Rekindling, Supporting, and Encouraging

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her....." (Eph 5:25).

"Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged." (Col. 4:21).

"Because He himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Heb. 2:18).

It's three for one days at the Thought of the Day. The next set of milestones I am setting out for myself have to do with all of my relationships in life: my beautiful wife of 7 years come January 19, my son of 3 years, all of my family since I was born, and all the men and women I come into contact or relationship with as I go about trying to spread the Truth. Forget the chord of three strands, this is a cable of numerous strands and it will never break as long as Christ as at the center. Some strands may break, some may fray or become weak, still others will become stronger than ever when strained. All in all, it comes down to my relationship with Christ that will prove the strength of the cable. So here are my goals relationally for 2009:

1) Rekindle the passion in my marriage. How? The hundreds of ways I used to when we were dating. Send her love letters, write her poems, flowers, as many dates as possible, LISTENING, remain steadfast in our weekly night together, and many more.

2) Support my son through encouragement of his interests, involvement in his activities and passions (even though they may not be mine), dedicated play time every night that I am home with him, and exemplifying Christ both in his presence and away.

3) Lastly, encouraging all those I meet whether they know Christ or not. It takes more effort to break down than it does to build up. Through connection with people, Christ will shine through, I just know it in my heart. Believers or not, we all share the same struggles, temptations, and desires. I must not be afraid anymore to share the struggles of being human while seeking the face of Christ. How am I going to do this? Make the effort at least once a day to pray, call, e-mail, text or visit those who I am establishing a relationship with.

Wow, this year is going to be full. Hopefully it will be full of Christ, passion, and purpose. But my goals are not finished, tomorrow, on the first day of 2009, I will outline the easiest and most common goals that everyone shares: physical.

For those of you who follow this blog, I urge you to share your goals for the year here. All those who read them will be encouraged and pushed to set their own. And by sharing with everyone, we can be supported by the others to reach and achieve our very own milestones.

Trying to be a California wildfire,
Jesus Freak Out!