Walking Through Life With You...

In the movie They Died With Their Boots On, with Errol Flynn and Olivia de'Havilland, Errol Flynn plays Custer during the time preceding and during Custer's "last stand." I love the line Custer says to his wife when he knows he'll not ever see her again:

"Walking through life with you has been a very gracious thing…"

What has "walking through life with YOU" been to your spouse?

What would you LIKE walking through life to be with you? Fun? Energizing? A very encouraging thing?

Sadly, if you asked many people today, they would say, "Walking through life with my spouse has been a very trying thing." Or a very stressful thing or a very hair raising experience!

Decide what you want "walking through life with you" to be, and make today the beginning of that experience for your spouse and for those around you.

Challenge: What is "walking through life" with YOU like?! What do you want it to be? Make a FOCUSED EFFORT so that others will have an amazing testimony of what "walking through life" with you has meant to them!

United in Purpose

Amos 3:3 Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place?

So many times when my children were in high school, I instructed them to be careful of trying to "walk together" down the same road with someone if the person wasn't even sure of which road they wanted to walk down yet! I encouraged them to see where the people they hung around with were heading after graduation, when they were able to decide on their own which paths they wanted to pursue in their lives, and then determine if that was a path that was mutual before making any commitments to someone.

It is so important that when you link lives you are united in purpose. This goes beyond the fun and entertainment part of dating, it goes beyond mutual hobbies and likes and dislikes. It goes to the depths of the purpose of your lives.

My mom and dad are so different from one another. My dad loves sports and activities, and my mom loves reading and poetry. My dad could care less about books, and my mom could care less about sports. But they are celebrating more than sixty years together. The bond they have is the strongest bond possible: the bond of being united in purpose.

Both of them gave their lives and energies to producing an amazing family. They poured themselves into it. Each in their own way, with their own contributions, they gave 100% to ensuring the closeness of our family. When they committed their lives to Christ when we were all teenagers, they realized the supernatural power of God to effectuate and empower the purpose they already lived for.

My husband and I are united in purpose for the same goal: to live lives to glorify the Lord, and to have a family that demonstrates the power of God in the earth.

Isaiah 8.18 ~ Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

Psalm 127.4 ~ As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Isaiah 54.13 ~ And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Psalms 132.12 ~ If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.

Many times when my husband and I were at variance with each other, we would know that we were praying for too many things to be at odds with each other. Our unity of purpose demanded us to keep no records of wrongs done to each other: we had to clear things up immediately. In the 29 years we have been together, we have never allowed ourselves to be angry with each other for more than a few hours without clearing things up.

What is the purpose for which you and your spouse are united? What is the passion of your souls that join you together and command your unity and oneness?

Challenge: Talk with each other and discuss the purpose that unites you. Discuss your goals and see where your unity in purpose is together. Then pull together and watch amazing things happen!