Jarrod Jones

The below article was written by Marriage Today’s Jimmy Evans. It’s a weekly e-mail “Marriage Builder.”  I couldn’t locate the article on the Marriage Today site. So, I copied and pasted it into my blog from the email.  I highly recommend visiting the site and subscribing to the weekly emails of Marriage Today.

Enjoy!

Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as our “helper” in John 14:16. In this passage, the Greek word translated “helper” is procolasit. It means “called alongside.” As our helper or companion, the Holy Spirit will walk alongside us as the most faithful friend we could have. And I believe that a great wife will exhibit many of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit in a marriage relationship. Once of these shared roles is as convictor. In John 16, Jesus says that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world “of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.” Convicting is not condemnation. Conviction is kindly telling a person, “Hey, you are wrong.” And let’s face it: women are pretty good at that. You might laugh, but I’m serious. A wife can say things to her husband—necessary things, things that he needs to change—that no one else can say. They are good at it, and as husbands we need to listen when they convict us about something. A second role of the Holy Spirit that a wife may also demonstrate is that of connector. He connects people relationally. The Holy Spirit is always connecting us with God. He reminds us of Jesus. Women are natural connectors because they connect men to their children. This is one of the natural things women do. They remind us to spend more time with the kids, or make sure we know when we’ve hurt our kids’ feelings or when we need to have a talk with one of our children. Our wives are intuitive about those things, while husbands often are not. We need their input to keep us tuned in. Women will also connect us to our own feelings. It’s their way of partnering with the Holy Spirit to heal us. They know how messed up a lot of us are emotionally—don’t try to deny it, guys—and God uses them to get inside us and fix us. Early in our marriage, Karen would always ask me how I felt about certain things. I would always respond the same way. “I do not feel,” I would tell her, “and I don’t want you to talk to me about my feelings.” Talking about feelings made me really nervous. But she knew. She knew that I’d been hurt about certain things that I wouldn’t talk about. I’d always deny it when she brought it up, but every time the Holy Spirit would eventually confirm it. Karen was right. She was always right, and God used her to heal a lot of the emotional scars I was carrying around—scars that had taken their toll on me and our marriage. Women have incredible intuition and relational wisdom. Just as I’ve learned to listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings in my relationship with God, I have learned to listen to Karen’s voice in our marriage. As convictor and connector, she continues to impact our relationship and make me a better person. Every great wife can play that role in your marriage, too, if you’ll listen. Blessings!

This was sent to me by a very good friend who is a police Lieutenant. Worth the 1 minute.
H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.

This is a 27 second video for your viewing pleasure or pain. To give you a glimpse of the utter chaos that our church small group can be, here is a little snippet from Tuesday night, the last night with our small group.

You must check out THIS BLOG for the rest of the story (pics are included in her blog).  I even recommend you bookmarking her blog.  Rachel is a close friend of our family and a fantastic blogger with a impressive following. Enjoy.

For you out there who love to read. Interesting article.

The original blog/article can be found at Dr. Mohler’s blog site. Or read article below.

Health Alert — Read to Save Your Life by Dr. Al Mohler

We are constantly bombarded with health messages these days, with many offering confusing, complicated, or contradictory advice.  There are so many messages with so many misunderstandings that, in the end, they have become like car alarms going off in the parking lot.  They are heard now as a noisy nuisance.

Well, here is a health alert we can all understand. Researchers at the University of Sussex have determined that the very best way to relieve stress, both physical and mental, is to read a book.  Got your attention?

As reported in The Telegraph, the researchers found that stress levels and heart rate showed a 68% reduction in measurable stress after reading from a book.  After achieving a high stress level through exercise and mental tests, just six minutes of reading slowed the heart rate and decreased other measures of physical stress in the muscles.  Reading reduced stress to levels even lower than the baseline before the high stress was reached.

Other stress relievers included listening to music (61% reduction), having a cup of tea or coffee (54% reduction), and taking a walk (42% reduction).  Playing video games lowered stress rates by only 21%, but left heart rates racing.

Dr. David Lewis, who directed the study for Mindlab International at the University of Sussex, said, “Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.”

As the paper reported, “Psychologists believe this is because the human mind has to concentrate on reading and the distraction of being taken into a literary world eases the tensions in muscles and the heart.”

Dr. Lewis explained this in greater detail:

“It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination.

“This is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.”

This is a helpful (if non-poetic) description of the experience of reading.  The power of words on the page is incredible.  The experience of reading requires mental attention and the investment of imagination.  Creativity characterizes the reading mind, because reading brings a constant flow of ideas, thoughts, impressions, suggestions, and mental images.

No other experience brings the same ability to transport the imagination and to transfer ideas.  Those who would lead, must read.  Those who would learn, must learn to be avid and skilled readers.

Now we have even more reason to read books — and to advocate libraries, reading, and the literary experience.  Who knew that reading was good for your health?  Of course, reading is even more closely linked to mental development, intellectual growth, and, as reading Christians know, spiritual growth as well.

Pay close attention to this new study.  The life you save may be your own.