daddy4ms

Today is my beautiful wife's birthday.  I am so thankful for her.  If you see her around, wish her a Happy Birthday.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her:

Today is my 21st wedding anniversary!  I am thankful for the amazing wife that God has blessed me with. Here are a few of our stats over the years: Lots of Mexican Food and Ice Cream Consumed over the years Memorable Anniversary Trips and Vacations Too many vehicles to count Our 3 apartments and 3 homes 4 Kids Lots of laughs and memories shared I love you with all my heart!  I'm excited to celebrate with you. Enjoy a few pictures of us over the years.

Today is my wife's birthday.  Stop by Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton and tell her "Happy Birthday!" I am thankful for the day of her birth because it means that one day I would meet her and have the opportunity to date and eventually marry her.  I love you.  I hope you have a great day, Bethany!

Today, I am posting over at 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting.  You can read it here   My topic for this month is how the gospel impacts our marriage.  Be encouraged--I am not giving you any steps or tips to be a better wife or husband.  Check out instead where I point you.

Today I am posting over at 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting on the topic of being a husband.  Check it out here

I am thoroughly enjoying Everyday Grace by Jessica Thompson.  It is a great book on relationships that focuses on the gospel rather than "how to fix" things.  Here are some quotes from her chapter on marriage: And yet, the truth is that I am aware of God's unmatched love for me, of his good and plentiful gifts, and yet every day I run after other loves. Wrath is what you and I deserve...In fact he did have legitimate wrath that needed to be poured out on somebody. Praise him for sending his only Son to bear that wrath on our behalf so that we might forever know his love. Women are not sanctified by what their husbands do or don't do... Men and women are sanctified by believing the gospel. We are made holy by what Jesus did for us, by how he has loved his church.  We are made lovely by his love. Marriage is not one-size-fits-all. Each marriage is unique as each person sins uniquely and has unique strengths. Unrealistic expectations kill grace. The c...

As you read this, I am in flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for the Liberate conference.  Last year, I went alone and this year I am bringing 6 people with me.  I will be sharing notes from the speakers on this site throughout the week.  Return Thursday-Sunday for new posts.  We are also including a little rest and relaxation today and then on Monday.

Happy Valentine's Day to my beautiful, smart, caring, loving, kind wife.  It sounds like a cliché, but I really do love her more today than we got married.  The love grows and grows and I am blessed to get to spend my days with her.  Since we will gone for a week, we plan to celebrate with the kids today, but I am looking forward to a date night while we are in Ft. Lauderdale.  Any good restaurant suggestions? I love the picture below and her amazing bouquet of roses paled in comparison to her beauty that day. If all of this mushy Valentine's Day makes you gag, check out a  post I wrote about another amazing love available to us.

The title of this post is what I used to call the holiday we celebrate today. I had a rather cynical and unromantic view of Valentine's Day. But despite the commercialization of Valentine's Day and the argument that we should not just show love to those around us one day a week, it still has a place. Husbands, we need to show love to our wives every day, but today share love that covers all five senses. Don't just give something, but also say I love you. How will you love your wife today? In addition, dads, we have a great opportunity to show our daughters what a godly man is and does. My daughters need to see me express love to my wife through words, actions, gifts, hugs, kisses, etc. But I can also remind them of the great love God has for them, how they are special for who they are, and remind them daddy loves them. Enjoy the day. Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, I spent my vacation this week in Nebraska.  I was pleased that it was not as cold as it has been the past few years.  Why did I spend 4 days in Nebraska?  My wife is manager of Faith & Life Bookstore in Newton, KS and we did books tables in Beatrice & Henderson.  My job was to load & unload books & gifts and to be the cashier.  It was fun! This was work for Bethany, but for me it was a great vacation in many ways.  No, I was not on the beach or someplace warm, but I was with Bethany 24 hours a day.  It was a blessing! We talked about a lot of things and just spent time together.  We enjoyed romantic meals at Runza, Applebee's, Chipotle, & Wendy's. Hey, don't judge! We experienced an interesting hotel that was struggling to reach 1 star status.  We spent evenings watching TV & laughing together. I also was able to get some reading done for MB study conference in January. It was also a joy to see my wife in acti...

Today, I celebrate my 12 th anniversary. Since it is a Sunday, I am busy for most of the day, but I have a night away planned for Bethany and I to celebrate. I really cannot believe how fast the 12 years have gone. We have gone through several highs and lows together and I cannot imagine going through them without her. I still can remember clearly seeing Bethany for the first time 12 years ago today. We did not see each other on our wedding day until the back doors of the church opened. It was then that I first saw her smiling face and the beautiful dress. It was a great celebration of our faith and our lives together. It was a beautiful wedding-Bethany and Shirley did a great job. We have great pictures too. I enjoy looking back at them and our video to remember some of the details. I love her more and more each day. She is such a blessing to me. God has grown us together through the years. She has supported me in ministry changes. She has been there during the 6 moves o...

I hope you are enjoying the previous posts in this series called The Battle For . . . Today, I want to look at the battle for marriage. No, I am not talking about constitutional amendments. I am talking about husband and wife staying committed to each other. For those who have gone through a divorce, please don't mistake my comments as judging you in any way. I don't know your situation. However, what I do know is that over 50% of marriages are ending in divorce. That is way too many! This percentage is not that different between those who attend church and those who do not. As a family pastor, I want to be there for couples who are struggling in areas of their marriage. It saddens me to see people turn to everyone except the church when they are going through marital problems. I am praying right now that we as a church would be a resource and help to those facing struggles. Here are the lies that we tell ourselves or that Satan whispers to us about marriage: He/She doesn't...