Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

I was vacuuming leaves out of the pachysandra the other day thinking about my children and how they are the incarnation (or enfleshment) of the love that my wife and I share. I have written about this before but I had another thought cross my mind. I remember great pain, in my youth, when I thought that my mom and dad did not love each other anymore. It is so obvious to me, now, that they did and still do. Yet in my inexperience and sheer emotionalism I recall certain times when I thought that their love was through. That it was going to be over. That was not something that I would want anyone to feel or to go through and I think I am gaining a better understanding of why that is. Because our children are creatures of love (as the Talking Heads put it) my love for their mother is really the core, or the fabric, of their very existence. In some way, without intellectualizing it, my children know that the love that my wife and I share together, and us acting on that love, produced them a...

Early on in my Christian walk someone gave me some advice that has stuck with me. They told me to make sure that I hang out with people that like being married. They wanted that to be such a part of my life that I would shrink back from people who were always complaining about their spouses...even the ones that prefaced their comments with "Don't get me wrong. I love my wife, but..." It is so great to hear people talking about their spouses in ways that almost seem unbelievable. Yes, there are pollyanna people out their (I am one of them) but I know the ones that are so desperately in love with their spouses that they are broken about being unkind to them or neglecting even a modicum of their responsibilities towards them. It is not an obsession, but a level-headed acknowledgement of the gift that they have received from God Himself. I have since extended that piece of advice to people who love, I mean really love, their children. These are not people who gush over their ...

This may come as a shock, but, I am not all that bold when it comes to sharing anything about my faith or God in general with people outside of a structured "faith-sharing" session. I just haven't gotten into the habit of steering the conversation (when it make sense) to my faith in Jesus or even dropping the fact that I am a believer and do believer-ee things. We had been challenged a bit ago in a church service to be bold - to really pray for and look for opportunities to share our faith in everyday circumstances. We also talked a bit in small group about just looking for small opportunities to let people know we are believers and strike up small conversations about it. Well, this was one of those days. While I was getting my teeth x-rayed (yes, Virginia, they found a small cavity) at the dentist I had the hygienist ask me a rather innocuous question about whether the boys had a hard time getting up for school this morning because of the time change. Now I had been pray...