Week Two from Kevin Makins…

“Build us up.”

2) Understand that men may look hairy, rough, and cool… but they are always wanting your acceptance.

Ladies, and especially married ladies, please hear this! Guys need to feel respected! Even though we are stupid, hairy, smelly, dumb-animals, we need to feel like you think we are the best!

Here’s a common example: how many times have you been out with a couple and the guy says something stupid (as we are prone to do)?  Maybe he talks too much or too loud (I have no experience with this, but try to imagine). Now how many times have you seen his wife/girlfriend lean over and tell him to be quiet, or to stop doing that, and the dudes shoulders just slouch down?  He said something stupid and she corrects him in front of all of their friends, and he just looks like his pride has died.

Girls, please don’t do this to your man.

Wait, let me rephrase.

Girls, please don’t do this to your man in public!

We need you to correct us; to tell us when we are being too loud, annoying, silly, inaccurate, etc. We’re dumb… we don’t know we are doing it or are too stupid to stop!

But we need you to do it in private!

We need to feel respect and approval; we need to know that you are our biggest fan, that you think we are the best! If we know this, then we can take the criticism later in the night, in private! We are usually quite willing to hear the criticism, but we don’t want to feel like we are being attacked by the person we love the most.

I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic wife who has promised me not to correct me in public… I need her prudence and wisdom… but she will only share it with me in private, when I don’t need to worry about my self-esteem! Work hard to build up your man and, if he is a good man, he will honor you for it, and seek to respect and love you as well!

Kevin

Ever failed?

I have…a lot!  Sometimes it’s something as simple as burning a batch of cookies or putting too much salt in the pasta.  Other times, I have failed an assignment at school or a not getting the exact job I wanted.  Still other times, my failures have resulted in lost relationships, compromised values, and seasons of life apart from God.  Often I have come to the end of my rope wondering what went wrong…how did I end up here again?  For a burnt batch of cookies…it’s a simple as knowing that the oven was turned on to high or they were left for too long.

But the bigger things are a little trickier to figure out.  Most often I have found that my failures start with the tiniest of tiny steps away from God’s will…and then ever so gradually continue down that path so slowly that I don’t even see it coming until I am so far away from the starting point that it is hard to even remember what happened.

Here’s the encouraging part though…every time I have failed and repented, my walk with the Lord has grown deeper.  Failure has often been God’s way of allowing me to come to the end of myself, realizing that I absolutely must remain humble and allow on him to be in absolute control.  A LOT easier said than done!!!  I once heard a message on Luke 22:31, which is the passage right before Jesus’ trial. I remember the speaker talking about how Jesus didn’t pray that Peter wouldn’t fall into temptation at all, but that when Satan tempted him, his faith would not fail. That when he did fall, his faith in God’s perfect love would not fail him - so that even when Peter reached the bottom of the pit of failure, he would confess, “God still loves me”.

The important thing really isn’t how far you’ve fallen but how much you have learned through it.  Do you remember even at the darkest moment that God still LOVES you?  What are some lessons you have learned in a deeper way through some of your failures?

Andrea

Found this on Eric Bryant’s blog.  You girls are going to love this sweet old man…

What has God gifted you to do that you could never stop doing? How can you help others with this gift?  How can you do it in secret?

Start today.

Hi Girls!  I’m new to this whole blogging communications thing, so here’s what I need you to do:

Pretend that we are all curled up on the couch with mounds of blankets with steaming cups of tea. Cozied in for a deep sisterly heart-to-heart.

Identity…it’s something we all struggle with. We all want to know that we are loved and of high value. In my own life, I have found that often on that quest for identity, this comes from men in my life. Regardless of whether that was my Dad or the latest boy. Value from men has always been very important.

Here’s what God’s been hitting me with over and over again throughout this week:

It’s not about who I am…it’s about whose I am.

If people ask us who we are, it’s a mad dash for an answer…I’m a sister, friend, nanny, photographer, tea drinker, and the list goes on. We need to find answers that will qualify our value in the minds of those around us.

As soon as my identity quest becomes about WHOSE I am, then the answer becomes an overwhelmingly meaningful and simple answer of JESUS’. In this one simple answer I find value because there is nothing of more value than Jesus. My life is not my own, it was never meant to find its value in the words or actions of men. We have been bought with the death of a perfect savior. The maker of the entire Universe calls me his. He treasures and values every intricate detail of who he has created me to be. Only through him are we able to grasp this truth.

God has bought us, forgiven us, and furthermore He holds every road block of life in his hands. He is the beginning and the end. (Revelation 22:13) So what do you think girls? Where do we find our identity? What point of the journey are you at? I know that this truth isn’t yet my reality at every moment of every day. It’s a journey…a place I’m striving to reach. What about you?

Andrea

This is Jessica.

A quick bio on this lovely lady:

She is 22 years old.  She lives in Burlington.  She works with kids and teens.  She loves to travel and explore.  She wants to have at least 8 kids someday.

She grew up in the backwoods of Mattawa on the Quebec border.  She is passionate about the Middle East.  Her family spent a stint as a Mennonite.  She is the second eldest of six kids (five girls).

She once got off a highway 3 exits early to get away from a guy who was checking her out!

By choice, she has never kissed a boy….well, at least since she was six!

And yes, she was one of my many childhood crushes.  Less than two years ago, after not seeing each other for ages, we met up randomly at a coffeeshop near her grandma’s house.  We talked and she was feeling ready to move out.  I said “move to Hamilton!”  She had been thinking that way, and after praying for a while, she did!

In the past 4 years she has led in two different youth groups, serving mostly high school girls.  She loves them dearly, and prays often that they’ll live like Jesus.

Here’s why I like her, and why you’ll like her too:

She’s a great servant leader.  She will do anything for you.  She works HARD.

She is VERY generous.  She is a HUGE part of the reason that The Sex Rev even exists.  She buys flowers for my wife, putting me to absolute shame.

She is absolutely committed to her purity and right living.  She spends tons of time with God, and has surrounded herself with godly relationships.

She’s great.  She loves people.  Seriously, I had to DIG for pics of just her, because every shot shes’s in is with other people!  She’s a great listener and a wise talker!

Jess will be posting on No Boys Allowed about once a week.  Believe me when I say this- she is worth your time.  She is worth listening to.  Learn from her. She has such a huge sense of understanding and perspective.  She knows what’s what.  Follow her as she follows Jesus.

Are you ready?!