my life and wife (repost)

(This is a repost from January 2nd, 2008. my 2nd post ever.)
There is at least 1 good thing they taught me in college that I still remember – “happy wife, happy life.” (because “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”) I grew up hearing Bill Wyman sing “if you wanna be happy for the rest of your life never make a pretty woman your wife.” BUT that’s some horrible advice. God hooked me up with an amazingly beautiful wife (who’s the best cook I know) + I’m happy and have no doubt I will be for the rest of my life. Sorry, Bill, it’s just not true.

I am trying to honor God and spread His renown by my relationship with my smokin’ hot wife. God says that the way I love my wife is supposed to be a picture of the way Jesus loves the church. That’s a lot to live up to. She’s comes 2nd only to Jesus and before everything else including my job, ministry, wants, etc…

And that’s pretty easy because I’ve got the greatest wife in the world. She was designed specifically to be my wife and to be able to put up with me. I can pretty much be a pain to live with, but she does it gracefully and without complaining. She is the sweetest woman I know, but if you mess with me she will jack you up!

It’s pretty awesome that we get to have a date night every Friday night & Friday also doubles as our “rest in God day” (Sabbath). We usually just go out to dinner and see a movie or hit up a pumpkin patch or camp out by the fire and watch some old episodes of Friends.

My wife is definitely the coolest. I can be myself with her like with no one else. I’m free to just be me. I don’t need to put on a show or try to be someone I’m not. And she’s cool with that (except sometimes in public when my ADD kicks in). She is honestly my best friend in the whole world. It makes me happy to make her happy!

We’ve known each other since we were 12 when she moved here to Charlotte from NY. Here’s the romantic version: when she first moved here we each happened to be out shopping for Christmas trees with our families. I was carrying our tree and her dad was carrying their tree—and the two of them somehow got tied together! No joke. The rest is history. Well, sort of. We started dating like 5 years later in High School and through college and then were married 8/5/05.

She loves her new puppy Jack Bauer (that she begged me for a year to get and I finally caved in because… say it with me = “happy wife, happy life.”) She is a Nurse at Carolina’s Medical Center – University… after being downtown for over 2 years. (She’s actually received the Nurse of the Year award 2 years running… so what if I am the only judge? Did you guys know there’s actually such a thing as Nurse’s Day??! You learn fast when you’re married to one.) She loves to help people, give people gifts, and just love people… which I think is pretty cool. She’s a 24 fan like me, but also likes dumb shows like Grey’s Anatomy, ER, & Dr. Phil. (I don’t need hate mail from all the girls that love those shows… they’re just not for me.)
God has hooked us up in crazy ways. We’re blessed with a sweet house filled with free furniture. It’s like we should be on the ghetto poor version of MTV Cribs. We both have great families and God’s given us so much and we’re so thankful for it all. I feel like I could write a book on how good God has been to Crystal and me.

We’ve jumped in with a brand new church plant called Ridge Church (which I’ll write more about later). God birthed a passion in me to spread His fame a few years ago and I’ve never been able to shake it. I feel that He is leading us to eventually start a revolution among unreached people groups (probably in Sub-Saharan Africa). God can do whatever He wants but that’s where He's leading right now - hopefully to rock a region with a revolution for His renown! I know it probably sounds pretty audacious… but more on that another time too.

Basically, my wife and life are the best. I’m lovin’ it. I’ve found… SATISFACTION… God gets all the credit for that.