feminine mind, I have difficulty knowing that my husband finds me gorgeous.  I've never really been the jealous type but when I know that he thinks I'm the most beautiful woman in his life, I feel safe.  I don't need to compare or compete.   We were watching "Godfather" the other night and what Vito said really stood out to me.  I'm his and I know he only thinks of me.  It's important, I think, to not let that make us lazy though.  That we still keep our own standard high and keep pursuing what my husband finds attractive.  Sexy is defined by him!

-For me as a husband, having Julie as my standard is very empowering and defining. In my younger years when I struggled with pornography, looking back I can see how that tainted how I measured beauty. It wasn't an overt standard it would just kind of creep in to my mind when guys at work would say things like, "Do you think so and so is more beautiful than so and so?". Now, for me no one is more beautiful than Julie. When we both understand that, it gives me a lot more security in our marriage by giving clear boundaries to what attractive is. No third party allowed.

What we have here (for most couples) is a failure to communicate. 

Our prayer is that this would be a time of encouragement and communication for you all.

God Bless,

Eric and Julie

Peasant Princess Week One