Double Posting! Fireproof Your Marriage

The above video is Love Is Not A Fight by Warren Barfield. It kind of sets the mood for the post.... so if your a music lover like me who likes to listen to music while reading I highly suggest you listen to this while you read.

I'm double posting because I learned a pretty powerful lesson tonight. Scrolling through Netflix like I do every night I couldn't decide on anything to watch. I've passed up this particular movie a million times, but tonight I just figured what the heck. Might as well. The movie....Fireproof.  It is a story about a firefighter and his wife who have a marriage that is crumbling at their feet. Just absolutely falling apart. Neither one is good enough for the other. Then the husbands father gives him The Love Dare. By following this dare, the father and mother had saved their marriage and brought them closer to each other than ever before. At first the husband is thinking its useless. There is nothing wrong with him. Why does he need to change? And will his efforts actually do any good? Anyway, you need to watch the movie to get the rest, I don't want to spoil it for you. And yes, it has religious conentations, but I truly believe that there is something to be learned by everyone regardless of what higher being you do or do not believe in. So I ask you to read on, even if we don't share the same religious beliefs or don't think it would pertain to you personally.

Enough of the movie. I really felt like I more needed to share my insights from this movie than anything else. My definition of love has always been jaded. And although this movie is talking about the relationship between a husband and wife I look at it as a relationship with my family, my friends, my co-workers, my kids, everyone I interact with. This world is such a horrifying place these days. Every day on the news I read/hear about another person brutally attacking/killing/raping/etc someone else. I see families breaking apart as children are neglected or spouses are beaten down. There has never, ever been a more important time to keep your loved ones close. A deep, very dark evil lurks all around just looking for a way to shimmy itself in and completely tear us apart from those we love. I know I've been sucked in a time or two. And it's been my loved ones who have had to watch me struggle, who have stuck by me even though I haven't given them the same in return.

I have always figured my kids will still love me if I don't take the time to sit down and play cars with them. Or skipping the bedtime story so I can hurry and get back to other things. Of course I love my boys like crazy, but do I really give them the time they deserve?  Am I giving them all that I can possibly give? Am I doing everything I can to make sure that this home is the safe spot they can fall into when they are hurting or needing help? Am I the first person they want to run to with good news? Am I the person they can confide in?
I have always known that my parents and my family love me. But am I giving them every bit of love I can possibly give in return? Am I caring for my friends in a way that they know I will always be there for them if they need me?
What about my community? If I see someone stranded on the side of the road do I stop? Or do I assume that the run down looking man asking for some change is going to spend what I give him on alcohol? Is it my place to judge? If I see an older person struggling do I offer a hand?

My heart is hurting for all of the precious time I have wasted thinking that okay was good enough. Being an average person was all I needed to be. There is something to be said about the person who goes out of their way to make another's life better. I want to be that person.

So it's high time I start working on me...all of me. I think I'm finally in a place to see where I have gone wrong, and be open to fixing things I've broken. I'm ordering The Love Dare. What is there to lose?  I paid a whole $5 for something that has such a wealth of information, day by day, to grow your relationships with others. To show you care. To truly love another person as much as you can possibly love.

So I'm putting the challenge on you now. Fight for your love my friends, build it up to be strong and unwaivering.

Love Is Not A Fight - Warren Barfield
Love is not a place to come and go as we please.
It's a house we enter in then commit to never leave.
So lock the door behind you and throw away the key.
We'll work it out together, let it bring us to our knees.
To some, love is a word they can fall into
But when they are falling out keeping that word is hard to do.
Love will come to save us if we'll only call
He will ask nothing from us, but demand we give our all.
Love is a shelter in a raging storm.
Love is peace in the middle of a war.
And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door.
No love is not a fight, but it's something worth fighting for.

I will fight for you...would you fight for me?
It's worth fighting for.