I’ve been married for 10 1/2 whole months. So obviously, I know everything there is to know about marriage. So for all you newbies out there, pull up a chair and listen to the wisdom that I am about to throw down.

1) First and foremost, she’s weird. She doesn’t keep the toothpaste canister clean. She’s anal about the shower curtain being closed. She will be fine with the way the house looks until the second she hears company MIGHT be stopping by and then suddenly we live in the dirtiest house in the world. She steals my pillow and my covers nightly. She’s just weird! I’m sure there is nothing about me that’s weird to her.

2) Saying, “I don’t care babe, you can pick” is NOT you being nice and letting your wife decide. It’s you being an $&# and making your wife decide. If my wife asks me what I want for dinner, I better have an answer. This is serious stuff.

2) Hiding from your spouse is a lot of fun. Amy goes to bed pretty early, so when she’s getting ready for bed, I like to turn off all the lights and construct a complex scene of fake-outs and hide somewhere. I will put pillows under the covers to make it look I am there and jump out from the closet. I will pretty much do whatever I can to make her say, “Baby, I hate this…please come out.”

4) Marriage helps with money accountability. We both have smart phones, so that means we both can instantly access our bank account. So if I decide to buy the new PS3 NCAA football game you better believe Amy is going to know about it! It makes us ask the question, “Do I really need this?” Sure there are times when we blow some money, but having someone to ask if that purchase was necessary or not really helps. (As long as you have both agreed to be asked that question.)

5) Your wife is pregnant? This is really an entirely different blog post, but be prepared to wash more dishes, do more laundry, give out 50% more back rubs and hear, “Get away from me” at least 15 times a day. (Especially if you like to pester your wife like I do.)

6) It’s really easy to neglect praying together. We got to bed at different times and wake up at different times. It’s so easy to put off praying together. We have to be very intentional about this.

7) Intimacy comes in many different ways. We are a team. When we cook and clean the kitchen together I feel it. When we discuss our week and what we are going to do, I feel it. When we pray, I feel it. When we laugh, I feel it. Intimacy comes in many different ways.

Just because these are things that I have learned doesn’t mean we are perfect at them. We aren’t, but we are trying to get better each day. I am so thankful for Amy and the last 10 1/2 months. It’s been so much fun and I can’t wait to start our family and continue down this journey of life with her. She’s awesome and scared of the dark. Can’t ask for much more.

Jose Bautista is a Major League Baseball player.  He has been playing in the majors since 2004, but you most likely had never heard of him.  In his first 6 seasons as a big league ballplayer he never hit over 16 homeruns in one season.  This year he hit 54. He had a monstrous year that included 124 runs batted in.  Almost double his previous career high.  He had a very successful season.

Most of you know that on October 16th, I will be marrying the love of my life.  I can’t wait, but I am not under the illusion that our story ends there.  On our programs we entitled our special day, “Storybook Beginning.”  While a little cheesy, I believe it’s perfect. Here’s why.

Think of your favorite romantic comedy and then think of how it ended. Most likely it ended with a wedding.  That was the end of the story.  We are left to assume that they lived “happily ever after.”  We wanted to make the statement that our real story is just beginning.  The wedding starts the real hard work and we are committed to making it work.  We don’t want 1 successful season or even 2 successful seasons.  We want to be a dynasty.

Jose Bautista had a monster year.  An amazing season, but it’s been his only one so far.  The rest were mediocre.  When Amy and I look back at our “stats” we want to have more monster seasons than mediocre ones.  We want to set the records each year and more importantly we will never become free agents or be traded to another team.

We are ready for this beginning.  I can’t wait to call her my wife.  Batter up.

I love underdogs.  Who doesn’t? Cheering for the underdog is a national pastime. One of my favorite movies is Rudy, which could possibly be the greatest underdog story ever.

Recently I read a story about Maurice Clarett attempting a comeback into professional football.  If you aren’t familiar with Maurice, here is a refresher:

Clarett, a former Mr. Football in Ohio, started for the Buckeyes as a freshman and quickly asserted himself as one of the premier running backs in the country. He rushed for 1,237 yards in 2002, helping Ohio State to its first national championship in 34 years.

But he was ruled ineligible the following year for taking special benefits worth thousands of dollars. He sued to enter the NFL draft early, before he was out of high school for three years, but lost in court.

After he was eventually drafted by the Broncos, he was cut before the season started. Then, in September 2006, he pleaded guilty to having a hidden gun in his sport utility vehicle and holding up two people outside a bar.

Maurice did his time in prison and then did 4 1/2 months in a transition house.  Now he wants a shot at his passion again.  He wants to play football.  He’s stayed in shape and if he can prove he has his head on straight, there is a team in the United Football League that wants to give him a tryout.

I hope he makes it.  I even hope he makes it back to the NFL and is successful.  Call me crazy, but I love the underdog.  He paid the price for his mistakes and deserves another shot.

Why is it so easy for us to cheer for sports underdogs, but not ministry underdogs?

A close friend and mentor of mine, Justin Davis, was exactly that. He was a successful pastor in a church he started and then had an affair.

Let me guess.  Your heart didn’t flutter with excitement at the thought of him pastoring again did it?  Justin’s comeback journey was painful and his marriage went through the most intense refinement possible… and it worked.

The underdog, who most weren’t cheering for, is now a campus pastor and on the teaching team at Cross Point Community Church.  The journey isn’t over though.  He wants others to learn from his experience and has started Refine Our Marriage.

I know most of my readers aren’t in that season of life, but one day you will be.  We can still take away a lot from their story.  I know that I have.  The main thing that keeps sticking out to me is this:  I have 54 days before I will be married and I am 100% sure that Justin loved Trisha just as much as I love Amy 54 days before their wedding.

I am not above anything.  This isn’t a “this can’t happen to me” scenario.  I am so thankful for the wisdom that their story has spoken into my life and you will be too.

Ever since I got engaged, I get asked the question, “How did you know?” quite a bit.  I usually respond with, “When you know, you know”, and while I still feel like that’s somewhat true, I have another answer.

First, let me throw out my disclaimer – To the best of my knowledge, I have never been married a day in my life.  Likewise, I claim to know nothing on how to have a healthy marriage, although I am getting counsel and reading books on that.  This is purely my opinion.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s how I knew. [..]

So, I’m getting married.  Yep.  October 16th, 2010.  Finally.

I’m learning all sorts of new things.  For example, I don’t get to pick out what my tux looks like!  (Shocking, I know.) I have to coordinate what I wear with the “colors” of our wedding.  What the heck!?  I thought I was being a good fiance by not wanting to be heavily involved with things and the next I know I am being told that I have to wear a brown tux.  That’s not exactly how I imagined I would look on my wedding day. [..]