It's All About Soul



Our honeymoon, 09/01/1986

 I try not to complain too much here, but I just have to say this- yesterday was not a good day.  (Editor's Note: This was written before I got a retweet from Jon Acuff on Twitter late last night.  I did The Church Lady's "Superior Dance to celebrate!  Also I learned that I get to play "Pinky" in an attempt to try to take over the world.  So the day wasn't a total loss...).  As Colin Mochrie often said on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, "I think it was Rogers & Hammerstein who wrote, 'The hills are alive with the sound of CRAP!"  And that was my Wednesday.  By the time I settled in for a little personal prayer time late in the afternoon, my attitude- for the second time this week- was terrible.  But even in the midst of that, God is faithful.  And I was reminded of a huge truth in my life.

Many of you either know or have seen me write on this blog that four years ago my life pretty much fell apart.  Some days- like yesterday- it's easy for me to feel sorry for myself.  And some days- like yesterday- God takes the opportunity to remind me just how much worse it could have been.  I could have been left alone, broke and homeless.  I could have lost all hope.  My faith in God and my relationship with Jesus kept me going in those early months after my life crashed.  And what kept my faith from faltering?  It was a who- my incredible wife Marilyn.

I know a lot of you guys think you are married to the most amazing woman in the world.  You are wrong.  I am.  The love, grace and support she showed me when no one in the world would have blamed her her for giving up on me still astonishes me.  The care she gives to our son Will is simply incredible.  But it is her faith that sets her apart.  She's not a bible thumper or a group joiner or a blogger or any of the other highly visible things that make people point at her and go, "Now there is a woman of God."  It is her life that points that out ever so clearly.  At a time when most of the world would have been just as happy to see me stay in my room and never come out again, she pulled me out. She loved me like only someone who really knows Jesus can- unconditionally.  When others might have left, she just hugged me tighter.  She SHOWED me Jesus in a whole new way.  And she still does every single day.

Many of you know by now that the Holy Spirit often speaks to me through music.  Before I decided to write about Marilyn, I was listening to to my ipod on shuffle hoping for an inspiration.  I got one.  The Billy Joel song It's All About Soul began to play- and I began to cry.  Billy is Marilyn's very favorite artist, and I know the song well.  But it had never occurred to me before that the song was written about her.  Billy didn't know that, but it was.  I went to YouTube and searched videos for the song, and found one with lyrics.  The video is not much, but it's the words I want you to see.  If you want to know what it's like to be married to the greatest woman in the world, just listen.  It's so much deeper than love.  It's all about soul.  I love you so much, Marilyn- and I am the most blessed man alive.  Nothin' crappy about that...



Because of Jesus,