Reflections on Marriage, Part 5: Reflections (Part 23)
WE were not Christian when WE got married but WE did agree to teach our yet unborn children about God. After five years of marriage, WE committed our lives to the Lord who quickly dealt with an issue that would eventually have caused us grief. He put an end to our marital partnership. Marriage is not a 50/50 thing. It is 100% in both directions. Once I wholeheartedly accepted my part, Faye could do the same regarding hers.
The importance of properly playing each role cannot be overstated. I became the man of the house. By that, I do not mean I became an iron-fisted “get my slippers” and “where’s my dinner” dictator kind of guy. I took full responsibility to cherish my wife and children and to do everything within my power to be the most loving and understanding husband and father I could be. That is, in spite of my imperfections… and those of the ones I loved. Faye did the same and our children were the biggest benefactors.
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Reflections on Marriage, Part 4: Reflections (Part 22)
Faye was incredulous when she saw me bring the tape recorder to the table as we were engaging in a heated argument over… who knows? Funny how it was important enough to require a not-so-friendly contest, yet not important enough to remember. In any case, as I sat down, I pushed the record button, which quite rightly aggravated Faye. When asked what the hell I was doing, I simply responded, “Since we are insisting on arguing about this again, let’s record it so we can save a few minutes next time by simply replaying the recording.”
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Reflections on Marriage, Part 3: Reflections (Part 21)
Now that honest communication has been established as foundational, let us move onto some of those rules WE agreed to before committing ourselves eternally to each other.
WE reasoned that if there were rules for real wars (such as the Geneva Convention) WE should have rules for engagement also. WE promised never to fight over three things and WE never have. WE have never battled over MONEY, CHILDREN or EXTENDED FAMILY.
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Reflections on Marriage, Part 2: Reflections (Part 20)
I have no idea where statistics come from. Mark Twain is famous for saying there are three types of lies including lies, damn lies and statistics! Either I am surrounded by like-minded individuals or I am completely disconnected from the greater population, but I have a hard time believing only 5% of all marriages make it to fifty years. On the other hand, a lot of people we know are in their second or third marriage, so I suppose they will never see the fifty year mark unless the subsequent marriages were engaged in at a young age and life is very long.
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Reflections on Marriage, Part 1: Reflections (Part 19)
I will never forget that moment. I was sent to the airport to get the bridesmaid for the wedding the next day. I had no picture, no real description, just a flight number. Since I was a taxi driver at the time, I was acquainted with the airport and its busyness, so I went in blindly looking for someone I had never met. And then, there she was! I politely asked if her name was Faye and she responded in the affirmative. My life seemed to change in that moment.
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Reflections on Freedom: Reflections (Part 18)
Isn’t it amazing that such a variety of events as happened to my wife and I, ranging from the very bad to the very good, would actually point to a single thing? In the main, I found everything pointed to God, but when it comes to His presence here on earth, I realized a very important lesson.
The greatest gift God gave us is freedom. For the most part, we are all born free, even if within a totalitarian regime. People are still free to follow, reject or escape, although I imagine this to be difficult in many situations. In fact, totalitarian governments exercise an abusive authority over their citizens precisely to steal their freedom.
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Reflecting on My Reflections: Reflections (Part 17)
No doubt these last two years have been a challenge. When my wife and I look back on what transpired over the last twenty four months, we are struck by the fact that we are still standing, much less doing well. There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that we are but actors in life and that there is much more at play than what meets the eye.
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The Farewell Tour Without Goodbyes: Reflections (Part 16)
I was in no shape to take on weeks of travelling as I recovered from my Covid-related pneumonia so we had to do most of our spring 2022 visits by phone or Zoom. I suppose after having faithfully visited families every fall and spring for decades, I thought we should make an effort to visit once I had mostly recovered from my illness.
My children were pressuring me to slow down and do less facilitation, but I was not in agreement. In fact, visiting families is the best part of this job – absolutely preferable to filling in government mandated paperwork and debating with bureaucrats!
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Victory! Reflections (Part 15)
Even though I was still very sick when I got home, I was immediately obligated to attend an interview with government agents regarding our accreditation application. I was very blessed to have several colleagues attend with me, which resulted in a positive outcome.
However, my nemesis, Maria, had wasted no time initiating yet another attack. The Maria Event #6 caused the sponsor school to fear for its life! Maria had determined that EU had failed to fulfill its obligations so the school would be penalized. Maria actually threatened to defund the entire EU home education program, which would have had very deep and seriously negative repercussions for everyone. The accusations were serious enough to be escalated to the level of the Assistant Deputy Minister.
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Everything Goes Dark: Reflections (Part 14)
I believed the new year, 2022 would have to be an improvement over the last year of tragedies, failures and disappointments. I had only just met the application deadline for accreditation when I sustained a major head injury followed by headaches beyond description. Although we had hosted a staff gathering in late January, I recall very little of what transpired. A few days later, my very concerned wife took me to emergency, fearing for my life.
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