Marriage is a three ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering. -Anonymous

Fairy tales aren’t real.

And they lived happily ever after….yeah right.

If you are surprised by that…bless your heart.

No matter how much kid movies show the happily ever after in real life we know this isn’t always true.

What would Prince Charming do if he came home and found his bathroom covered in makeup and other girl products?

How would Cinderalla respond if she found out that Prince Charming has really bad gas?

Nothing is perfect in marriage.

The quote goes…

"Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed." (Albert Einstein)

Nothing is perfect in marriage.

Sometimes things are great and sometimes they are bad.

This is the way so many things are in life.

Whether it’s…

·         Relationships
·         Friendships
·         Jobs
·         Sports teams
·         Faith

There isn’t a perfect faith.

Faith is about having issues, making mistakes, feeling guilt and love at the same time.

It can be a struggle.

Faith is not happily ever after until an earthly death.

When I meet with someone to talk about baptism, I tell them this is the start of faith, not the end.

You get challenged in your faith and need help sometimes.

Listen to how Paul and Barnabas try to help people out in Acts 14:22…

“Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.”

Anything worth doing is worth fighting for.

I have seen many struggles in faith through the years.

I have seen some of the most faithful people I know go through a struggle in their life and turn their back on their faith.

Faith isn’t easy.

It sounds so easy to have faith sometimes.

Just love God and love people.

Sounds simple enough then it turns.

Now we are wondering what faith is about when…

·         People question us on current issues
·         When we wonder how or who to vote for
·         What are views on current issues etc.

Faith is not easy.

If faith was easy, just like marriage, everyone would do it and stay with it through the tough times.

It’s the tough times that are the challenge.

You will never have all the answers in marriage or faith.

Yet through it all I still believe in marriage and I believe in Jesus through thick and thin.

Paul and Barnabas lifted and encourage the people while also letting them know that faith isn’t easy.

If you are struggling in marriage, faith or other areas of your life…

Don’t give up.

Life isn’t always easy but life is so much fun at the same time.

Hang in there, things will improve.

Have a great day.

Bearing bad news

It’s easier to tear other down then pick them up.

Sometimes it feels like we can just tear people down.

I remember working and the only time bosses would talk to me was when I would do something wrong or something that they didn’t agree with.

I was working for a newspaper in Mt. Pleasant finished a story, submitted it and took off with Hailee before my sports editor came in that night.

Hailee and I went out and later I arrived home to find a message from my sports editor to give him a call (I didn’t have a cell phone to for him to reach me at).

Usually this was a call to fix, clarify or to tell me the article sucked (I did write some bad stuff sometimes).

I got on the phone with him and he responded, “Joel, your article was amazing.  I just wanted to tell you the article was great and I think that article could go on the AP wire.”

I said thank you and was completely surprised.

I never got a call like that before in four years of sports writing.

It encouraged me.

Often times it’s hard for us to celebrate, be happy or to encourage on another.

This is true with me.

A couple of years ago I took one of the psych tests in a class.

My test showed that I had a pretty significant negative outlook on myself like a 2 or on a scale of 10.

Often in life I look at the worst case scenario first.

I have been trying to work on this, but still fall short of being a better encourager at times.

In Acts 11 there was a person mentioned by the name of Barnabas.

Barnabas’s name meant either son of consolation or son of encouragement.

He was known as someone who encouraged other people.

Barnabas was sent to help people in Antioch and this is what happened with him in Acts 11:23-24…

“When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.  He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.”

Barnabas did something we all need to be known for, encouragement.

This is something that Christians are called to be known for, to encourage one another.

It’s a challenge for me and a goal I need to continue to improve in.

When you do some self-reflection do you think you are known for being someone who lifts other people up?

Today I am going to focus on trying to improve in this.

Is this something that you need improvement in?

How can you be a better encourager to other people?

Have a great day.

What'd you call me?

For a long time I thought he hated me.

My best friend Jason Sleight dad that is.

It all started about 14 years ago, I was talking to Jason on the phone when out of nowhere he calls Bob (Jason’s dad) and says I called him (I don’t even remember what exactly) something like a sissy girl that anyone could beat up.

I couldn’t believe Jason would lie to his dad and I started to freak out.

I hear Jason yelling this to his dad and I hear his dad in the distance yelling, “WHAT’D HE CALL ME.”

Next his dad got on the phone and said it again, I fumbled words around saying it was Jason and not me.

I thought for a while Jason’s dad hated me.

What I found out later, I was setup.

Jason’s dad was next to him the entire time and they were laughing about it.

At the time I really didn’t find it funny, now I can look back and laugh.

Bob will still come up to me once every while and say, “What’d you call me?”

What do people call you?

What do people call you to your face?

Behind your back?

If people just met you, what would they say about you after spending a couple of minutes with you.

What would you like to be called?

In Acts 4 the apostles and followers were sharing everything in common.

People brought things to the apostles and gave to those in need.

One of the people that brought stuff to Jesus was a man named Joseph.

Listen to what they called him in verse 36…

“Joseph, a Levite from Cyrpus whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”).”

Son of encouragement.

That is a great name to be called.

He was known as an encourager.

Not a bad trait to be known as.

I think about what I want to be known as…

A good guy

Good follower of Jesus
A funny guy
Person who was there for others
Genuinely cared about other people

I don’t want to be known for negative things.

Sometimes we are known for things we don’t want to be known for.

If that is the case, how can that change today?

How do you want to be known for?

Are you the person you want to be today?

I am a firm believer that everyone no matter how old can still change for the better.

That Jesus gives us another chance and we can do the same for others.

We can be known for being a better person and if we are the ones that make fun of other people we can change.

Are you who you want to be known for today?

If not, what can you do to improve that?

What’d you call me is a joke I laugh about now, what do you want to be called today?

Have a great day.