Understanding more the depth of marriage...

     This is the second book that I have come across that talks about friendship and marriage.  I am seeing that this is a point that I need to stress with myself and couples that I minister to in the future.  Here are some quotes on this subject from Tim Keller's book "The Meaning Of Marriage."

"Proverbs 2:17 speaks of one's spouse as your 'allup, a unique word that the lexicons define as your "special confidant" or "best friend."

"The Bible does indicate that your spouse must be more than your dearest friend, but not less."

"Marriage won't work unless you put your marriage and your spouse first, and you don't turn good things, like parents, children, career, and hobbies, into pseudo-spouses."

     How we search for a mate so backwards at times.  We look someone who is "pretty" or "handsome" rather than being guided by God to someone who can be our best friend for life.  We hope that they will be rather than make it a priority.  Maybe that is why we have so many Christians marrying non-Christians because they have not spent the time to become good friends to see if the other really is a devoted follower of Christ.  Stephanie, my wife, is so beautiful but I am more thankful that I married my best friend for life.

     Some more notes on what I've learned on my search for better health.  It seems that there are 4 things that keep emerging that cause a lot of physical and mental problems.  One is soy even though it has been made out to be this great health food; another is MSG, a man-made additive to not only make food taste better but make you want more; Aspartame, another man-made additive that is the craze of the lo-cal foods; and high fructose corn syrup which replaces sugar and is sweeter but we seem to use even more of it, not less.  It is interesting trying to eliminate all of these from your diet but what it forces you to do is go from boxed food to garden food.  I can truly say that when I have stayed away from these 4 I feel so much better.  This will cause me to double the size of the garden this year but health-wise it will be worth it.

Adam