Friday, February 15, 2013

He Musts........


Every year, I have my students read the entry posted below called The Princess Bride And MookDa's List. It will explain what I'm about to type here. On November 26, after reading the previously mentioned article, everyone in my classes listed five absolutes about the person they will marry in both the positives (He Must/She Must) and the negative (He Must Not/She Must Not). So with Valentine's Day still in the air, here is the first installment, used by permission, from my young ladies. They are a combination of eighth graders and high schoolers and all are used by permission:

He must treat me as his equal. Diamond
He must help me with my sensitivity. Minna
He must look my mother in the eye. Mary
He must love his parents. Valerie
He must be reasonable. Sarah
He must have the most beautiful eyes that I can drown in. Amara
He must be able to tolerate four brothers and a military father. Erin
He must have a gentle heart. Sophie
He must have his own goals and fight for them. Jasmine
He must be a third culture kid who is willing to move anywhere. Rebecca
He must be wise. Hyungi
He must be a God fearing, God loving man. Isabel
He must want a family. Simone
He must me more than anything except God. Angela
He must accompany me forever. Tina
He must like hugging. Grace
He must support me and push me to do everything to the best of my ability. Mandy
He must be kind to everyone. Anh
He must be muscular. Raye
He must be a romantic. Kennedy
He must be able to speak both Chinese and English. Rachel
He must have a good work ethic. Maggie
He must be strong and healthy. Alex
He must be clean shaven. Ostara
He must be athletic or creative. Morgan
He must listen to me and care. Brittany
He must be able to make me laugh. Sydney
He must be educated. Eme
He must be patient with my impatience. Danita
He must be a born again Christian AND treat me like a princess. Roseline

He must be pure and care about my parents' culture/traditions. Annaliza
He must be able to protect me. Peyton
He must be a little playful. Evony
He must be faithful, humble, and have a cute smile. Julia

He must be able to work with me as a team. Taylor C.
He must be taller than me and be a family man. Taylor S.

He must be Nobel Prize worthy intelligent. Kat
He must love to work out and love to have fun. Cydney


The Princess Bride And MookDa's List



Recently in class, I told my students that it is my belief that the Lord chose Joseph as carefully as Mary when selecting earthly parents for the Savior. Last week, we talked about the importance of making the right choices when it comes to our mates. I told them the two most important decisions they will make in life are becoming a Christian and picking a partner. We read this entry from August 2, 2006 as part of the discussion. Tomorrow, I will share some of our kids' responses to these thoughts.

My brother, Dave, penned two entries while I was in Honduras on a mission trip. In his second installment, Dave quotes a line from the movie, The Princess Bride. One of our elders, Mark Hall, posted a comment speculating on the number of times The Princess Bride had been viewed in comparison to more well-known blockbusters. This past Sunday morning after worship service, I mentioned the comment to Mark, adding that I had never watched the movie in question. At our evening worship service, Mark walked up and placed his family copy of The Princess Bride in my hands, informing me he had probably seen it fifty times. With a recommendation so strong, guess what I did Sunday night? It was good. I thought parts of it were very silly but that is coming from a critic who thinks Napoleon Dynamite is the finest comedy of all time. What I found memorable occurred in the first several minutes of the fairy tale, as told by a grandfather to his grandson. Buttercup, a young lady played stunningly by Robin Wright, falls in love with the farm hand, Westley. From that moment on, her love never wavers in spite of separation and the belief that Westley was dead. True love was all that mattered to Buttercup, the essence of an unwavering romantic believer. And in the end, well- I don't want to spoil it for the two or three of you who haven't seen this 1987 semi-classic.

Every year for Christmas, my folks purchase a subscription for their children to a periodical called The Christian Chronicle. In the August edition, there was a human interest story, just a few paragraphs, but I was captivated by its charm. It seems a missionary from Trinidad, Parker Henderson, was spending time with Christian friends in Malaysia. Parker just happens to have a thirteen year old grandson. His friends just happen to be parents to an eleven year old girl named MookDa. Parker, perhaps encouraging some future romantic interest, displayed photographs of that grandson to MookDa, who appeared unimpressed. But looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to eleven year old girls. Reasoning with a maturity belying her age, MookDa proceeded to put her beliefs on paper, a thesis on marriage, if you will. Typing out her standards for Parker, MookDa assembled a list of a dozen qualities of, quote, "the kind of man that I require." Among others, her qualifications included:
1. he must be a Christian 
2. he must be intelligent
3. he must NOT be lazy
4. he must enjoy singing
5. he must read the Bible everyday

To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I work with young people about that age and that type of logic is not universal. What registered most with me was what she did not say. When I hear girls speak of boys they like, one of these descriptions creeps into the conversation: cute, hot, fine, so fine. MookDa, even at eleven, already is looking past the obvious to the eternal. I don't know MookDa, her parents, Parker Henderson, or his grandson. (Parker's brother, Obert, was one of my college Economics professors.) But if in ten or so years, the young man and young lady fall in love, I will believe it was ordained by the Lord. MookDa will never have to resort to Match.com- she knows what she wants. Undoubtedly, her parents have demonstrated an ideal model of a Christian marriage. I kind of scoff when I hear that match made in heaven stuff. I promise, I won't be scoffing should this romance come to pass.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Men and women are equal in love. They are equally vulnerable and equally powerful."
Elizabeth Rapaport


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

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