At lunch a few weeks ago, a professional acquaintance told me of her vision for an adolescent female ministry that would teach its members what it meant to be women of Christ. She envisioned giving each of the girls a plain silver bracelet at the first meeting. Participants would earn blue beads to put on their bracelets by attending meetings and accomplishing tasks. The beaded bracelets would one day adorn the young women as the "something blue" they would wear at their weddings.
Though...
Perceptions of Marriage a Series
The sun is shining and the flowers are blooming. Romance is in the air and people's schedules are filled with wedding after wedding until September. It is wedding season. While there may be a laundry list of gifts to buy, showers to attend, and trips to be planned, we still do it. We book hotel rooms, schedule flights, buy new clothes, and sometimes even try and alter our physical bodies, after all these pictures last a lifetime. Regardless...
The ideal marriage is a marriage between two people who both operate from the I/Thou relatedness stance. Granted that is much easier said than done. As individuals come into marriage, they have already been living relationships from one of Buber's models of relatedness. As individuals we should strive to live our lives in full value of self as well as fully in appreciation of others. When we find ourselves living selfishly or giving little regard to others, we should call...
Often times our perceptions of ourselves are connected to the ways in which others view us. Our relationships dictate how much we feel content, how loved we feel, and essentially relationships can determine our sense of security. From this perspective the ways in which we value ourselves can be commensurate with how we view others.
"To bear the image of God is to live in reciprocating relationships with God and our fellow human beings. Martin Buber, a Jewish theologian,...
Icons are "paintings of significant Christian subjects and events, which are created in a canonically defined style. Through their innate qualities of composition, subject matter, and color scheme, for nearly two thousand years icons have served as portals to a higher domain" (Zelensky, 2005, p. 13). The two dimensional paintings of Jesus, Mary and Child, and various other saints that adorn the walls of churches and cathedrals are often simply looked at as decoration by some church...
The following is an interview with a real couple about what makes their relationship work. Their names have been changed as well as any other identifying information to protect the anonymity of the couple.
Peter remembers after meeting first meeting Everdeen: "This is a woman. She had her shit together." He commented on how he felt captivated by her service in listening to God as well as her integrity; characteristics she carries with her to this day. Everdeen...
I'm tired of listening to sentimental talks on marriage. At weddings, in church, and in Sunday school, much of what I've heard on the subject has as much depth as a Hallmark card. While marriage is many things, it is anything but sentimental. Marriage is glorious but hard. It's a burning joy and strength, and yet it is also blood, sweat, and tears, humbling defeats and exhausting victories. No marriage I know more than a few weeks old could be described as a fairy tale...
Few people have asked the question, "What is the purpose of marriage?" Especially those actually in a marriage. Below are a few of the most common responses people give when asked what they think the purpose of marriage is:
To spend life with a best friend; To never have to be alone; To have sex; To have two incomes; To start a family; To walk hand in hand with another till death; To be happy
What happens when the best friend...
Often times the way in which we see our marriages rests on the way in which we see the rest of life. Our ability to experience genuine marriage rests in our ability to see ourselves in the Christ identity. The following passages draws upon the origin of healthy perspective:
Matthew 6:25-33
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, not about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more...
The following is a conversation between a married couple of 40 years:
She says:
We have had good times and we have had bad times. But that's life, you know...I think the best thing in life about two people is when they're able to come back and say, "I'm sorry," or "I did see it wrong." He has been a real human being for me...as we grew, we grew stronger. I knew that he was good...you can feel that people love you. I just love my husband and he...