1 + 1 = 1000

Happy Friday Everyone!

I awoke today thinking about my wife… how thankful I am to have such a friend as Emily! This August, we will have been married NINETEEN years, and an amazing nineteen it has been! No, today is not some special day… not yet her birthday or Valentines Day… just a regular Friday morning. She’s not sitting here beside me… I’m not even sure if she will read this blog… I’m not trying to buy myself out of the dog house… or rekindle romance. Every once in a while I notice the beauty of who she is and it overwhelms me with gratitude.

Since I am one of the most driven men you will ever meet, I tend to carry pressure every day of my life. For me… it’s very challenging to celebrate accomplishment while there are always so many meaningful missions yet to be successfully completed. Even on vacation… I find myself hoping that my family will sleep late so I can write for 5 or 6 hours before they wake. Trust me, I work hard for balance and I cherish every second of quality time with my family. Balance is just not natural for me, since I have such a passion to alter world history! On some days, I spend hours consciously warding off the discouragement that comes with the huge dissonance between my dreams and my reality. This is who I am… and even though I pray to be more content and far more focused on my progress… my unfulfilled dreams never let me rest!

Emily is the exact opposite of me… she lives in the NOW like no one else! Life is NEVER complicated for Emily… never hopeless… never incomplete. Emily lives every day of her life CARE FREE… her smile is always shining! Her face announces her PEACE… more tranquil than a thousand gardens. She is the PERFECT “peaceful phlegmatic!”

Left to myself, I would be driven to certain insanity. I would burn up… self destruct… and fade away. This is why God gives us friends… partners… opposites. God made us for other humans… he made other humans for us… to balance us and complete us.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken.”

Today, recognizing the weakness of who I am left to myself… I am thanking God that there are TWO of us. Together, we accomplish more than twice as much as one! And when one falls… the other reaches out to help! On a cold night, we are warm… standing back to back, we cannot be defeated! What’s even better is the fact that our relationship is tied together as a triple braided cord… God being the center braid! This is the power of blessed relationships! It’s the phenomena of the force of synergy: that mutually advantageous conjunction where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!

Today, pay attention to those synergistic relationships in your own life. Appreciate the people who make you BETTER than you are left to yourself! Emily and I are so thankful for all of you guys and gals!! Have an amazing Friday… chat with everyone later!