The title of this post may throw you off a little bit..."God likes dates? Really? You can't come up with a better way to kick off your blogging adventure?" HAH! well my friends, I believe this is a great way to kick this off! Let me tell you how I know God likes dates!
Alicia Borrelli and I have been "dating" for a little over a year, and in a relationship for about ten of those months. Over the course of our relationship we have had a very sparatic dating life. Sometimes we would go on five dates a week, sometimes two, and at the very least, zero (although I think that may have been because one of us was out of town). All of that to say, we have spent a decent bit of money trying to "get out" and do things (none of which I regret). About three months ago or so, by counsel from just about every healthy couple we know, we decided to make a concrete date night, so that we could have a night alone and planned amidst the other crazy comings and goings of the week. So far it has been great! I have loved getting to spend planned out quality time with the woman of my dreams! "Okay Evan, we get it, you LOVE Alicia and she love you..NOW GET TO THE POINT!" Alright alright, just trying to set up the scene.
Alicia and I were out on one of our Friday night date nights a few weeks ago (keep in mind that we have been praying for the Lord to provide time together and finances for the future) to a local Italian restaurant. We actually ended up going there because the family that Alicia nanny's for gave us some money so that we could enjoy a night out together. As if we didn't already see how the Lord provided in that fact, what happened next was purely the Lord! As Alicia and I enjoyed our meal, A man that I know from my church came up and said hello to me. I was overjoyed at seeing him and after a few minutes of catching up, he took his seat with his family and Alicia and I continued to eat. We finished our meal and asked for our check, but the waitress, sort of taken aback, looked at us and said, "The family in corner has paid for your meal already." I was stunned, not only did we almost get our meal paid for by the family that Alicia nanny's for, but we actually got our meal paid for by the man who came up to our table! We said thank you to him, walked out, and used the money that we were given by the family Alicia nanny's for our date the next Friday!
Two prayers answered. Spent time together and saved money. AMAZING! Now you may be tempted into thinking that it was merely the generosity of the two families that allowed us to be blessed with this financial gift. You may think, "Well, what does God have to do with this? The families were just nice. You were in the right place at the right time." That is true on both accounts, but my point in this (and in the blog for that matter) is that the Lord answers prayer! He is true to His word! We need not worry about tomorrow, not what we will eat or drink. The Lord cares about everything we do and wants every chance He can get to make His name great. Why not give Him our lives so that He can make His name known in the everyday things we encounter?
Paul says in Ephesians 5:33, "However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Men, you know that you would take yourself out and feed yourself, why not show your wife, fiance, girlfriend how much you love them by taking them out? The Lord really likes it when we sacrifice our own time and energy for our significant other, so why would He not abundantly provide for this simple love action? I don't mean that you have to go out to eat or spend money to go on a date, maybe it looks like cooking a meal, or taking a walk in the park. Whatever the method, just do it! The Lord likes it!
Now this story is just a small example of how the Lord is providing in very BIG ways in our lives and the lives of many of you out there. Please email me at epa529@gmail.com with any stories that you may have concerning the Lords amazing provision in your lives or the life of a friend. Who knows? The Lord may just want to make Himself famous through YOU!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Mission of The Faithful
Jesus states in Matthew 6:25-27:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
"How are we not to worry about the very things that sustain life?? The very idea that we wouldn't need to worry about food or drink is preposterous! Are these not things that we need to stay alive? But he also says not to worry about our lives. He must be speaking metaphorically here...life must be a metaphor for..eh..a game? Or maybe these verses are for the "Radical Christians"!? Yea! That's it! Those crazy ones who actually think that the Bible is Literal! Well, not me, I'm educated, I know the difference between right and wrong, I do mostly right, I pray a LOT and I read the bible every day. Ah, that's better, back to normal, in control and on track!"
Maybe that's a bit of an extreme thought process, but it is NOT unheard of. In fact, it is my belief that there are thousands, if not millions of Christians across the country who would agree with the idea that the last two sentences of the previous paragraph are the ends all meets all of life; not that they are wrong, and not that praying and reading the bible isn't good for us, in fact, it's great! Although they are good things, I can't quite shake the idea that maybe we are missing the bigger picture. The picture that God DOES actually want to provide for us...and not just in the little things of life...but in every way we can imagine! Do you disagree?
The reason for this blog is to make loud the audacious claims that the Lord makes if we allow Him to take control of our lives. I will share testimonies of the way in which the Lord is providing in the lives of my fiance and I, as well as others, if you out there wish to share. I believe that we can take the Lord at His word, lets see what we get when we actually do...
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
"How are we not to worry about the very things that sustain life?? The very idea that we wouldn't need to worry about food or drink is preposterous! Are these not things that we need to stay alive? But he also says not to worry about our lives. He must be speaking metaphorically here...life must be a metaphor for..eh..a game? Or maybe these verses are for the "Radical Christians"!? Yea! That's it! Those crazy ones who actually think that the Bible is Literal! Well, not me, I'm educated, I know the difference between right and wrong, I do mostly right, I pray a LOT and I read the bible every day. Ah, that's better, back to normal, in control and on track!"
Maybe that's a bit of an extreme thought process, but it is NOT unheard of. In fact, it is my belief that there are thousands, if not millions of Christians across the country who would agree with the idea that the last two sentences of the previous paragraph are the ends all meets all of life; not that they are wrong, and not that praying and reading the bible isn't good for us, in fact, it's great! Although they are good things, I can't quite shake the idea that maybe we are missing the bigger picture. The picture that God DOES actually want to provide for us...and not just in the little things of life...but in every way we can imagine! Do you disagree?
The reason for this blog is to make loud the audacious claims that the Lord makes if we allow Him to take control of our lives. I will share testimonies of the way in which the Lord is providing in the lives of my fiance and I, as well as others, if you out there wish to share. I believe that we can take the Lord at His word, lets see what we get when we actually do...
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