Seriously, how cute is this kid?

#1. EllieG

How could this not be number one? The greatest gift that my wife has ever given me has to be my baby girl. Every day I see her grow more, discover new things, and start to act like a little person. Each day I think I can’t love her any more and each day I do.

I still don't think this is abusive...

Getting to watch Tiff be a mommy has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Sure many times she has been overwhelmed or had to deal with something brand new, but the way that I get to watch her love that kid is amazing. I find that just watching them play together could make me cry right there on the spot. It is just so much fun to be a part of.

The best thing about it is I now get two Tiff’s to hang around. I get to look forward to spending the rest of my life with these two girls and loving every minute of it. I am so thankful that God has given a wonderful wife for these five years, a super cute little girl for these six months, and I look forward to many years to come loving them both all the more!

She's so good at this!

She supports even my craziest ideas!

#2. A Helpmeet

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18

Coming in at number 2 on the list is the wonderful support that my wife gives me every single day. This goes far beyond simply supporting whatever direction I may go. A simple, tragic example of this would be the way she takes care of our house, however often I may trash the place. It may seem so simple, but the way she cares for our home shows how much she loves me, and I am so thankful for that.

Even beyond caring for the house is the way that she takes care of me. I get super busy sometimes balancing work, church, and school, but she helps take care of potential distractions that would impede my progress.

Even more recently I have been overwhelmed by how good a spiritual backbone she has become for me. Even though she is a quiet, polite person, she has grown to be able to assert Biblical truth into my life when I need to hear it. A physical representation of this would be how well she supports me in the praise band, playing whatever I may ask her to beautifully. Also she has shown a great ability to help me lead discussion in community and does a great job of bringing her perspective into the conversation. I am super thankful to have a wonderful wife that supports me just as God intended her to!

Sigh... Take me there

#3. Fun Trips

If there is one thing that I know my wife loves, it is vacation. There have been times in my life where I would have considered myself a home-body, but when we are together in some city elsewhere, it is an absolute blast!

We have spent lots of time going to theme parks and riding roller coasters, we have spent all sorts of time napping, we have been at sea... Through all of it the one thing I know is that I love spending time with her. Getting away is something that lets me focus all my attention on her and our relationship.

Here is a mini top three of things that we have done together:

#3. Football weekends: I love going down to God’s country for some football, having her there makes it all the more special.

#2. Jamaica: Out trip last summer to Jamaica was amazing. We got to spend a lot of time relaxing and just talking with each other.

#1. Cruising: This has by far been the highlight of the trips we have taken. I could make a shameless plug for Royal Caribbean (no really, they are the best!), but in actuality I love getting to see so many different places and experience so many different things in such a short period of time. This one also really harkens back to my post from yesterday where I said that we love food and cruises have been a means for us to share that love together too!

Our honeymoon was the greatest getaway I have ever been on. For the first time it was just me and the person God had blessed me with for the rest of my life. I love spending time seeing the world with her!

The Top Five Things I am Thankful For on the Week of My 5th Anniversary...

I mean seriously.... Good stuff!

#4. Good Food...

I love to eat... My wife love to cook... This is a good thing.

Next up on my list is my love for the great food that Tiff cooks for me all the time. While I may give her a hard time about her addiction to Pinterest, I really have reaped the benefits of its existence. When I was growing up, there were many things I did not like to eat, mostly tomatoes and onions. She has single-handedly “matured my palate” over the years so that I now enjoy all sorts of things.

The things that she cooks me make me full, happy, and more than thankful for one more reason that I know God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve.

The Top Five Things I am Thankful For on the Week of My 5th Anniversary...

See, she can were crimson...

#5. Football season...

I know... it’s like I don’t even care that I have a blog, but I promise... really, I am going to consistently write on here. At least this week. This week I am going to talk about five of the many things that I am thankful to God for on mine and Tiff’s 5th anniversary.

First up is football season. I know it sounds silly, but one of my favorite things to do is banter back and forth with her about how much I don’t like Peyton Manning, or how rude Bama fans allegedly are. It seems to me that our life would become so boring if that playful tension over opposing teams was not there. Don’t get me wrong, if she ever decides to join the light-side... we (me, Tom Brady, and Bear Bryant) will welcome her with open arms. Until that happens though, come Fall every year I am reminded just how much fun it is to be around her, go to games, and talk about how annoying the “WOO” in Rocky Top really is.

Back at it...

It’s only been a week since I last posted here, right? Oh, well. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, AND Happy New Year!

I have been less than productive the last few days because the snow has kept me away from work. Instead of accomplishing things I have been pretty lazy. Several mornings ago, however, I found myself lying in bed thinking about the glory of God. Nothing specific came to mind, I just thought about His glory.

Some of that thinking was a result of the night before. My wife and I and some of our friends had the opportunity to collectively “bombard” a Chinese exchange student with the gospel.  While I’m sure she was a little more than overwhelmed, she welcomed whatever explanation we cold offer. For that moment I felt like I actually understood Philippians 1. Just a few days before this encounter, I had been listening to the live stream from Passion 2011. Francis Chan spoke on Philippians 1:27, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…” He suggested that either we do not understand the magnitude of Salvation, or that we do not live a life that reflects that magnitude.

I think that evening last week that talking about that gospel began to overwhelm me with joy. The more I talk about the glory of God, the more I wanted to. I pray that God will bottle that joy and that boldness and that I will live in that manner always. I pray even more that we all as believers, whether in good times or bad, will live equally to the gift of grace that has been given to us.

We are all in this together…

Sorry I’m a slacker and haven’t posted recently. I’m sure you have all been waiting intently hitting the refresh button hoping something new would pop up… well refresh no more! Today’s post is a short blurb on a realization that I had during my morning Bible Study.

One of the most basic forms of sharing my faith that I was taught growing up was the Romans road. It is fitting to use the book of Romans as an evangelistic tool since in it Paul lays out Christianity thoroughly in a very systematic way. The problem that I have had (and you may can relate) is that because I have only heard the single verses used in this technique repetitiously. While there is truth in these individual phrases, there is so much more.

I have recently been reading through the book of Romans. When I got to chapter 3 I found all to familiar verse 23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” My only thoughts for this verse for most of my life have been that it was used to show that we are all sinners, and that was it. When I widened the scope of my reading I found that by looking at the verse in the context of the surrounding passage that there was so much more that could be learned.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The verse is not just trying to say that we are all sinners. It’s saying that we are all in this together, through sin and salvation. This includes not only now, but the Old Testament. That is a huge thought when you realize that for most people, then or today, working to earn our salvation seems like the only logical way to God. In the following chapter, Paul even teaches that it was Abraham’s faith that was what was counted to him as righteousness. The law only pointed to the need for a Savior, but all it accomplished was to condemn us.

In a world where so many people attempt to say that God can be found in any way, we must remember that we have been given the ONLY way to attain Salvation. The tough part is, it is out of our hands. Nothing we can DO will save us, only our faith in what has been DONE.