My Beautiful Bride

I remember one day when an older mentoring friend came up to my side and put his arm around my shoulder as our wives were in front of us talking. He said, "Slade you sure do remind me of myself." I said, "How is that Mr. Crosby?" He said, "Because we both married way above ourselves."

I think about that night and conversation often and know without a shadow of a doubt how true Mr. Crosby's comment was and is in my life. I remember the first time I saw Wendy that I knew I wanted to get to know her. That was 18 years ago and I am so thankful that the Lord knew that this was exactly the helpmate I needed.

I have so many great memories of doing fun things together but what I really love is just being with her. We have laughed and we have cried together and I know that she loves and cares for me just how I am. There are plenty of times in my life where I just look in the mirror and ask myself why in the world did I make a mountain out of that molehill.

When I read what Paul says in the bible, "Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church" I just shake my head in defeat at times and ask myself, "Why can't you realize how great you have it Slade?" Then the Lord reminds me of His grace through Christ and the grace I can have with Wendy. As we continue to grow older together I pray that the Lord will help me to be more intentional with Wendy and to be way more grace giving and a heart to die more to myself and to serve her more in the little things as well as the big things.

I want to encourage us all to hold that special person in our life more. To purposely stop the other person and look them in the eyes and tell them how thankful you are for them and how much you love having them in your life. To hold their hand tight for no special reason. To write a special card and hide it where they find it. Go out on a date, plan the whole thing and do something that would be fun and romantic for them. The list could go on and on.

One might say, well they don't deserve any of this from me until they earn it. It is amazing how a soft touch or words spoken gently can touch a heart.

Thank you my dear Wendy for your love and kindness to me and may I continue to learn how to love my beautiful bride like Christ loved the church.

Friendships

Today I am sitting next to my oldest son Slade Mitchell in a shooting house deer hunting. This has become a hobby that the two of us love doing together. As we were driving up to the camp we had a blast talking about hunting stories and in my mind, I kept thinking how fast the time is going with him as a child. I am truly thankful to the Lord for these times together and being able to build a foundation for a friendship for life. Today we were riding a four wheeler and I was sitting behind him just hugging him and thinking one day he might be doing this with one of his children.

We also have a tradition that when I come home from work that we go at it in the living room wrestling. He loves trying to take me down and show me how strong he is getting. I better enjoy it while I can because one day he will be faster and stronger than me.

I am loving this season in our life together hunting and truly thankful for one of my dear friends Clark Alday. I met Clark back in the early 1990's through his brother-n-law Seth (who I had the privilege of discipling when he was a student at Troy State). The Lord blessed me with letting me know these men. Seth is far away now in Maryland but Clark lives here in South Alabama and we have been hunting together for years but our friendship goes much deeper than being in the woods. We have had some great times together but we have also cried on each others shoulders over the years. I know Clark loves me and my family and I am truly thankful for his friendship. At the beginning of hunting season, Clark sat with Slade Mitchell wanting to make sure he felt comfortable shooting his rifle. He was truly loving and patient and that made a big impact on Slade Mitchell. Several weeks later Slade Jr. was telling me while we were hunting don't forget to breathe correctly like Mr. Clark said to do.

There are so many great friends I have been blessed to have over the years who have loved me and my family. I pray that I would not let life pass me by and not thank those who have impacted me over the years. I also pray that I would be more intentional with my friends and their kids. It makes a difference.

I love how Christ reminds us to live in Matthew 22:37-40, "You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."  This is my prayer for us all as we touch people's lives and build friendships.

Pictured:

Slade McLendon, Slade Mitchell McLendon, and Clark Alday

New Year

Can you believe it is already 2011? Where does the time go? Did you achieve what you wanted to this past year? Do you know what you want to achieve this year? What books do you want to read? Who do you want to try and meet this year? Is there someone you need to reconnect with this year? Are you going to do something this year that you have dreamed about? Do you need to tell someone special in your life how important they are to you?

The list could go on and on. Be intentional this year and live life to the fullest.