Hope Matters Marriage Ministries
Cindy and I attended a Marriage Tune-Up this past weekend at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear. It was sponsored by our church.
A lot of couples that did not go said things like "We aren't having problems with our marriage." This 'Tune-Up' was not about fixing problems. It's about maintaining a marriage that glorifies God.
The sessions were led by Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs from Plano, TX, who started Hope Matters Marriage Ministries. They began by presenting their story. They have been married to each other twice with a 7 year period in between while they were divorced. While their story may not be as bad as most 'happy' marriages, they share a lot of similarities.
The comment that struck me as most profound was a statement Cheryl made to Jeff before they remarried. Cheryl asked Jeff to marry her after they had been divorced for seven years. Jeff said he carried a lot of anger and asked Cheryl how she can prove she wouldn't hurt him again. (She is the one that filed for divorce that ended their first marriage.) Cheryl said she paused and thought about what to say. Her reply was quite profound – "It's not about you, Jeff, this is about God."
Marriage is a great gift from God. Not only are your actions import, but so are your thoughts.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
After my recent trip to Brazil, a few of us were talking about the places we have been. I have been to only four countries outside the U.S. (Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela). I have been to about half the states (lived in three, put my head on a pillow in many, and just passed through several). I found a really cool application for charting where I have been. The results are below.
[inline] [script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.interactivemaps.org/visited_states/swfobject.php"][/script]
You can also have your visited states map on your site.
If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.
[script type="text/javascript"]
var so = new SWFObject(“http://www.interactivemaps.org/visited_states/visited_states.swf”, “visitedstates”, 455, 244, “7″, “#000000″);
addLocation(‘AL’, ”, ‘This is where I have lived the most in my life’, ‘FF0000′); //Alabama
addLocation(‘AR’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Arkansas
addLocation(‘CA’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //California
addLocation(‘FL’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Florida
addLocation(‘GA’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Georgia
addLocation(‘IN’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Indiana
addLocation(‘KY’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Kentucky
addLocation(‘LA’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Louisiana
addLocation(‘MD’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //Maryland
addLocation(‘MI’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //Michigan
addLocation(‘MS’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Mississippi
addLocation(‘NC’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //North Carolina
addLocation(‘NJ’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”);
addLocation(‘NV’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Nevada
addLocation(‘NY’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //New York
addLocation(‘OH’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //Ohio
addLocation(‘OK’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Oklahoma
addLocation(‘PA’, ”, ‘I live here for a very short time’, ‘D04040′); //Pennsylvania
addLocation(‘SC’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //South Carolina
addLocation(‘TN’, ”, ‘Stayed Overnight’, ‘F0A72B’); //Tennessee
addLocation(‘TX’, ”, ‘I live here for several years’, ‘DF4040′); //Texas
addLocation(‘UT’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //Utah
addLocation(‘VA’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //Virginia
addLocation(‘WV’, ”, ‘Just Passed Through’, ”); //West Virginia
addToFlash();
so.addVariable(“stageWidth”, 455);
so.addVariable(“stageHeight”, 244);
so.addVariable(“infoOver”, “enabled”);
so.addVariable(“zoomFunction”, “checked”);
so.addVariable(“bgColor”, “666666″);
so.addVariable(“visitedColor”, “F0924B”);
so.addVariable(“notVisitedColor”, “CDCDCD”);
so.addVariable(“countryBordersColor”, “666666″);
so.addVariable(“helpTextColor”, “000000″);
so.addVariable(“helpText”, “Mark the area you wish to zoom in”);
so.addParam(“scale”, “noscale”);
so.addParam(“salign”, “lt”);
so.write(“visitedstates”);
[/script] [/inline]
