If you’ve ever heard of I Can Only Imagine (the song) or seen the movie, you’ll see just how talented these guys are. This is one of my favorite videos and recently I was surfing and discovered it again.
I truly believe the shark suit sells it. There are no words for the awesomeness that this is. If I’m having a bad day, I come back to the cat on the rhoomba.
This is truly inspiring. Erm, it’s maybe a little humbling, too, when a kid has to tell you obvious wisdom, but this is touching and funny and makes you think. And, c’mon, he’s – like – as cute as Emmanuel Lewis from Webster.
One of the best new wave bands to come out of Canada in the 1980s. These videos (one is simply a slideshow) definitely bring me back and those boys sure knew how to do an instrumental opening. Enjoy the great music that has held up over the years and cringe equally at the videos that did not.
I can’t even remember now how I came across this video, but it’s neat!
If you like the Star Wars anthem and you like music made from electricity, you might like this. My older kid didn’t believe it was real, but make no mistake – Do Not Try This At Home! (Besides, I doubt you’d be able to find the suit.)
By the way, it starts to get good around the :40 mark.
If I combine the years of marriage from my first and second marriage, the number is roughly 16. And before that, I was dating from the time I was 15. So, let’s do the math and tack on another 7. Okay, so I’ve been in one “relationship” or another for approximately 23 years of my life. That’s over half, people.
Now for the sad part.
I never truly understood what it meant to be in a positive relationship. Truth be told, I was carrying around some pretty serious baggage. Let’s see if I can recount some of the previous ideas I had on dating / marriage:
If it feels good, do it
It’s fine as long as no people or animals get hurt
Only stay as long as it’s fun and easy
If the passion fades, it’s time to move on
If he truly knew or loved me, he’d know what I’m thinking
If I don’t show how much he’s hurt me, I win (Ice Queen Syndrome)
Never lose your cool (Ice Queen Syndrome, Part II)
Win the argument even if wrong, don’t accept responsibility for mistakes
My position is the one that matters
If he’s willing to be intimate with me that means he cares about me
If I can’t talk to him then I shouldn’t be with him
It’s not my fault I can’t say what’s bothering me, it’s from my past
My past is why I can’t …
My past is why I don’t …
My past is why he should …
Men will let me down
Men can’t be trusted
I will just keep this inside so his feelings don’t get hurt
My relationship should work, even if I don’t put any real energy into it
Love fades
If I’m not “in love” with him, I shouldn’t be with him
Love is an emotion not a verb
Can’t he see what I’ve done for him?
If a guy likes that kind of person, I’ll be that kind of person (even though it’s not who I am) because I want him to like me
Admittedly, none of these philosophies has ever served me very well and I’ll tell you why. My entire focal point was one of two things:
Everything is about me (or)
Everything is about him.
You can’t have a decent relationship with someone when they’re choking the life out of you, or you’re choking the life out of them. There’s no room for growth and there’s definitely no room for effective communication.
Ah, that dreaded word: communication.
It really is something you have to work at and, I’ll be brutally honest here, I hate that. I have always believed that if you’re meant to be with someone then communication should be easy. Well, it’s not. Really and truly it isn’t. And there is a reason for it.
Here’s the reason:
Men and women think, feel, and see the world very differently!
The Love and Respect Class I took at my church, combined with attending church on a regular basis, has really helped me pinpoint all the ridiculous notions I had about life, love and relationships and to learn some incredibly valuable (yet obvious!!!) lessons on making a marriage work. Actually, this information isn’t just helpful for a spouse, it’s helpful for a male cousin, nephew, uncle, grandfather, etc. Men need certain things from women when it comes to communication so this is helpful all over the place.
Before you sniff your nose up at the whole “church” and “God” aspect of things, hear me out. There is a DVD set out there that you can watch in the privacy of your own home that will teach you about how to talk to your spouse, how to understand why your spouse does what he/she does, and how you can better communicate with them. AND…it’ll give you the very real realization that your marriage isn’t doomed or lame when everyone else’s is great. We all struggle with our mates, we were built to have conflict. It is what it is. But conflict is an opportunity to grow and to grow closer (believe it or not).
So, take a look at the video below for a real quick introduction to Dr. Eggerichs.
By the way, I didn’t even go looking for this class, this website, or this video. My husband discovered it. Women are usually the communicators, the talkers, the fixers and I managed to drop even that ball. This series utterly changed the way I look at relationships and showed me just how far I had fallen as a mate because my ideals and expectations were completely unattainable and unrealistic.
If you want to see more, go to the Love and Respect website. In particular, check out the Media section because that’s where Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs is videotaped live at his conference. He doesn’t preach at you, he tells stories about his own life, he makes you laugh, and – above all – he makes you go, “Ohhhh! I get it!”
If I could buy a copy of the DVD series for every single married friend (male or female) that I have and send it to them, I would. I don’t normally jump up and down and scream, “You have to see this!”. Hey, I don’t even like chain emails, but this is one series, I strongly recommend. Did I mention strongly?
Disclaimer: The commentary above is free insight into my strange and humbling past relationship-world. I don’t get a single red cent for the purchase of Love and Respect DVDs, the classes, or the conferences. It just so happens that I am so passionate about this information that I’m willing to talk about it with unashamed excitement so that everyone who reads will learn some very valuable lessons, just like I have.
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