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. Last week, 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 only four months off, here is the second 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 not be obsessed with Fortnite. Poppy
He must not gamble. Peyton
He must not have tattoos all over his body. Caroline
He must not be a lukewarm Christian. Oluwaseyi
He must not be younger than me. Jada
He must not live with his mom past twenty. Harmony
He must not be a picky eater. Cayley
He must not cuss. AT ALL. NO WAY. Eden
He must not be shorter than me. Ashley
He must not want more than three kids. Jannieka
He must not be a coward. Brooklin
He must not be overly confident. Sue
He must not be scared of my father. Katelyn
He must not be not be clingy to his mom. Ava S.
He must not put his burdens on me. Cai
He must not have a girl best friend. Taylor
He must not be an atheist. Addison
He must not be arrogant. Adelin
He must not have children. Bella
He must not be a felon. Makayla
He must not be easily angered. Dina
He must not be a predator. Kaitlyn
He must not run from his problems. Sophia
He must not make up stuff to impress me. Poppy
He must not yell at me. Peyton
He must not love anyone else romantically. Caroline
He must not be racist or sexist. Oluwaseyi
He must not give mixed signals. Jada
He must not give me the bare minimum. Harmony
He must not be disrespectful to his mother. Cayley
He must not love me just for looks. Eden
He must not let other girls flirt with him and act like nothing happened. Ashley
He must never physically or mentally harm me. Jannieka
He must not cut me off. Brooklin
He must not be a smoker. Sue
He must not follow the crowd. Katelyn
He must not fail to include me. Ava S.
He must not skip church except for emergencies. Cai
He must not have more than three past girlfriends. Taylor
He must not disrespect anyone even if they have hurt him. Addison
He must not be closeminded about other cultures. Adelin
He must not be perfect. Bella
He must not be a dropout. Makayla
He must not be lazy or dirty. Dina
He must not be rude to others. Kaitlyn
He must not disrespect my faith. Sophia
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
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
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