First Monumental Step

Last weekend was the beginning and end to my first monumental step, in my opinion. Well, it was more of a get a head start and leap, rather than a step.

As you all know, I am engaged/married withOUT the benefits (that's an entire blog on its own). I am in the works of being the Youth Pastor at my future Father-in-Law's church. His wife, my fiance's ma goes back and forth between... youth pastor and youth leader so I've decided to tell people that I am this... I was thinking of calling myself a Youth Pader, but people can not see/nor will they understand that I combined Pastor & Leader so they will think of Youth Patter instead of Youth Pader. Ip-so-fact-o, that would destroy my ministry career like Jesus is going to open a can on Satan & Hades. To conclude this extremely random note, I tell people that I am the Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA. (I'm probably going to write that on my applications for Pastoral positions after I've graduated from Bible College). So back to my first monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step....

I'm the official Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA working under my future parents-in-law. Indianola is a beautiful hippie town with an enormous dock that that extends at least a couple hundred of feet above the Puget Sound, extremely far from civilization and celebrates New Years Eve with a polar bear swim ... old and young, man and women, some nude, some not. PERFECT! Because I have agreed to this amazing Youth Leastor position, I had a make my monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step. I officially moved out of my parents house into another place and never will reside at their house again for the rest of life. I have lived out my parents house before. I lived in an apartment for a year and a half with a buddy of mine, been on several mission trips for a few months, and lived in the dorms. But! I have always had a room at my parent's house waiting for me and in that room was my stuff. Now, it is not that way. I have moved entirely from my rent's house with the entirety of my stuff.

To some this may not be as big of deal, but to me, it's my first monumental, get head start and leap. Why that obnoxious saying instead of a 'step?' In my opinion, taking a step is much easier then having to do something that requires you to get a head start and leap for it. So, today is Friday, April 17th. Just shy of four months I will be getting married and would have to make the move that I did last weekend. But it is finished and now, I will be awaiting the day that Hanna and I will have a house to live in with all my stuff, all her stuff, and our own junk combined.

The one hour move from Gig Harbor to Poulsbo is over, hallelujah! I am reaping the second hand smoke from the fire, but soon clear skies will be here. I know it. I believe it. I freakin' love it! I've taken my first monumental, get a head start and leap and now patiently wait for the day to take my next monumental step, which will getting married and living with the most gorgeous girl.

The Engaged Life - Part Two

It was a couple weeks ago when I started this two-part blog. The big celebration a couple weeks ago was Hanna and I celebrating our seventh month of being engaged. Now... the big celebration of ours is that we have four months til' the day we say, "I do!" Our good God continues to send many blessings our way and I constantly praise Him. What an awesome God!

I'll continue with Part Two to conclude my two thoughts I've been thinking about for many days and many hours.

Short recap... the idea of spiritual warfare amongst an engaged/married couple (Part One) and the truth and relevance of Ephesians 5... I believe around 22 to the near end (Part Two).

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Part Two - Damsel in Dis... A Selfless Prince

I really just want to start by thanking those who have been a part of my blogging experience. After writing Part One of this duo, I fully understand why the Pastor/Professor/Friend who "intimidated, yet inspires" me suggested if we truly are called to ministry and plan on pursuing that, we should consider opening a blog. Love you all!

This blog was inspired by a lecture that I sat through spoken by my lovely.... fiance. :) We were were talking about life and some specifics, which I don't quite remember what they were. Hanna happened to bring up the fact that the man/husband is the one who is called to sacrifice, not the woman/wife. And as simple as that statement was, it remains to be one of the wisest things I have heard in a while.

Now let's go to scripture, yea?

Ephesians 2:22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." And Ephesians 2:25 reads, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." Both the wife and the husband have perfect examples of how they should be, and that perfect example was shown by the Word.

Wives, according to the verses 22-24 and interpretations by most, are to model their submission to their husband after the church submits themselves to Jesus. I understand that model and do like that, but I prefer the model of submission to Father God that Jesus set for us. The church, the body of believers in Corinth, Ephesus, and so on to the actual establishment of the church in Acts, DID submit to Christ, but they were sinful and flawed. Unlike the church, Jesus is not sinful and flawed. He was submissive "as to the Lord."

EPHESIANS 5:25!!!!

So there's this story about a damsel in distress. Whether we have heard the original story about the damsel in distress or have seen any major motion-picture (specifically romantic-comedy or drama) revolving around the theme of a woman 'in distress' waiting to be 'rescued' by the 'prince.' I personally have never heard the original story, but whether we have heard it, watched a romantic comedy, or simply grew up in a community where families are valued, I think that in men, especially every man of Christ, this idea of being the mighty prince/rescuer is something we all desire.

I remember, before I met Hanna, watching movies where the "rescuer" became like the Hulk and was unstopable, and thinking how lame and repetitive these movies were getting. But since I've been rescuing Hanna, there have been many times when I became like the Hulk myself. I remember many times while I was half way done with a long distance run and I was getting extremely tired or thought I couldn't make it, I would think to myself that Hanna was in trouble and I needed to rescue her. It's amazing how God built us men that way. I don't think that drive is limited to gender, but according to Ephesians 2:25, men are to "love our wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her." So, the church was rescued by a good fight and a sacrifice by our rescuer.

So Hanna, at the will of the Spirit, said that men are the ones called who to sacrifice, not women, and men shouldn't expect anything in return. She told me that a while ago and I looked up Ephesians 2:25 in the Message (a different translation) and this is how I was confirmed that Hanna was at the will of the Spirit.

The Message... Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church- a love marked by giving, not getting..."

ARE YOU KIDDING!?!? How beautiful is that!? Spoken to by the Lord God through Hanna, I realized that we, men of Christ, really have a task. Whether married, engaged, in a relationship, or single, we should start practicing being selfless and I believe that out of our selflessness, "a love marked by giving, not getting" will be start to produce. I wish that I realized how important Paul's words of living a selfless life really are. Even though I missed the band wagon to 'a love marked by giving, not getting,' I've been on the train of being the rescuer, but not I'm currently cruising toward being a selfless prince.