M&M meet and marry their M&Ms

I met Maressa during my first year of college. We lived across the hall from each other in the dorm and it took us a little less than two weeks to hit it off and find ourselves nearly inseparable...because it was just so much more fun to be together! And from that point on we were known as M&M or Marissy to most everyone else.

That year together was a blast. But when I think of Marissa what always first stands out is her love for the Lord and the things of the Lord. It was in this aspect that Marissa became much more than just a friend, she was a redemptive friend; that is, she was someone the Lord has used to greatly teach me and grow me in my own relationship with Him. A friend you can find anywhere, but a redemptive friendship is hard to come by.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 says, "Two are better than one...for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion...a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." This concept of redemptive relationships comes neither easy nor natural to me, a sinner who more often than not selfishly looks for friendships to my own gain and comfort. I want friendships, yet I steer away from complete honesty and truth to keep myself from being to vulnerable to another.

Paul David Tripp's book, How People Change, has had an incredible impact on my understanding of this intended purpose for relationships. He writes:
       "...meaningful relationships are often avoided. They require work, sacrifice, humility, and selflessness. While the idea of loving another person taps into something inherently human, it also exposes our sinful self-centeredness...At one level we want friendships. At another level we don't want them! In creation, we were made to live in community, but because of the fall, we tend to run from the very friendships we need. Quite often our longing for them is tainted by sin. We pursue them only as long as they satisfy our own desires and needs. We have a love-hate relationship with relationships! The Bible recognizes this profound tension, but still places our individual growth in grace in the context of the body of Christ...the work of redemption involves our individual relationship with Christ alongside our relationships with others." (pgs. 75-76) (see also: Romans 12: 1-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2:14-22; 4: 7-16; 1 Peter 4: 10-11)

I'm so thankful that the Lord brought Maressa into my life! But, this same redemptive purpose is not just for friendship relationships but is also and especially for marriage relationships...and a marriage is what initiated all the thoughts written in today's post. The last I time saw Maressa was 1 1/2 years ago when she came all the way from Brazil to celebrate my marriage to my M. Today is the celebration of her marriage to her M. Today Maressa Arevalo will become Mrs. Marcelo Crivella. I wish I could be there to celebrate with my Brazilian sister, but I am excited for her and for this new relationship that the Lord has brought into her life for His glory and His purposes! Congratulations Maressa and Marcelo Crivella!

Maressa and Marcelo Crivella

 

Top 3 Reasons to Start a Blog

Starting at the 3rd and counting down to the 1st:


3. I have the time.
      The fact is, life's current circumstances have dealt me a lot of free time. With Mike in school full-time here in the States and my inability to work due to the visa I have been issued, my current employment status is: stay-at-home-mom minus the kids. It's not that I'm bored. I rarely have a problem finding things to amuse myself with...and then there's the washroom that always seems to be in need of cleaning. But my life is, inevitably, pretty laid back and I'm trying to cram in as many things as I can while I have the time to do it (and before the Lorusso kidlets start showing up), so why not dabble around in blogging a bit?

2. Closest family = approximately 1500 miles North of us.
      They may be glad to be rid of us but we sure miss them! And there's not only the family but all of our good friends who we have left behind or who have left us behind. It's hard to keep up with people and I've loved following friend's blogs over the years as many of us have moved all over creation numerous times. It's a continued and guaranteed connection with them across the miles!

1. Everybody is doing it.
       (aka. Peer pressure: "the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms").
        I will admit it, I am conforming. The thing is, I don't start fads, I follow them. I wait for someone who someone else has told me is trendy to tell me or demonstrate what is trendy. If I didn't have those people to look up to I'd be wearing hand-me-downs from my mother from 30 years ago. Wait a minute...I could have swore that the manikin in the store was wearing the sweater that my mom wore in that picture she has framed of her first date with my dad...hmmm...I'm confused.... Well, I wouldn't have known it was back in style had not a trendy person first liked it. (I saw bell-bottom jeans at Anthropology last week...is that trendy again?)

So, there you have it...now we have our very own blog...