Marry Young vs. Establish Life and Career

In Sixteen days I will celebrate twenty nine years of being married to the most wonderful woman God could have paired me with. There have been a lot of great times. There have been some not so great times. If I get real honest about it, there have been some times that were down right horrible. One thing I can say for sure, in all these twenty nine years I have learned that without going through the bad, we would not have nearly as much good as we've had.

Three issues cause me to talk about this. First is obvious, our anniversary being right on top of us will always cause me to reflect on the love that Connie and I share. There were days and nights that each of us wondered what we were doing with each other. But we are both so glad that we worked through those times to arrive here today. God has even used those times to help other couples who are having trouble, giving them a living, breathing example that couples can indeed work through the issues of life and make it together on the other side.

Secondly, I heard this past week of another young couple who is calling it quits. I don't know all the details. I also don't think they would want their lives posted on the internet either. But I will say that this is a couple who has not been married even two years yet. One of the spouses has decided that they just cannot agree on how much the grandparents will be involved with any future grandchildren. What a shame? Children are not even in the picture yet and this couple will never know the joy that those same children will bring into their lives. They will never experience the love they feel as they hold those children for the very first time. They will never know the feeling of holding those little hands or the hugs those little arms are so free to give.

Finally, an article came across my computer screen today talking about marriage. I read most of it simply because the title said something about the church needing to teach younger marriage. Interesting article, the author makes the point that our society encourages putting off marriage to "find ourselves." Along with later marriage comes later child birth. He makes the point that God created us, particularly women, with a prime child birthing age in our twenties. As it turns out, the medium age of women getting married for the first time is going up and has reached twenty six year of age. Men aren't getting married until they're twenty nine. And then couples are taking a few years of "getting to know one another" and getting their careers established before starting their families. So they are missing the prime years for having children if they have any at all.

So, there is a lot on my mind tonight. I wonder what God has in store for our churches. I wonder what is in store for our families. I wonder what is in store for our country. If marriage ages continue to go up and children are delayed later and later, it only makes sense that the birth rate is probably going to drop. We don't need to over populate, but we also don't need to reduce the lives being born.

There is so much more to say, but I do not want to ramble. I leave with this question to ponder: Is the church teaching "early marriage" or suggesting that marriage be put off? If we're teaching that it should be put off, are we giving the tools needed to remain chaste until marriage? I'm afraid that we've stuck our heads in the sand for too long. Let's be honest and open with our youth and help them to understand that it is important to marry young and to not delay their families. And for those who don't find their mates until a bit later, lets help them with the tools and opportunities they need so that they can remain faithful to their future mates. Sure, kids are going to make mistakes. Hormones are going to drive them, and us, crazy for a bit. But, let's not loose our young to world and to Satan because we've been afraid to talk with them.

I pray this is understandable and provokes some thought in your mind. Please feel free to ask questions or even to comment. I would greatly appreciate it.

Rectangular Platter

This piece is a rectangular plate, 8"x9 1/4" x 1 3/4" tall. The wood is maple that I picked up from the church's by-pass property when we took down some trees. The inspiration for this plate is most assuredly oriental, in fact I had a sushi plate in mind. Lots of stuff going on in this piece, worm holes, ambrosia, fiddleback, etc. All works together to give a lot of interest. Finish is several coats of Seal-A-Cell, hand buffed between with 0000 steal wool, finished off with Beall System, and then Renaissance Wax. I just sent it off to a benefit auction for a young lady who has recently lost both legs to a rare disease. I hope it brings a great price for her and the family.

Rite of Passage

Today our family went through one of those rites that all families must go through from time to time. Our son has been off at summer camp all week and came home today. I'm sure it is true of all kids coming home from camp, HE STUNK. Nearly had to force him to go take a shower once he was home. He is also very tired. Won't admit it at all. We can see it in his eyes. Now that he's out of the shower he smells much better. Looks better too. Still sleepy though. Best thing we could do for him is get him in bed early tonight. Problem is, momma said something to him about going to see Ice Age 3 tonight. Now it is all he can think about. Guess we'll go to the movie. My guess is that he'll either fall asleep during the movie or on the way home. We only live about 3 miles from the cinema. Won't matter though. I'm pretty sure I'll be carrying him from the car to the bed.

Our Heavenly Father is a lot like that too. He will let us burn the candle at both ends and wear our selves out. He'll even let us have our own way and do what we want. Then, when we've worn ourselves out and are not able to go any further, He picks us up and carries us to a place of refuge, where we are safe and can get rest. He wants us to have life that is full, a life abundant with all the good things He created. That life of abundance is only available when we believe in His Son, Jesus. That belief pays the price we owe for the sin in our life. Jesus had no sin in His life, yet He died so that we could have the life that God wants for us. We simply need to accept that gift.

Tonight I will most likely struggle to get my son into his bed. God never has any trouble carrying us to a place of rest and safety. I'll place my trust in Him. Won't you?

I got this piece of wood from Clay at Choice Woods. He was having a sale on some wood that wasn't first rate before he moved to his new location. Wonderful wood, just didn't have the grain that some does. It is now the property of our nephew and his new wife. LOML gave it to them as a wedding present. Anyway, it is right at 12" wide and about 1 3/4" tall. Sanded to 400 dry and then wet sanded between coats of Seal-A-Cell and Arm-R-Seal. One of the few pieces that I had no problems with. It went smoothly from start to finish.


Questions and comments are always welcome. I only get better when I hear what folks think.

Christopher Goes To Camp

It finally happened. The summer of his seventh year he wants to go to summer camp. The flyer had come in on the fax machine. Salvation Army camp and there aren't very many kids wanting to go for some reason. We called hoping that he doesn't qualify. They really don't care as long as there is room. So, it's off to camp we go. Seems like just yesterday he was laying on my arm, sleeping, or cooing. Now he's about to heavy to pick up when he falls asleep in the car.

We've not gotten any calls saying that he is disparate to come home so I guess he's fine. Should have known. He wasn't at the camp more than two minutes when he has made a couple of friends with his cabin mates. They were waiting for the councilor to come and escort them to their cabin. These folks had things under control. There was a large screen with something about alligators being shown on it. All the kids were glued.

Connie goes to pick him up on Saturday. I'm sure we'll hear all about it. Should take weeks. There's one thing that I'm sure about even before he gets home to tell me about it, he'll have had a ton of fun. Christopher doesn't do anything without having fun at it. If momma can just make it to Saturday.


We pray for him daily. We pray for ourselves. Sure makes it easier knowing that God is watching over him. Enjoy yourself my son. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Osage Orange

Osage Orange is a really hard wood that resists bugs and rot really well. It is so resistant that farmers have used it for fence posts for hundreds of years. In some areas it is called bow wood because it is really good for making long bows. The bright yellow color will darken to a beautiful golden brown with time and UV exposure. This bowl is 6 1/2" wide x 3" tall. Finish is 2 coats of Seal-a-Cell followed by 5 coats of Arm-r-Seal. Sanded between coats with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper that was dipped in water. Seems to have worked pretty well. Not flawless, but came out pretty nice for this piece. I don't are much for the shape myself. The intent was something a bit different, but it ended up like this. So it is what it is. Might sell it for something less than the normal. We'll see.

Comments and questions always accepted.

Independence Day

Man that sounds like a good title for a movie. Despite that little attempt at humor, today has been July 4th. It is a day when we spend time with friends and family, celebrating the independence that our country declared for itself in 1776. What a day that was for those brave men, women, and children.

That same independence has been taught to each of us. You know what I mean, that idea that there is no one else that we can depend on. So, we must become independent, not relying on anyone or anything else other than ourselves. Our schools teach it from kindergarten through our graduate schools. Only recently have we begun to teach "team" and working together to get a complicated task completed.

When I think about my faith, I have to think that God does not ask me to be independent, but fully dependent. He asks us to place all our faith in Jesus, God's one and only Son. He asks us to sell out completely so that we have nothing else, relying totally upon Him. The only independence I find in the Scripture is that we are to be so dependent upon God that we are fully independent of the world.

And there's the rub. Society teaches independence because Satan is the temporary ruler of the earth. He does not want us to be dependent on God alone. Rather, he prefers us to feel we are independent, that we don't need anyone else other than ourselves, including He who created us.

I've been speaking with several couples who, at some point, felt like they could make their marriages work all on their own. Fortunately a couple of these couples were married and that institution meant something to both of them. They have returned to the root of marriage and God has restored those relationships. Are they perfect? I doubt it. They are still made up of two human beings who still want to be in control, independent, and in charge of what they do with their lives. But at least they have begun to worship and pray together. They have made God the third member of the marriage. Others were trying to play husband and wife without the blessings of God, without the commitment that comes with the ceremony and the certificate.

Point is, independence is great for a country, even a business. We need that. As a country we don't want or need to be relying upon some other country to keep us above water. But as individuals it is a different story. In order to truly live free and happy lives, we must be fully dependent upon God, fully dependent on what Jesus did for on the cross, and fully dependent on the relationship that Jesus affords us with the Father.

As we remember July 4th, I pray we celebrate the independence of our great country and our dependence upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus.