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 gentlemen. They are a combination of eighth graders and high schoolers and all are used by permission:
She must be independent from her friends. -Evan
She must try to make it work. -Clay
She must be family oriented. -Charles
She must be from a great family. -Jordan
She must have a family that can coexist with mine. -Chris
She must stand up for herself. -Jake Bi.
She must graduate from college. -Chad
She must graduate from high school. -Kirk
She must be trustworthy. -Galen
She must love and fear the Lord. -Cameron
She must have a sense of humor. -Bruse
She must like to have a pet. -Nick
She must be able to sit through an entire soccer game. -Eric
She must be selfless in her time and she must be willing to give her time to the least of us. -Austin
She must like my attitude. -Armani
She must have good teeth. -Everett
She must be non-denominational. -Kameron
She must trust me with all her life. -Jose S.
She must care about my goals. -Myles
She must enjoy having prank wars and joking with other people. -Edward
She must be African- American or Hispanic. -Donald
She must be healthy. -Jordan
She must have strong will power. -Jose M.
She must be a working class American. -Patrick
She must be loving. -Jalen
She must be really attractive. -Micah
She must be beautiful in her own way, not to the way the world looks at her, but how she looks at herself. -Brady
She must have gone through something with me. -Matt
She must be a faithful wife. -Justin
She must make me love her for who she is. -Bailey
She must be a college graduate. -Ajalon
She must be happy for who she is. -Harrison
She must love the Lord with all her heart and more than me. -Jake Be.
She must be from Texas. -Wade Hill
She must be a short girl. -Michael
She must fill my heart with joy. -Bryan
She must be a good cook. -Lowell
She must be able to keep a job. -Ben
She must like the same music as me. -Tevvin
She must match my intelligence. -Alejandro
She must love hunting. -Robert
She must be more beautiful on the inside then the outside. -Nathan
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
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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