The Love & Respect Experience By Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
“A Husband-Friendly Devotional That Wives Truly Love”

If you’re a typical husband:
– you’re not eager to be vulnerable
– you don’t want to be corrected or enjoy opportunities to challenge your behavior
– you don’t want to schedule weekly interrogation sessions
Those concerns are addressed in the book. 

This book is meant to build you up, not to break you down.

The devotions are easy to follow and quite short — 800-900 words each — three or four minutes of reading.

Just in case I needed another “WHAT is happening in our world” moment, news out of Scotland:

“Sex trafficking victims reveal horror of witchcraft and torture being used to enslave women in Scotland“

Assuming it’s true — and I have no reason not to think it isn’t — it’s so heart-breaking and horrific.

FML

One “victim had been trafficked from Africa and was only prostituted in Scotland. She was trafficked by a trusted community member she turned to after witnessing the murder of her parents and grandparents by the police.”

High school Dropout Becomes A Millionaire

He was born to a young unmarried woman he never knew.
He was given up for adoption.
He was without parents until he was adopted when he was six weeks old.
He was without a mom – at five years old his adopted mom died.
He was without a dad – when he dad traveled around looking for work.

He did have a grandmother who modeled and taught him important life lessons.

No one would have predicted that a teen, who grew up poor with a troubled childhood and a limited education, would build a worldwide corporation and become incredibly wealthy.

Christmas is over, but the new year is here.
You enjoy Christmas presents, it’s time to enjoy a New years gift.

I don’t believe on New Years resolutions I believe in doing. Yesterday I challenged you to give yourself the gift of ambition.

This year apply that renewed ambition to give yourself the gift of learning something new.

The Gift of Learning

Everyone I know wants to learn something.
Everyone I know pushes aside some of those dreams.

I know, you’re busy.
Fight off your excuses.

I know you’re tired.
Fight off your laziness.

This Christmas week was very different. For the first time since we got married we did not travel.  We had a great time the 23rd — our Christmas — but the 24th & 25th felt a little empty and lonely.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a peaceful and blessed Christmas week, it was just different than in the past.

Perilous Presents

If our family and friends depended on me knowing their interests and needs they would never get anything.  Whether I’m being frugal or I’m ignorant, I simply don’t know what people like.

Friday I met with one of my favorite people. For more than a decade Erica Wilson and I worked together at TreeHouse. While Erica is disinclined to gamble with her money, recently she gambled with her life. Erica left behind her job, friends and family and moved to Belize for three months.

While it was not a permanent departure from her life in Minnesota, it was a significant life transition.

I asked her, “How do you gamble losing all that?“

Erica smiled with a slight shrug, “The only thing that comes to mind is that I trusted God with it completely.”

On a cool summer day I drove to Wisconsin. I had a speaking engagement.  Along the road I saw signs for Turtle Lake Casino.  At that time I’d only been to a casino or two.

While driving home I realized that I was hungry.  I had seen a Subway restaurant along the road and that seemed like a good idea.  Then Turtle Lake Casino came to mind.  I knew I had just been paid, but I only had four dollars in cash.  It seemed kinda silly to walk into a casino with only four dollars, and food seemed like a much better idea.

When I was a child I loved black licorice, cherry licorice, chocolate, and, well, almost all candy.  Candy was tasty, and in short supply in my house.  Candy, I believed, brought me happiness.  I wanted candy, and I needed cash to buy candy. 

I picked up pennies in the ground, checked phone booths and candy machines for unclaimed change.  I was always on the lookout for stray money.

Stray Money

When I was eleven or so I went with a youth leader and a group of boys for pizza.  I must admit I’m not certain what my previous experiences were in restaurants, but I know what I did that night.

November is the month in which people gather for All Saints’ Day, Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving, but combined they don’t capture the attention of Americans more than “Black Sunday.”

I’m Not Opposed To Marketing, I’m Opposed To My Confused Values

Some Christian churches celebrate All Saints’ Day, and some do not. Millions of people voted on Election Day, but most people did not.  Millions recognize Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, but others prefer not to celebrate holidays connected to conflicts. 1

Marketers find many ways to make money on those holidays, but they all pale in comparison to “Black Friday.”

Black Friday and Black Friday week ads are everywhere. 

I’m not immune to greed.

I want an iPod!  I’ve never had one.
I drive a ’96 minivan.  I want a new car.
I want  Batman: Arkham City.  It looks so fun!
I want Dave Matthews Band Eurpoe 2009 CD/DVD collection.  I love that band!
I want a bottle of Angel cologne.  It makes me smell so good.
I want a Wii to play games with Amy!

While we’re inundated with marketing strategies this week, I was determined not to shop for what I don’t need.  In order to cut my greed I decided to cultivate generosity by remembering what I was thankful for this past year.