Happy Monday Everyone!

The photo glitch is still not fixed… so no fun photos AGAIN today. A special sorry goes out to all my VISUALLY oriented blog buddies! (fixed since this blog was posted)

Hope you all had a super weekend! We hiked St. Mary’s Falls on Saturday (I would post photos, but oh wait, I can’t!)… the hike was unbelievable! Church @ DFC was amazing on Sunday morning. And the Bible College I instruct on Sunday afternoon was off the charts! So, the weekend was a very good one here… it felt BLESSED and I sincerely thank God for every exciting second of it!

This should be a fun week for me. Going to a leadership conference… Emily’s birthday is on Friday the 13th (ooooowww)… and Saturday is VALENTINES DAY! Don’t forget that all you LOVE BIRDS! Proper planning prevents poor performance… so PLAN IT TODAY, make it great, have a blast with the love of your life. And hey, just in case you think you’re too spiritual for romance, check out Proverbs 5:17-19. (for married couples only) To all my singles friends: be brave, ask someone of the opposite sex out on a date, take them somewhere fun, give them a thoughtful gift, and make a special person feel special… oh, and keep it PG kids!

Maybe you’re slightly uncomfortable about today’s advice? Maybe you feel as if the topic is not a spiritual one? Just in case, I want to leave you with a few spiritual thoughts about love and romance. First, God created Adam… and when he saw that Adam was all alone… God said, “It is NOT GOOD FOR man to be alone… I will make him a helper, a companion!” (Genesis 2:18 MSG)

So it looks like God created other humans so that we could enjoy companionship with one another. Specifically, God created a WOMAN for the MAN that was all alone. God created EVE and brought her to ADAM… and they became the first two LOVE BIRDS in human history!

The Bible is filled with references about friendship, love, romance, marriage, intimacy, and family. God created us to enjoy life with one another… to have friends, fall in love, commit to a lifelong marriage partner, be passionately romantic, and have loving families.

When our son was pre-teen, Emily and I would teach him that girls are yucky… stay away from girls or you’ll get the cooodees! Now that he’s almost 18, the message has changed. We teach him to PAY ATTENTION to the girls in his life… to interact with everyone so he can discover the kind of girl he will want to spend the rest of his life with. We had to let him know that it was ok to date now (with strong boundaries of course). It’s so hard being young… trying to figure this all out… especially in a Christian home. Especially when you want to please God with all your heart and you don’t want to mess your whole life up with a few bad decisions.

I’m sharing this with you guys because I believe that way too many Christians live in the fear of messing up and thus deprive themselves of the interaction that exposes them to the right opportunities. Set boundaries over your life… know who you are… know what you stand for… and never allow yourself to be in a position where these values can be compromised. And then, with these values and a beautiful walk with God, BE BRAVE and PAY ATTENTION to the people in your social network. According to Genesis, God has a gal for every guy! Don’t be afraid to LIVE and LOVE…

Wow… I must be getting older if I’m giving out this kind of advice! Have a super week, planning for this VALENTINES DAY! If you’re married… plan a night to remember! If you’re single… get out of your comfort zone and spend some time with someone of the opposite sex. If you’re a kid… write a “be my valentine” card to your teacher! Have a super week you guys!! Chat with everyone later…