SRKindredSpirits

  I know just about enough to be dangerous.... that right now is my whole take on religion.  You see I was raised very conservative ( think Amish, without the buggy ), and was taught conservative beliefs my whole life.... and there was alot of good that came from being raised that way. But, there was also alot of bad.... as my husband says, "if he wasn't already a Christian, seeing the way my conservative family and churches I was raised in act, he wouldn't want anything to do with God if that's how he was introduced to Christianity." Which is sad, but I agree with him 100%.   I joined an Independent Fundemental, KJV Baptist church ( which is pretty conservative ) and though I would say my belief aligns with a conservative Baptist, I am tired of the church politics, rules, and people acting one way on Sunday and another through the week.... the 'whatever' attitude of the Christian faith is off putting to me...... On the other hand, I was rebellious in my ...

There is always one day that is simply emotionally confusing for me and that is:  The Ex-Anniversary Date Twenty years have passed since the day I stood with my first husband Jim, in the basement of a courthouse in Athens, Georgia and said my wedding vows. And even though we’re divorced… and Jan 8th will come and go WITHOUT a 20th wedding anniversary… I will still celebrate it. I do every year. Our Wedding Day - Jan 8, 2001 I will celebrate the good memories, and the life we created while we were happy together. Because… there were a lot of good times. I will reflect on the sad time, the dashed hope's and dreams, the words left unsaid. And I'll wonder about the what- ifs.... it's all part of our story. Circumstances can never change the past. The only thing we can do is grow ourselves to change our view of the past. For me, this date is a reminder of my/our story. I have accepted the fact that I have no clue how to feel on this day. You'd think...

Happy 15th Anniversary to my ONE friend, my lover, and my hubby! I love you Stephen! "One Friend" I always thought you were the best I guess I always will I always felt that we were blessed And I feel that way still Sometimes we took the hard road But we always saw it through If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you Sometimes the world was on our side Sometimes it wasn't fair Sometimes it gave a helping hand Sometimes we didn't care 'Cause when we were together It made the dream come true If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you Someone who understands me And knows me inside out And helps keep me together And believes without a doubt That I could move a mountain Someone to tell it to If I had only one friend left I'd want it to be you Someone who understands me And knows me inside out And helps keep me together And believes without a doubt That I could move a mountain Someone to tell it to If I had only one friend left I'd wan...

I twist the wedding band on my left ring finger. I never know what to do with my hands, especially when I’m nervous. Every five years or so, I find myself here.... I’m at a little restaurant twenty plus miles from my home... I'm always here first. I see him at the door before he sees me. I watch him look around the room. My heart is beating fast. The whole scene freezes as he walks towards me. I am transported back 21 years to when I first met him.... so much looks the same, all the memories come flooding back. We used to be in love....we made it look good; we made it look easy. And it was good, but never easy. Life was hard back then. I rise to hug him. Our bodies still fit so well together. I remember his smell, part cologne, part Marlboro cigarettes, and part cinnamon certs. I pull away. We sit, surrounded by the noise of the old folks getting their morning coffee and chatting about the weather. It feels awkward. I never know how I'm supposed to a...

Behind the Laughter A Comedian's Tale of Tragedy and Hope By: Anthony Griffith and Dr. Brigitte Travis-Griffin with Mark Caro “I was living every comic’s dream…with a nightmare attached.” Anthony Griffith, a stand-up comic from Chicago’s South Side, has lived on the borderline of comedy and tragedy. At the very time his career as a stand-up comedian was taking off, and he had finally achieved his dream of appearing on The Tonight Show, he was also enduring an unimaginable personal nightmare: his two-year-old daughter, Brittany Nicole, was dying from cancer. While Anthony performed under bright lights, he struggled not to succumb to the darkness of losing a child. Behind the Laughter asks, When your world is falling apart, how do you keep going? It’s the story of how Anthony and his wife, Brigitte, learned to endure the most painful of times and emerge on the other side of the “zombie years.” Although, I have not had a child die from cancer, I could definitely relate ...

"He never saw it coming. It was the night of Dave and Ann’s tenth wedding anniversary and if asked how their marriage was doing, Dave would have said a 9.8 out of 10 and he even guaranteed Ann would say the same. But instead of giving a celebratory kiss, Ann whispered, “I’ve lost my feelings for you.”  Divorce seemed inevitable. But starting that night, God began to reveal to Dave and Ann the most overlooked secret of getting the marriage we are looking for: the horizontal marriage relationship just doesn’t work until the vertical relationship with Christ is first." This book was a fun and a good read in more ways than one... couples often think of marriage as husband and wife. But a great marriage only works if it's vertical - husband, wife and God! The book was divided into four parts... Going Vertical, Conflict and Communication, Intimacy (which was my favorite), and Living Vertical.  I have always found it odd that many Christians think that it's wro...

It's easy to love your spouse when everything is going smooth, and you feel deep in love. But do you love your Spouse in the middle of a disagreement, or when there's conflict, and you think, how did we get here? What happened? My husband and I had our first big, and only major blow-up argument about one month after we got married, which ended in one of us calling the other a name, and not speaking to each other for 3 days straight... (which is not a good thing when you are remodeling your house and end up with a bathroom floor that neither of you like, but were both too stubborn to tell each other!) Looking back, our argument was really stupid and was over a piece of mail. It all happened because instead of talking to each other about what we expected from each other, we assumed the other person would just know.  Let me insert here, the first 6 months of married life was hard for us... (We were two very independent ppl with homes of our own, and used to doing ou...

Who I Am with You - By Robin Lee Hatcher  Published by Thomas Nelson I normally don't read very many fiction books.... but this one caught my attention.  I loved Andrew and Helen’s relationship, and the way Andrew kept trying to work on their marriage even after he knew the truth about Helen's betrayal. And, that they could completely and fully forgive each other and have a great marriage. I also loved the relationship between Jessica and Ridley, and how it started out as a friendship! There was a lot of trust there, which I loved as well. When they encountered road blocks they didn’t fight or attack each other, they just trusted each other. This book is hard for me to review, as I really liked it the story, but I didn't like the time jumps. I thought both stories were good and well written, but it was confusing jumping between the two. For me personally, I would have rather had two books, the series should have started with Andrew and Helen'...

So, back before we got married, my husband and I received alot of marriage advice....but the following turned out to be the worst marriage advice I ever received.....   "Don't ever talk about or bring up each other's past relationships or past life."  For me, the above advice turned out to be the number one mistake of our marriage and here's why.   When you can't speak to each other about your past or past relationships, it causes strain on a marriage. And, just like when things are swept under the rug, they will eventually come out.  My husband and I both had previous relationships. He was never married, but I was previously married with a child. My first husband was my best friend in a time of my life when most all other friends and family forsake me. And being told not to talk about him or our past life together, made me feel horrible. So the for the first three to five years of our marriage, we tried to follow the advice - never tal...

Today is our Anniversary..... Every year, we try to take an Anniversary trip to get away, just us two. It's something we look forward to every fall. It gives us a chance to be alone, walk hand in hand, and to simply, just be. We love to hike and spend time in nature. This year our destination was Niagara Falls, NY. It was windy, and cold, and we got soaked a few times, but it was beautiful and fun! Pictures don't do it justice! Veiw from the lookout tower... On the rim trail... The leaves were just starting to turn.... We saw at least six different rainbows in the two days we were there. My favorite view.... Cave of the winds... looking back up at the falls... I was amazed at how close you could get up to the falls.... My love and I....   It was hard to get a good picture of the Horseshoe Falls, because the wind and mist was so bad. The closer you got, the wetter you were. Our camera lenses were cover ...