Trying to get the writing year off to a good start and school starts next week, so not sure how long this momentum will last, but here we are, so let’s go….

This week was a funny one with what kind of felt like two or three Mondays and here we are at Friday already.  We semi-celebrated the New Year with a game night at a friends house and friend sleep overs for the girls and enjoying the beautiful snow that fell on NYE.  I attempted to get groceries and run my errands ALONE on New Year’s Day but Sam’s had the nerve to be closed.  Seriously!  😉  Wednesday was art lessons and errand running in the slushy slop with the youngest two.  I’ve been doing a lot of computer work the past couple of weeks, trying to get photos cleaned out and organized and photobooks made and prepping school stuff for second semester and we’ve had wacky sleep schedules with the holidays and friends in town.  All that to say, I ended up with a twitchy eye and dull headache that afternoon, which did not make me much fun to shop with.  Thursday was our last real day of Christmas break and today the girls started back at Friday classes and I whispered Thank you, Jesus as I drove away.  🙂  Matt and I are both trying to get back in shape after some serious slacking over the holidays.  I “enjoyed” a run/walk with a friend today in the toasty 34* sunshine.

So a couple months ago, a friend and I read Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  I have to say it is hands-down one of the best and most unique marriage books I have ever read. As my friend said when we were discussing it, it’s not “do these five things and have a better marriage”.  It’s, as the subtitle says, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy.”  And the book proceeds to take many of our modern notions about marriage and romance and turn them on their head.  Following are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

• “God did not create marriage just to give us a pleasant means of repopulating the world and providing a steady social institution for the benefit of humanity.  He planted marriage among humans as yet another signpost pointing us to his own eternal, spiritual existence.” (p. 30)
• “Marriage requires a radical commitment to love our spouses as they are, while longing for them to become what they are not yet.  Every marriage moves either toward enhancing one another’s glory or toward degrading each other.” (p. 39, Allender & Longman)
• “We must never be naive enough to think of marriage as a safe harbor from the Fall….The deepest struggles of life will occur in the most primary relationship affected by the Fall:  marriage.” (P. 53, Allender & Longman)
• “We have valued the wrong activities when we look only at a person’s outward accomplishments.  Our relationship – especially our marriages – are an integral part of our ministry.” (p. 78)
• “We must not enter marriage predominantly to be fulfilled, emotionally satisfied, or romantically charged, but rather to become more like Jesus Christ.” (p. 96)
  • how’s THAT for going against the grain?!
• “A good marriage is not something you find, it’s something you work for.” (p. 133)
• The opposite of Biblical love isn’t hate, it’s apathy.” (p. 155)
• “If we enter marriage thoughtfully, purposefully, and with godly intentions, our wedlock will shape us in a way that few other life experiences can.  It will usher us into God’s own presence.” (p. 245)

And there’s more….there’s so much more.  I’m hoping to go back through the book again soon because I know I could take so much more away from it.  Highly readable and highly recommended!

That’s it for me today.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

For His Glory ~