“I just know God put us together and no one can talk me out of it.” During our year of dating and engagement, I spouted various versions of this phrase. When I talked to my friends about Eric, I went into each encounter completely confident and ready to pounce if anyone even suggested I might need to give it more thought or reconsider. After we were married, one of my friends said, “Heather, after you brought God into it, I knew there was nothing I could say to make you think it through, so I did not try.” Another friend did try... and I made it clear that she was wrong (I might have been a … [Read more...]

Who has heard the adage, “Cleanliness is next to godliness”? Most of us have, and hopefully most of us know it is completely wrong. Nowhere in the Bible does it compare the physical cleanliness of a person, room, dish, or yard to living a God-honoring life. However, there is still a place for cleanliness in our lives. For some, it is of the utmost importance. For others, it is okay if only the important areas of our lives are clean (‘important’ is subjective, of course); and, for some, showers and vacuums are just not prioritized. Though not as important as finding a spouse who shares … [Read more...]

“I just did not like the way they talked to each other.” A friend was telling me all about her second date with a young man which took place at his sister’s house. On their first date, she was somewhat intrigued and interested enough to hang out with him again; but, when she watched how he and his sister interacted with each other, she became extremely concerned. In fact, it completely turned her off from having a third date. “I did not like the way they picked on each other. They put each other down.” The picture I gathered was that this family enjoyed sarcasm and hurled playful insults at … [Read more...]

“Your dad had the sweetest smile.” “He was always smiling.” “What I remember most about your dad was his smile.” “I am going to miss his grin.” “Every time I saw your dad he was smiling.” Though we were exhausted from the week’s events, we found the scores of people coming through our receiving line at Dad’s funeral to be unbelievably comforting. Saturday, July 27th, at around 1pm, my mother called me and in a distressed voice declared, “I need to talk to Eric. Now!” I ran to him, woke him up, handed him the phone, walked across the hall, sat on the guest bed, and anxiously waited for my … [Read more...]

Today’s post is short and sweet. The past two weeks – after losing my Dad so unexpectedly – have been some of the hardest days of my life, but also some of the sweetest. Why? Because in a time of great loss, God has shown Himself greater, stronger, and more loving than I have ever known Him. He has also shown us the value of friends – real friends – and taught me some valuable lessons on what it means to be a friend. So, I will leave you with a few thoughts on which to reflect for this week. Love the man or woman God gives you with all your might. Our days are numbered. You will never … [Read more...]