What MOVES You?

You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes... 
Song of Songs 4:9b

Would you move more than fourteen thousand kilometers away from your home?  What if it was in a different hemisphere?  You have lived your whole life in a certain culture, life style, and standard of living.  Would you do it for a job?  A change of pace and see something different of the world?  Maybe an opportunity to make a difference in someones life?  Now would you do it if it meant possibly never going back to what you have always known?  This move I'm talking about is going to change your life forever.

I met Shelley in such a unique way.  No we weren't high school sweethearts, we didn't meet at a sports club or at church.

Of seven billion people living on earth today.  More than the majority have computers or access to computers and the internet.

I had just been in a car accident only a week prior and I was at the library working on accessing things on my relatively new iphone.  An advertisement came up on the computer offering to meet new Christian friends.  It was a free trial offer for a week, all they wanted was my email and some information that I might like to share about myself for others to read and choose if they would like to talk.  Of the other seven billion people in the world there was a woman in South Africa that somehow ended up seeing that same advertisement at the same time.  We both took a chance and answered the invitation.  Three days later I was going through my morning routine and was checking my computer and saw that someone in S.A. had looked at my online profile in Canada...little did I know that clicking on her profile was going to change my life forever.  Because when I did and saw Shelley's picture...You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes

At first I thought she must have clicked my  picture by accident.  I didn't care, I had to speak to her, even if we were a world apart.  I had to draw her attention to this fact but it didn't seem to be an issue with her.  I love that about my wife Shelley, there is no mountain to big, no ocean wide enough, if God is in it then anything is possible...she stole my heart.

We would write to eachother every day.  Then we took the big step of talking on the phone and the sound of her voice would just drew me in to her even more.  The things we would talk about resonated with me.  To this day her voice is the sexiest I have ever heard and ever want to hear for the rest of my life.  Not long after we took another big step and began to skype, I noticed she has the most dainty hands and fingers, her eyes are hazel and framed with by her beautiful long dark brown hair...she stole my heart.

About three months after we first made contact I flew to meet her in S.A. and it was during that three week visit I asked Shelley to marry me.  I want to live the rest of my life with her.  My heart belongs to her.  I felt like God has ordained us to be together and...she stole my heart.

Well, this blog is for the glory of God.  I want people to read His words and be inspired to live for Him, be devoted to Him and love Him more.  If I can do that by telling you a very short version of my story, how Shelley and I came to be married, then I'm happy to do that.  Also I can't help but tell everyone how much I love her.  I don't take her for granted and I know I have so much to work on myself but I'm willing to do it because she is worth it and ...Shelley has stolen my heart.

Please pray for us.

Please pray for this blog to go out and accomplish what God wants to do with it.

Please pray for your own marriages, your own husband or wife, and let them exclusively own your heart.  I'm praying for you, Jesus and Jeff.

Water Into Wine

   On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.  Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."   "Dear woman, why do you involve me"  Jesus replied.  "My time has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."  Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.  Jesus said to the servants,  "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.  Then He told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."  They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.  Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and them the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." 
John 2:1-10 NIV

My friend Mike is getting married tomorrow.  He and Caroline have been dating for a long time and now they are going to make their relationship permanent.

As I've been reading through the scriptures I've always wondered about this passage.  Is it an oversimplification to say that Jesus was only telling us that it's okay to drink wine at weddings and even when the supply is gone, to go get more?

The miraculous transforming of water into wine was Jesus' first recorded miracle.  I think that it isn't a stretch to say that if He could turn water into wine, He could also unite two separate people, transforming them into one flesh.  The bible calls the husband and wife union 'a mystery' and it is used to illustrate "...Christ and the church." Ephesians 5:32.  

Marriage is a beautiful, seamless union that cannot be broken.  It is made to reflect the magnificent creativity of almighty God as seen in the beginning of creation in Genesis 1:26-28 and Genesis 2:20-25.  God is for companionship, for marriages, unions that are godly, peaceful and seamless.

Another thought is that Jesus' mother came to Him with a request that He help them when they had  run out of wine to celebrate.  He responded by granting her request.  This act displays God's understanding of our needs and His generosity towards us.

No matter what your need is, He can perform a miracle.  We must do some work, we must have faith to believe that He can do it and accept His grace if He doesn't.

If you will fill yourself up with the pure water (of His word), He will transform you into what you are to be.