Happy New Year, guys and gals! Whether you were partying all night or in bed by 10 pm on the 31st, we hope you had an amazing New Year’s celebration. Can I just say, it is hard to believe 1999 was 20 years ago?! I vividly remember sitting in church on December 31st, 1999, waiting for midnight. When it came, a child sitting next to me leaned over and said, “Weren’t all the lights supposed to out?” ~smile~
Yes, long gone are the days of Y2K fears. We have found many new problems to freak us out since then. Sometimes it is good to look back over the years and remember all the scary stuff that turned out to be not so scary after all.
Our Theme is What Now?
A few months ago, Eric came to me to unveil this year’s family theme. The drum rolled and he came out with it: Creed. I admit, my heart dropped. Internally I was screaming, “Creed? What is that about? What am I supposed do with Creed and how are we going to help couples with this theme?” However, after a few months of marinating on the word (which may be why Eric did not spring it on me in December), I am still not thrilled. ~ smile~ Previous themes (such as simplify, connection, and perspective) were words I heard every day. They were much easier to write about because they were familiar and comforting. Creed is not a word I hear too often – and the thought of spending a year learning and writing about creeds makes me nervous (to say the least).
Before We Go Any Further
First, though… what exactly is a creed? Here I am about to spend a year blogging about this topic and I could not fully define it. Words, ideas, and pictures floated through my head but nothing succinct came to mind. So, I had to call on my old friend, Merriam-Webster. It defines ‘creed’ as: 1. “a brief authoritative formula of religious belief” (e.g., the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, etc.) and 2: “a set of fundamental beliefs, also : a guiding principle.”
Perhaps you have heard others make a declaration and follow it with, “this is my creed!” Or, maybe your church taught on various creeds of the Christian faith such as the Nicene Creed.
When Eric shared his desire to have Creed be our 2019 family theme, I dreaded it. Seriously, I wanted to talk him out of it. Everything inside of me fought him; but, as I have learned over the years, throwing a “mature” tantrum as soon as he introduces a new idea is not the way to Eric’s heart. So, I decided to sleep on it and hope that I might fall in love with the topic at hand.
I did not.
In fact, after swishing creed around in my mind for over two months, I am only about one eighth more comfortable with it than I was in the beginning. But, maybe that is good. This will be a journey for all of us. As of now, I know little about creeds. As I learn, I will share and we can go on a Biblical journey tying God’s word more completely into the topics which impact our dating relationships.
Shortly after sharing our 2019 family theme with me, he ordered artwork for our home – now adorning our hallway – of the Apostles’ Creed. Maybe we will even have it memorized by year’s end. We shall see. ~smile~
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places – Retrieved from crcna.org
Clarification
Such a beautiful declaration. I confess I have been in church my entire life and only read this (as memory serves, anyway) for the first-time last year. When I did, I said to Eric with concern (since we are Protestants; though, we have worked with non-Protestant couples), “But, we are not Catholic.” To which he responded that, in the Apostles’ creed, ‘catholic’ (lower case c) refers to the universal Christian church. So, I learned something already! ~smile~
So, to say I am excited about this journey would be pushing it a bit; yet, I am intrigued. I hope to come out of 2019 more knowledgeably of God’s Word, more grounded in my faith, and with both a personal creed and marital creed. Will you join me? Your comments on these posts are appreciated!
Here’s to hoping 2019 is our best year yet, with many smiles, few tears, and tons of growth! Happy New Year!
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