I love it when someone shares something inspiring with me.
I think we all need to plan one of these.

"One of us is going to die first," she said as she stared sideways at the wall, wrapped in a quilt of faded blues and milky whites, as if to shelter herself from the reality of her declaration like a kid hiding from the night.  Her head was on the pillow, but her brain wasn't tired.

"Weird," I responded as I tried to pull myself from the bills to be paid to depths of her soul.  Mental gear shifting is an attribute of every woman and every married man who knows what's good for him.

"Actually we should die at the same time.  That'd be cool," she said as her voice trailed off and left me thinking.

What if I lose her?  "This world is passing away," none the less.  The "appointed time" of my life "has grown very short." 

So what will I do?  Will I live my life with Lauren to raise a glass to my expectations?  I walked into marriage with a bag full of those and threw them on her side of the bed.  Expectations are just my selfishness imposing itself on reality, are they not?  And we create expectations for everything we want.  We have expectations for our wedding; for our first home; for our budget; for our sex lives.  We are constantly trying to run ahead of our footsteps to design our own happiness.

But what is the alternative?  I am realizing that my marriage needs to be handled with craftsmanship rather than just passion.  Passion is my soul wanting and wanting and feeling and feeling.  My wife needs that.  But she also needs me to take a class on her.  She needs me to study her, learn her needs, and practice different methods of loving her well as the moments carve opportunities.  I need to see Lauren Now, not just Lauren Future.  For my version of Lauren Future is shaped by my expectations and selfishness, not by God's sovereignty.  This is a right view of reality.

"Already I have all I want!  Already I have become rich!"  She has come along beside me and the rest is unexpected.

New ventures.

This is a great crew to be around and learn from.
Thanks to Plywood People for spreading the word about Fresh Harvest.

http://plywoodpeople.com/13972

As I order my coffee, as I sit in traffic, as I listen to sports talk radio, as I type, as I open envelopes...

...this is happening out there.

Moody, may we meet again.

"You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men."

I must remember what it took to get me sitting in this chair reading these words.

Could I be a different person in a week?

What is a week?
Some days.

What is a day?
What you make it.

This is my breakdown of the days of the week.  Without it, I can't focus.  Without it, I don't become the me that i want to be ten years from now.  With it...well, we'll see.

Sunday-Husband Day.  

     Write Lauren a note.  Pray out loud with her.  Schedule a date.  Give her a gift.

Monday-Brother Day.

     Pursue Mike.  Talk about one thing he cares about.  Pray for him.

Tuesday-Son Day.

     Call Mom or Dad and talk about one thing they care about.

Wednesday-Pupil Day.

     Learn from someone older.  Mentor.  Grandpa.  Grandma.  Grandmom.

Thursday-Disciple Day.

     If you are not discipling at least one person who doesn't know Jesus then you are not a disciple.  Be one.

Friday-Friend Day.

     Call someone.  Meet up.  Do whatever it takes to make a conversation happen.

Saturday-Monk Day.

     Do one thing in solitude.

Should our spirituality be based on passion or craftsmanship?

Do we base our relationship with the Word of God on how we feel?  Or are we willing to seriously study it?  Are we willing to view learning the Bible like we would view learning anything else?  Should "hard work"be a part of our spiritual vocabulary?

Am I willing to put in time of deliberate practice to know the Word of God and to make him known to those around me?  Will I ever actually know the Bible and be able to let others know about it if I don't?

How do we really gain deep knowledge?  Is memorization and meditation not on an entirely different level than the type of "studying the Bible" that I typically do?  Is my lack of focus on memorization of Scripture the reason I seem to coast?

Get your hopes up.