Category:Love Stories

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Hallelujah! He is Risen!

Easter is the Best Holiday on the calendar!

My favorite part is the congregation’s response to the pastor’s opening words on Resurrection Sunday:

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

I’ve been known to go to more than one church on Easter Sunday – as many as three morning services – just so I can hear the Glorious News over and over and over again.

The most moving Easter Service of my life

… took place when my oldest son was a young adult. We were asked to be part of our church’s Easter program: a series of scenes that take place at the foot of the empty cross.

We played mother and son – which was a bit of a stretch for us – not because of our relationship, of course. But because neither of us had ever acted in a play. That is, unless you count elementary school programs, which I don’t think you can.

We were sitting in the back of the church, incredibly nervous, waiting for the other scenes to play out. My son looked at me and said, “I don’t want to do this.”

“I don’t either,” I replied. “Let’s go.”

But neither of us budged.

Then we were on.
The only two actors in the final scene.
The lights came up on my son, looking up at the empty cross in awe.

I entered from stage right, walked up behind him, and said,

“I’ve been looking for you, and I thought you’d be here. It’s time to come home, Son.”

My son excitedly told me about the all amazing things that had happened. Then he joyfully declared,

“Jesus has risen from the dead! He’s alive, Mother! He’s alive!”

After a few minutes of dialogue, my son ran off to share the Good News with anyone who would listen, leaving me standing there alone.

I took a few steps forward and
looked up at the cross, lost in silent wonder.  The lights dimmed.

It was very powerful.

That year our church had an empty tomb –

– a prop we’d used in another production. And on Sunday morning, they set it up the in the parking lot in front of the church. As everyone leaves the service, our director – dressed in her biblical costume – excitedly urges our whole congregation (Matthew 28:6),

“Come and see! He’s not here! He is Risen!”

I walked over, looked into the empty tomb, and suddenly …
Spontaneous tears as joy and wonder flooded my entire being.

And that’s the Truth about why I love Easter.

Hallelujah! He is Risen!
He is Risen indeed!

He is Risen
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Day 10: Bad Couples Therapy

the right starting point

Dr. William Doherty wrote, “the only form of therapy that received low ratings in a famous national survey of therapy clients, published in 1996 by Consumer Reports, was couples therapy” (see Bad Couples Therapy in Psychotherapy Networker).

He proposed that this problem exists because psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, and psychiatrists have never had even one course in how to conduct marital therapy.

His Bottom Line on Bad Couples Therapy:

Most therapists don’t know what they’re doing and need training.

I was one of the Blessed Ones, I guess. I completed a full semester (elective) course in marital therapy while I was in graduate school. And I did a couple’s Case Study as part of my Professional Qualifying Exam prior to my pre-doctoral internship.

And when I decided to specialize in couples counseling, I read everything I could find about how to do marital therapy well. I took post-graduate courses and even completed a 4-day externship in Houston, Texas.

But as I began to practice, I realized all my training had left out the Key Principles.

Unfortunately, marriage counseling often fails
– simply because it is founded upon the wrong premises.

Here are a few examples …

  • Marriage is a 50-50 partnership.
  • Romance dies a natural, healthy death.
  • There are no God-given gender differences.
  • Men need to learn to express themselves like women do.
  • And we don’t talk about God or spiritual warfare. That’s for preachers.

And here’s my take …

  • Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman before God.
  • God is the Original Romantic, and Romance is what keeps us going.
  • We have many God-given gender differences to be acknowledged and respected.
  • Men do not need to become like women in order to have a happy, healthy marriage.
  • Relationships are – first and foremost – spiritual endeavors. Ignore that, and you lose.

And that’s exactly why I spend so my time talking with you about your spirituality. Without God, you’re fighting a tougher battle than you need to fight. Here’s a short article that you might find helpful: Inside, Outside, Upside Down.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  • How do you see the current issues you have in your relationship?
  • What approaches have you already tried to improve things?
  • Have you asked God for His perspective?
  • What did He say?
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Day 9: Instructions for Men

instructions for husbands

God talked to Adam. He gave him specific instructions. About what to do. And what NOT to do. But he didn’t listen. Or obey.

The Lord gave instructions for what to do …

“Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky
and over every living creature
that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

… and for what NOT to do …

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

But Adam stood by
while Eve had a conversation with a snake.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,
who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6)

Adam’s Failure to Follow Instructions

  • He did not take his God-given authority (to rule) over the creature (the snake).
  • Instead of protecting his wife, he stood by and watched.
  • Then he followed his wife’s lead.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  • In what ways have you observed this story of deception and disobedience playing out in marriages today?
  • If you could rewrite Adam and Eve’s story with a happy ending …
    • what would Eve do differently?
    • what would Adam do differently?
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