74 yrs: A LIFETIME LEGACY of LOVE

This week, I have been in Iowa visiting my wife's extended family. The main purpose for the trip up here is to celebrate Abby's grandparent's 74th wedding anniversary along with her grandpa's 94th birthday. During some free time this week, I pondered what an incredible and nearly unbelievable accomplishment it is to have been married for such a long time...literally, being married an entire lifetime. As a result of this accomplishment, I would like to dedicate this entry to Floyd and Beatrice Bridges as a way to celebrate their lifetime together and the legacy of love they have demonstrated to friends and family alike!

Grandpa was born July 21, 1915 and Grandma was born April 16, 1920. Their lives were joined together in Holy Matrimony on July 20, 1935. Through the past 74 years, they have lived through many things together. No doubt, they have faced many challenges, and they've had their fair share of difficulties along this amazing journey. However, no matter what circumstances they faced, it is obvious to me that they faced them together and faced them with an unending and unconditional love for each other and for God. It came as no surprise to me that when I asked Abby's Grandpa (Emma's Great Grandpa) what his favorite Bible verse was, he came back with two:
- John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
- 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
The reason I wasn't surprised by these two selections, is that he has been married to the same woman for 74 years and in order to accomplish that there has to be 2 things present in the marriage: First, a Love that Gives (John 3:16) and secondly, A Love that Forgives (1 John 1:9).
Over these last 74 years, it is obvious that both Grandma and Grandpa have displayed this Godly love by giving to and forgiving each other and those around them.
I would like to share with you a little of the legacy that is the Bridges family.
Grandpa and Grandma Bridges have: 5 Children (4 boys and 1 girl), 14 Grandchildren (8 girls and 6 boys) and 24 Great Grandchildren (12 girls and 12 boys - ranging in age from 14 months to 22 years old - Emma is 19 months old).
Amazingly, there are over 400 years of marriage in this legacy. I find this particularly astounding, because in our society, families don't exist and last like they once did. The family unit and marriage (which were both designed by God) are both under assault like never before. Being in youth ministry, I see first hand the difficulties families go through. Husbands and wives just can't find it in them to make things work. Many times these struggles lead to decisions to split apart which adversely effects the children involved. Divorce has become so commonplace that the divorce rate is nearly the same in the church as outside the church. This is especially sad, because as believers, we have the Love of God in our lives. We ought to be leading the way in demonstrating God's Love (giving and forgiving) to the world by the way we live and by the love we show those near us - our families. In other words, because God has loved us, given to us and forgiven us, there should not be anything in our life that we can't give or forgive. Remember, God gave His all...and He forgave us ALL our sins! (A love that gives all and forgives all can withstand all!). Therefore, I believe each and every person can learn a lot from Grandma and Grandpa Bridges. The love they share with each other is Love given from God. As a result of their faithfulness to the Lord, their love of God and each other, God has blessed them with a Legacy that will most certainly last for many generations.

What can we learn? I believe Grandpa Bridges summed it up in his verses: We need to have a giving and forgiving love! God first displayed this love and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to marry into this family and see it displayed again by Grandma and Grandpa Bridges!

Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa on a LIFETIME LEGACY of LOVE!

Being a Biblical Daddy

This may be a few days past Father's Day - but the thought just came to me and I wanted to share it
So, just a few minutes ago, I got to go and lay my precious 18 month baby girl down, we prayed and I kissed her good night. This is a daily ritual, (or probably a better word: routine). It's something that I get to do every night of the year, and something I thoroughly enjoy. Most nights she cooperates - others, not so much, (i.e. fussing, crying, wiggling, babbling). She is, after all, only a year and a half. Nonetheless, I hold her, kiss her, pray with her and for her every single night like clock work before she goes to bed. I do it because I love her so much that I want to do like Proverbs say, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." So, on a practical side, what does that verse really mean?

Maybe you have heard the Phillips, Craig and Dean song, "I want to be just like you". It's a good song, and it highlights the relationship a father shares with his children, and the great responsibility he has for them. See, we as dads can get so busy with work providing for our family- which is certainly honorable, good and noble . However, we can easily spend so much time providing for them and fail to spend time with them as a result. I pray that the role of being a provider doesn't outweigh the responsibility of being a father.

As the aforementioned song says, "I want to be just like you, cause he wants to be just like me - let me be a holy example for his innocent eyes to see..." Like it or not, fathers, our children are following our footsteps - they are watching our actions. We need to be a holy example for them to follow because they do have the desire to be just like us! This thought alone should compel us to be as good an example for them, so that they can see Jesus in us and grow up to pass Him on to their children (our grandchildren) by the way they end up living their lives.

The song continues, "Help me be a living Bible, Lord, that my little boy can read" Truly they are reading every figurative page we write with our life. They can read the way we treat mommy. Our children need to see us doing our best to live out Eph. 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." They can tell if we are loving to them and to others, and they are reading every page we write. Let's try as fathers to love our wives the way Christ loved the church - Even though the church is not perfect (made up of sinners) Christ still loved us enough to suffer and die and take upon Him our sins. Sure, mom and dad will have disagreements from time to time, but they should never be to the point where our children could misinterpret what either of us say in an argument and question our love for each other or our love for them. Did Christ ever treat us that way? I think not. Rather, He came to us, and we received Him not - He showed us unconditional love, forgiveness, and compassion yet we still rejected Him! Let's model Christ so that our children see His Love displayed through our lives. We are encouraged throughout the New Testament to "speak the truth in Love" (Eph. 4:15) and "let nothing be done in strife or vainglory(pride), but in lowliness of mind(humility) let each esteem others better than themselves" (Phil.2:3)

The song finishes with a phrase "Right now from where he stands I may seem mighty tall; but it's only cause I 'm learning from the best Father of them all" Let's make it a point as dads, to model our lives after our Heavenly Father. There is no better example to follow! The eighth chapter of Romans and Galatians chapter four mention that our hearts cry to God, "Abba, Father." This is simply calling out to God as our "Daddy." He has shown us Fatherly love that we must duplicate and show to our families. As her dad, I love it when Emma cries, "Dadda" to me...It reminds me that I am responsible for her protection and provision. She is completely dependent on me - and she trusts me entirely. There is not a care in her life. She doesn't worry about anything! On the contrary, sometimes it feels like I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Trying to take care of her...provide for her...make sure she has every thing she needs to survive. Do you ever feel that way? Maybe it's time I/we depend on God and trust Him with that childlike faith that our children trust us with. Maybe it's time we cry "Abba, Father" to our Heavenly Father and rely on Him to help us be the spiritual leaders we need to be for our families. We as dad's have no greater responsibility than to love our wives as Christ loved the church and train our children the way they should go. I have faith that God will bless our homes as we, the leaders trust Him to lead our homes Biblically.