Working with one hand

A shovel in one hand, a defense in the other: Armed with an umbrella in my left hand, and a camping shovel in my right, battled the rain. It came down in buckets which is why I was out there, one tent was on one side of the campsite, the other tent was on the other side, but the rain came down the hill, crossed the road, and drained all across the campsite. The water was pooling up on the uphill side of the tents. It was only a matter of time, before my girls were sleeping in water. I trenched around the tents, but it was much like New Orleans during Katrina, there was so much water the trench was full and levees couldn't hold back the water very well. I trenched again, and again, I was soaked, but the girls slept on in the tents. I worked at it for a long time. When I was done, my hand wouldn't open up. It had gripped the shovel so firmly, it was nearly frozen in place.
It reminded me of Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem. The people were under the threat of attack. He armed the workers, a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other to keep rebuilding the wall.

Nehemiah 4:16-18
"From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me."

That's hard work, using only one hand just to scratch a ditch in some hard packed sand, they were carrying boulders and rock and mortar! This was not a human effort, only God could have sustained the work one handed. For He is able His strong arm is our shield and our refuge in a time of need.

II Samuel 23:9-10 (NIV)
"Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead."

My hand didn't save many, or a whole field of grain, but it saved three girls from sleeping in water (and myself).
When your strength gives out, God's strength begins.

Valueless or Priceless

Working in the housing industry, its fun to watch some of HGTV's shows like "House Hunters." Recently they had on a couple who were looking for a house in New York City. They were willing to ink a mortgage for $200,000 but not a marriage license. This is common in our day. There is a lot of political muscle behind living together. It is true that getting a divorce is easy, but there is commitment deeper than piece of paper.

That got Elaine thinking:

• Marriage is like owning a Rembrandt original. It's beautiful and is priceless. It anchors the decor of the entire room and shows that the owners have taste and class. It is priceless because it can never be replaced.
  
• Living together is taking that Rembrandt original in to an antique dealer offers you a trade for a print of the original, it looks the same, even has the same frame, sits smartly in the decor of the room, but it is valueless.
  

Elaine and I have a beautiful framed marriage certificate, that was sent to us from the town we applied in. It is very nice, we framed it and it hangs above the fireplace in the living room. What can we do as a church to promote this? I did a quick search and found that few places offer a marriage certificate that looks nice enough to frame, unless it's a wedding chapel. Christian Book Distributors does have them!

What a great gift from the church to a newly married couple, a framed wedding certificate for their living room. They can display it proudly and quietly tell the world, we're in this for life.

Isn't that priceless?

Marriage Lessons from Kayaking

Or How to Work Together Canoeing

Last month we took our family vacation. We own two canoes and my parents own two kayaks and a canoe.

Kayaking is reaching an all time high in popularity. It may only be a symptom of our culture rather than a resurgence of bygone culture.

First of all, if you own a kayak, I'm not saying you need to sell it, because you're out of God's will. You may want to get that canoe though. That's me in the kayak. It's much less work to canoe, than kayak, so I've only made one more kayak trip after this picture was taken.

Kayaking and canoeing are great activities, and you can see some incredible things while you're on the water, like the enormous otter that my brother and I saw one morning. Canoes and kayaks have some fundamental differences, that show us how a marriage should or shouldn't work.

Kayaking is typically a solo endeavor. I know that they now have 2 and 3 person kayaks, but primarily they are a solo adventure. The reverse is also true, I have a solo canoe and they make many of them as well, but primarily canoeing is a two person effort.

Now that all the assumptions are out of the way. Let's take a look at marriage:
Marriage is two people committing to each other for life. They become one in God's eyes. They strive together, work together, play together. They need to rely on each other and help each other. In the Biblical model, the wife submits to the husband, and he is the head of the couple.

In canoeing, the team must work together. The husband (who is usually heavier than his wife) sits at the back of the canoe and steers, the wife (who is usually lighter) sits at the front to provide forward motion and also to help with navigation. Guys, we just have to fess up that we can be blind to lots of things. The husband has the control of where the couple (canoe) is to go, but the wife has to help get the canoe there. If they both work together, they can reach their destination.
Instead of a canoe, our couple has kayaks: He decides where they are going, but she can go in the opposite direction, because they have their own boats. They didn't become one. They might paddle side by side for a while, but this is difficult. One kayaker will soon end up in front, they will drift apart, or bump into each other, because they are paddling on their own instead of together.
One important part of marriage is helping each other: while kayaking, if you get tired out, the other cannot help easily, but if you are canoeing, then one can take a short break as a rest and progress is still made towards reaching your destination. Canoes can go farther than kayaks, because two people paddle together, instead of independently.
After marriage comes the kids. Where do we put kids in the kayak? In a canoe, the kids are safe and secure, right between their parents. They are part of the family unit. They are in the care of their parents, and they are not in charge of their world (if they had a kayak, none of that would be true). With the children in the middle of the canoe, they are secure inside the boundaries. If they go to far to one side, they can learn the consequences, getting wet isn't a big deal; it's just an easy lesson to learn without permanent consequences (if you are wearing a life jacket).

So next time you're on the lake, think about the lessons from the back seat (or the front seat) of the canoe, wear your life jacket and have a great time with your family.