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I Proposed In A Chain Letter by Phil Callaway We’ve been married 24 years now, which is a miracle, considering I proposed in a chain letter. This is what it said: Dear Ramona Bjorndal, To keep the chain going, all you have to do is marry me. This will include providing decent meals, clean laundry, and lots of love for the next 60 years. In return, you will receive my undying devotion, occasional flowers, chocolate, and access to my car keys until death do us part. If you break the chain, you will be destined to live a life of misery and boredom, much like the Math class I am sitting in now. It was pretty clever stuff for a tenth grader. And four years later, when I summoned the courage to show it to her, she laughed. And agreed to marry me anyway. Last August we returned to the same hotel where we first shared a pillow more than two decades ago. The staff were so impressed that a couple could stay together this long that they couldn’t spoil us enough. They wheeled in complimentary sweets, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and a large bottle of champagne-on-ice. I have always had quite enough fun sober so we left the tiny bubbles alone. But as we dove into the chocolate, we began to talk of some pretty sweet years together. I suppose there are a thousand reasons we still share the same phone number, but here are just a few.
In the end, I suppose you could chart our marital happiness on a graph that would parallel the depth of our relationship with Jesus Christ. His power dwarfs that of any self-help book or chain letter. On our way to the hotel we heard Huey Lewis and the News sing, “I’m happy to be stuck with you,” and we tapped our toes and smiled. But glue or chains don’t hold a marriage together. A hundred tiny threads do. Threads like trust, commitment, kindness, humility, gentleness, and respect.
“Yes,” I replied with a grin, “but it would have been a whole lot longer without her.” Phil is the author of ‘Family Squeeze: Hope and Hilarity for a Sandwiched Generation.’ Visit him at www.laughagain.org.
The Dog Ate It By Rhonda Rhea Anytime it takes me an entire half hour to write out my to-do list for the day, I know it’s a day I’m likely in for some hullabaloo. That’s what hullaba-happened yesterday. So I built my list and numbered each item in order of importance. Okay, since organization is not my best thing, the list was on a napkin. But at least I made it. In a few hours I had a couple of items checked off with about a dozen more to go. Still overwhelming, but I was making progress. I figured I could make faster progress if I had coffee, so I went to whip up a pot. Here’s my to-do list tip for the day: If you’re going to put your to-do list on a napkin, at least make sure you put something on top of it so it doesn’t float off the desk. By the time I got back with my coffee, the dog had run away with the list. She was under the table in the dining room. Shredding. The next part of the hullabaloo involved an intense chase scene. I fished most of the list out from under the table and a few pieces out from between LuLu’s molars. A half hour spent on a list that was suddenly coleslaw. LuLu was trying to look innocent. Maybe she was even trying to help me. No to-do list means nothing to do, right? Isn’t a good shredding even better than a few checkmarks? Still, the list of all the work I was trying to accomplish at home was dog chow. The dog really did eat my homework. It was a good reminder, though, that there are times when all those things on the to-do list need to give way to things that are most vital. It’s always a good test for me when I have deadlines up to my eyebrows and I get a call from a friend who needs a listening ear, or even when my kids want to play a game. Am I willing to shred my own agenda when the Lord
might have a different one in mind? If there is something that God might
want of me that’s not on
my to-do list, am I willing to trade my list for His? Whether in word or deed, whether on a napkin or over the phone — or even playing tiddlywinks — I want my agenda to ever and always line up with His. Of course, we’ll have trouble playing tiddlywinks. LuLu ate them. I think she thought they were baked beans — which I’m guessing she thought would go well with the coleslaw. Rhonda Rhea is a radio personality and a conference speaker at events across North America. She is a wife, mother of five, and author of several fun and fruitful books. Her newest book, ‘Purse-uit of Holiness,’ will hit stores in the fall. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.org.
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