You Have to Be Before You Can Receive

There are those that speak into your life that you never saw coming. You knew who they were, but you never thought you’d get to know them outside of they were during the day.

One of those people is a pastor at a friend of mine’s church. I’d met him and talked to him just in passing, no long conversations ever took place between us.

Then my fiance and I had to make a decision on who was going to pastor our wedding. Who could we find that knew us enough to be genuine during the wedding? Enough to make this an even more memorable event?

At first, we thought we’d just find a pastor through our home church because we thought that was the right thing to do. But the more I prayed about it and the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t feel that was the right decision.

The decision that was made was one I don’t regret for a second and someone I know that will be a part of our lives on not only our wedding day, but for years to come. Someone that will be part of our children’s lives and speak into their hearts as they grow up.

What I thought would be a hard decision has now become the best decision we’ve ever made. He’s now become a personal friend and an incredible mentor.

He’s the one that gave me the advice as my writing has taken off. He’s the one that reminded me that you’re not going to get handed something. You have to work for it, you have to make a name for yourselve before you receive the notariaty.

He’s a good man who’s married to an even better woman. They’re both incredible people and I owe them a lot more than they could ever imagine.

A Quiet Sunday…Sort of

I know it’s Super Bowl Sunday but I don’t have the motivation to watch it. Not saying I won’t because knowing me, it’s football and I’m probably going to watch because of that.

I’m not an NFL fan, I don’t have a “favorite” team because I am a bigger college football fan and enjoy the college game a lot more than the pro game.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve already made my pick on who’s going to win but it’s not going to bother me if the other team wins. If it’s a good game, everybody wins.

A Night of Encouragement

I love encouraging friends, I get a lot of satisfaction out of it, especially if they need it.

Tonight was one of those nights after it was all said and done, I hope the encouragement myself and my bride to be spoke into this friend’s life will help and I pray that they take it, pray about it and just believe that she is more than she makes herself out to be.

She has one of the best personalities of a lot of people I’ve been around. She deserves to find someone that will treat her better than she ever has.

Someone spoke that into my fiance’s life and God brought me to her. It’s amazing what encouragement will do to not only your personal life but the life that everyone else sees.

Like a Ton of Bricks

After taking my bride to be on a surprise date night, I return home to find a card from my dad. Inside it was a personal note from him and the program from my grandmother’s funeral.

I haven’t really had the chance to grieve since she passed away, probably because I hadn’t fully accepted that she was gone. But seeing the program I guess finalized things and the tears just continued to fall.

It just figures that when I finally do things right, when my life is finally on the right track, her and grandpa aren’t there to see it.

The only solice I have is the idea that they’ll be there in spirit, it’s really all I have to hang on to right now.

Date Night

Took unilateral action and decided to take my bride to be on a date. Why? Because I can.

No offense guys but if you think doing something like this for “your” lady is not being “manly,” stop and wonder if that attitude is why you haven’t gotten a decent girl. Just bein’ real….

Encouragement

We go about our daily lives without a hint of encouragement from those around us

We want it, we crave it, it’s what makes us stronger

But then we find the encouragement from just the words of our own heart

We’ve been here before, we’ve done this before, we can do this

Adrenaline kicks in and you realize that you just needed the belief in yourself to succeed

Don’t let people be the first to encourage you, have faith in who you are

Because THAT is what success is built from

Something for a Rainy Day

This is something I wrote my bride-to-be earlier today…thought I’d share it.

On a rainy day, the only thing I can think of is curling up on the couch with a good movie and my bride to be. No computers, no wedding, no worries.
The sound of the rain falling outside and the sound of our hearts beating for something we’ve been waiting so long for.
A moment in time that will stand still if just for one moment.
The doors of a church opening to the sight of an angel in white. The tears in her eyes are not of sadness but of happiness for a moment she thought would never come.
The stare in his eyes are for the woman he thought he’d never meet, but for the woman God had in mind for him all along.
Time stands still, everyone in the room disappears
And for that one moment, it’s just them, just like on this rainy day

Wedding Advice

Guys, when you propose to a girl you start the dream she’s had for so long which is the dream of planning her own wedding. You’ll hear things like “this will be fun” and “I want a big wedding.” While it may sound fun when it’s first said, trust me when I tell you, it becomes a lot less fun as the months drag on.

If I could give all of you thinking about popping the question to your special someone I’ll give it to you in two short words….short engagement.

For my bride-to-be, we’ve been engaged almost seven months and if I knew then what I know now, the engagement wouldn’t be more than three months, maybe four. I thought a few of our friends were crazy for getting married three months after they were engaged. Now, looking back on it, I realize why they did it.

Ok girls, now that I’ve given the guys their share of advice, now it’s your turn. I know getting married is a dream of yours since you were little girls but this is far from a cinderella story, at least from the beginning.

What you think will happen and what you dream will happen has it’s share of ups and downs along the way. Though the day will more than likely turn out to be the day of your dreams, the planning leading up to it will have it’s share of stress, tears, anger and every range of emotion you can possibly imagine.

If there’s one piece of advice I can give all of the brides out there, it’ll be these three words….it’s about Y O U. Family and friends will try to make it about them and try to push their opinions or agenda on you but DO NOT allow them to do so. The day is yours and your future spouse, it’s about what you want and it’s about the day that you’ve worked so hard for.

Don’t let anyone discourage you and don’t worry about who you offend because, trust me, there are going to be those that are going to be upset for one reason or another. You won’t please them all and you don’t have to.

Do what you want to do and how you want to do it, appologize to NOONE when it’s all said and done.

Like Frank Sinatra said so well…”I Did it My Way.”

Just a Few Months Away

So I’m not normally someone to go to a bridal show but I found myself at one this afternoon out in Fort Worth at the convention center. Something I noticed…I expected to get grabbed from every direction from people wanting you to talk to them or people wanting to know if you had this thing or that thing.

Look, I know you need the business, but when someone tells you you already have that taken care of, the one thing you shouldn’t be caught saying is anything at all. If they have it done, stop talking and let them move along.

Moving on…the one thing that left me scratching my head was a booth that re-did your bathtub or shower? Really? Look I know there are some of us who are starting new lives in houses but that kind of stuff belongs at the home and garden show that was just down the way. They seemed WAY out of place.

The wedding is only three months away…or as I tend to say, “not close enough.”

The Holy Spirit Isn’t Weird

Ok, so it’s not the typical headline but it stands true no matter where or when it’s said.

Tonight, a visiting pastor was at a church we attend once a month for something called “Night of Refreshing.” It wasn’t anyone I’ve seen before and his style isn’t anything that’s popular with me personally.

As my wife to be and I went up for prayer I continued to pray for the actual pastor of that church, I wanted to hear from someone I trusted. But, as we stood there, up walked the visiting pastor. What he said to us still rings in my ear as does God’s voice. Just before we walked up and during my prayer of wanting to speak with the normal pastor, I heard God say “do you really think I’d let him make you uncomfortable?”

The word God gave us through this visiting pastor was incredible.

He told my fiance that “everything would be ok,” stemming from her prayer about being stressed out over work and the planning of our wedding. Then he turned to me and told me that God would give me the wisdom to “get everything accomplished.” God also gave us a word that we would be blessed with prosperity and that we’d be taken care of financially.

For those of you who pray and are afraid of what God is going to say to you, just remember that He’s never going to make you feel uncomfortable. He’s there to encourage you and lift you up.

God has taken care of my fiance and I from the start of our relationship. We’ve put our trust in Him and He’s continued to be faithful to us both.

The Holy Spirit isn’t weird but He sure is incredible…