31/07/18. That Personality profoundly Influences Behavior

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married
On the other hand, before we got married Karolyn had visions of what the two of us would do between 10pm and midnight. Her visions included reading and discussing books, watching movies together, playing intellectually stimulating games, and discussing the deeper issues of life. What she did not know was that my physical, emotional, and intellectual motor shut down at 10pm. The possibility of my carrying on an intelligent conversation was greatly diminished after that hour. It is true while we were courting, I stayed alive and engaged her till midnight. But I pushed along the euphoric feelings of "being in love." The excitement of being with her and doing things together kept the adrenalin flowing, and she had no idea that this would not continue after we were married.

(Can you see that, it happens to us all.)

#Amos3:3
#uniquebeings
#anniesentcares
#Dominion2018
#songsofvictoryontheway
#yearofvictory
#lightilluminates
#Blessedday

gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

30/07/18. That Personality profoundly Influences Behavior

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married

No one questions the axiom that we are all unique. The question is, how unique? I wish I'd known that personality (those characteristics that make us unique) would profoundly affect our marriage.

Before we got married, I dreamed about how wonderful it would be to get up every morning and have breakfast with my wife. After we got married, I found out that Karolyn didn't do mornings. Breakfast was not her "thing." Upon reflection I did remember that during the dating years, she told me, "Don't call me in the mornings. I'm not responsible for what I say or do before noon." I took it as a joke and laughed. I never called her in the morning because I was busy "doing my own things."
After marriage I discovered that she was serious. My dream of a quiet romantic breakfast with my wife was shattered in the first month of our marriage. I was left to eat breakfast in silence, except for the songs the birds were singing outside the window.

#Amos3:3
#uniquebeings
#anniesentcares
#Dominion2018
#songsofvictoryontheway
#yearofvictory
#lightilluminates
#Blessedday

gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

27/06/18. That Spirituality is not Equated with"Going to Church"

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married

Matt agreed to give up Sunday morning golf and began attending church with Jill. Jill agreed that she would join him looking for a church that he would find more engaging. They found such a church, and together, they are deeply involved not only in attendance but are involved weekly in teaching a fifth-grade children's class.
Incidentally, they now a three-year old son. Both agree that they are glad they found a meeting place in their Spiritual journey before their son was born.

Religious beliefs are often accompanied by strong emotions and deeply held convictions. Even atheists often hold their non-God views tenaciously, and those beliefs affect the way they approach life. In that sense, though they deny the existence of God, they are deeply religious.
Because our religious beliefs affect all of life, it is very important that we explore the foundation of spiritual COMPATIBILITY before we make the commitment to marriage.
I hope this chapter will help you do that.
Ponder on the following.
1) What are the basic religious beliefs of my parents?

2) Where am I on my spiritual journey?

3) How do my religious beliefs affect my daily lifestyle?

4)Do you think you hold enough in common to build spiritual intimacy in your Marriage?

Book Review continues Next Week by God's grace

#Amos:3:3
#goodmorning
#anniesentcares
#newsongsontheway
#songsofvictory
#faithworks
#garychapman
#blessedday

Gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

02/11/19. That Spirituality is not to be Equated with "Going to Church"

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married

For many couples in relationship, spirituality is an unexplored topic. They simply assume that this area of life will take care of itself after marriage. Others who openly discuss matters of spirituality often ignore the warning signs. They are so in love with each other, enjoy being with each other, and can use themselves making each other happy for the rest of their lives, and they close their eyes to huge differences in their lives, and they close their eyes to huge differences in their views of spirituality.

Jill and Matt, the couple we met at the beginning of this chapter, eventually discovered spiritual intimacy. After several counseling sessions in which I helped them listen to the heart of the other person and try to understand how important this issue is to them, they were able to affirm each other's concerns and become friends instead of enemies.
Once they moved from an adversarial relationship to a relationship to a friendship where two people were trying to understand each other and solve a conflict rather than win an argument, the resolution became rather easy.

#Amos:3:3
#goodmorning
#anniesentcares
#newsongsontheway
#wisdommatters
#garychapman
#favouredMonth

Gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

25/07/18. That Spirituality is not to be Equated with "Going to Church"

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married
I remember the young lady who said to me, "I've been in a relationship with Andrew for three years. When we started, he told me that he was a Christian. We have many common interests and we have many wonderful times together. But I realized that we are not marching to the beat of the same drummer when it comes to spirituality. For him, Christianity is a religion; something you do on Sunday but it has little relevance to how he makes decisions and lives his life. For me Christianity is my life. Nothing is more important to me than investing my life in serving Christ. I realize that we don't have the spiritual foundation on which to build a Christian marriage. Therefore I am breaking off our relationship."

I think this young lady is extremely mature. If after 3years she had seen little spiritual movement on his part to become more personally involved in his relationship with God, to think that we could CHANGE AFTER MARRIAGE WOULD BE NAIVE. Three years later, she married a young man who had a similar level of commitment to his faith in Christ and the two of them are in the process of building a truly Christian Marriage.

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.

#Amos:3:3
#goodmorning
#anniesentcares
#newsongsontheway
#songsofvictory
#wisdommatters
#garychapman
#favouredday

Gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

24/07/18. That spirituality is not to be Equated with "Going to Church"

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married

WHAT KIND OF "CHRISTIAN"?
Thus far, I have been talking about theological differences in faith and practice, but now let me turn to the personal side.
We clearly recognize that there are different levels of commitment among Christians. For example, some people who call themselves Christians attend church only during the Easter and Christmas holidays. Other than those holidays, their religion tends to influence them very little. On the other hand, there are many who attend church on a regular basis. For some, it is once in a week event...,some believe in regular worship...

Thus, it becomes extremely important to discover what kind of Christian you are in a relationship with.

What is thier level of commitment and involvement in the Christian community? How important is their faith to them? And what kind of impact does it have on their personal life?

It should be obvious that an Easter-Christmas Christian is very different from a daily "quite-time" Christian.

Watch out before marriage.

#Amos:3:3
#goodmorning
#anniesentcares
#newsongsontheway
#songsofvictory
#wisdommatters
#garychapman
#favouredday

Gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com

23/07/18That Spirituality is not to be Equated with"Going to Church"

Word count:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

Book review: Things I wish I'd known before we got married

EXPLORING 80 BRANCHES

Inasmuch as 80% of the population of the United States claims Christianity as their religion and inasmuch as this is my own personal religious heritage, let me explore with my Christian readers additional issues that I think need to be addressed before decision to marry.

There are three major branches of Christiendom. Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism.
While these three agree on certain core beliefs, such as Divinity of Christ, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection from the dead, they disagree on many other issues.

If you are contemplating marriage to someone outside your own Christian tradition, i urge to explore both the traditions and seek to negotiate your differences. To marry simply because you are "in love" and to ignore the implications of these spiritual differences are signs are immaturity... Assuming that both are members of the same Christian tradition, it is time to examine the finer points of belief and practice. 

These differences need to be fully explored if you are contemplating marriage.

#Amos:3:3
#goodmorning
#anniesentcares
#newsongsontheway
#songsofvictory
#wisdommatters
#garychapman
#favouredday

Gracedrelationshiprecipe@blogspot.com