Once in a small group Bible study we read a book about marriage called Cherish by Gary Thomas. One of the concepts in the book he calls catching bids. A bid is anytime your spouse makes an attempt to connect with you. He said that catching bids is one of the best predictors of a healthy marriage. Strong marriages usually catch around 80% of the bids while marriages heading for divorce are closer to 20-30%. 

A bid could be they start a conversation, try to give you a hug/kiss, ask you to do something with them, or initiate intimacy. The goal is to catch whatever bids your spouse throws to you.

The reason this is so important is because of honor. If you truly honor and cherish your spouse you will catch their bids even when it is not convenient for you. 

One of the examples given in the book was a husband who was working on a major project worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. His wife entered the room and started a conversation that he had no interest in. He had a big...

The feet are one of the biggest keys to joint health. I used to massage the bottoms of my feet before every workout with a lacrosse ball but recently I had gotten out of the habit. When I began to implement this again I noticed a nice improvement in the way my joints feel. The feet contain reflexology points for your whole body. 

The other thing I encourage you to do for your feet is wash them at night before bed and then rub olive oil on them. This is a tip I learned from 114 year old Bernando Lapallo. 

The knees are very sensitive to hydration levels and the balance of water and salt. 

Every joint in the body is linked to a different systems and the knees are linked to your water, hydration, and stress levels. 

If you are having knee pain then make sure your hydration is good. Also, remember that hydration is more than water. If someone went to the emergency room for dehydration they would give them saline, not water. 

For balanced hydration levels aim for 50-70 ounces of water per day and salt your cooked food to taste with a good sea salt. 

It is possible to drink too much water and not have enough salt so make sure these are balanced. 

Today at 1pm EST in the Abundant Life Blueprint we will continue the discussion on Building Healthy Families. 

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Today's topic is parenting. Here is some of what we will be discussing... 

When God builds he likes to build with stones rather than bricks. What is the difference? Bricks are made by man and they are all the same. Stones are made by God and they are all unique. The Bible says we are all like living stones(not bricks) being built into a spiritual house. 

The world wants to put pressure on your kids to conform into bricks. Our job as parents is to help them become the stone God made them to be. Teaching kids to handle pressure is one of the most important skills. 

Kids need a combination of challenge and consistent praise. Praise them through the challenges. 

If they are going to walk with God he is going to challenge them and push them out of their comfort zone and they must be prepared for this, while...

Today and tomorrow in the Abundant Life Blueprint at 1Pm EST there will be live training on Building Healthy Families. Today we will be discussing marriage.

Click Here to Join the Abundant Life Blueprint and join live + have access to the replays. 

Here is some of what we will be discussing...

• Your family knows how to push your buttons. 
• The goal of marriage: Two people who are continually looking to be a blessing to their partner and make them great. And build a life that is better than either could do on their own. 
• Love vs Cherish - Love puts up with your spouse while cherish seeks to keep them from pain and give them the desires of their heart. One of the ways you can do this is by spending a few minutes visualizing your spouses day looking for areas to be a blessing. 
• Connection is more important that communication. In all communication you can either be trying to connect or get away. 
• Spouses often have different opinions and perspectives but...

Today is the feast of Purim. In the Jewish culture it is celebrated with fasting during the daylight hours today follow by feasting in the evening. This is to symbolize how quickly God can turn the tables and take us from fasting to feasting. 

Purim is the day when the tables were turned. In the Abundant Life Blueprint each area of life has what we call a Table Turner. The table turner is the number one thing to focus on, because it puts you in control and can turn around bad situations quickly. 

Here are some of the Table Turners...

Jesus is the most important table turner

Taking regular communion is a table turner

Grace and forgiveness are table turners.

The imagination is the table turner for your mind and emotions

Rhythm is the table turner for your energy.

Getting in agreement with your spouse is a table turner for your finances.

Submitting to authority is a table turner for order

Resting( especially mentally) a the table turner for your time

Scribing the Bible is a...

Tomorrow evening the feast of Purim starts. Purim is a reminder that Jesus is your table turner. 

Purim comes from the book of Esther and is the story of a quick turnaround. There was a law written that was going to destroy the Jewish people and in those days once a law was written it could not be undone. Queen Esther asks the king to write a new law that overrides the first law. This new law turned the tables and put the Jewish people in control. 

This event is symbolic of Jesus. He turned the tables by bringing in the New Covenant which overrides the Old. In the Old Testament to be right with God you had to keep a standard that none of us could keep. In the New Testament we can be right with God by simply believing in Jesus. 

In the Jewish culture tomorrow is a fast during the daylight hours followed by a feast in the evening. This symbolizes the quick turnaround from fasting to feasting. 

Take some time to meditate over the next few days on a couple of...

In the quantum world of science there is a duality that matter can either be a particle or it can be a wave. It can take either form, but it is determined by the observer. If the observer is looking for a particle then it will be a particle. If the observer is looking for a wave they will see a wave. 

It all depends on what you are looking for. I think much of life is the same way. In your interactions with people if you are looking for the good then you will see the good. If you are focused on the bad then that is what you will see. 

It is hard to see both at the same time. Something I have found is that if you focus on the light(God) darkness fades away. Many bad habits and things that you have been trying for years to stop will effortlessly fade out of your life when you simply focus only on the light. 

What's New

Next week in the Abundant Life Blueprint there will be live training on Building Healthy Families, and the idea of focusing on what your spouse and...

Every new month is like a fresh start and I like to work on developing new habits. 

One way I like to do this is by thinking about 2 areas....

• Biggest weakness
• Biggest strength

For your biggest weakness, what is the one area that is holding you back the most? It could be spiritual life, mindset, emotions, health, relationships, money, time, work, an addiction, etc? It's time to fix the leak. Begin to seek God on this area. 

The problem is you may not know what your biggest weakness is but Romans 8:26 says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We may not know what to pray for but the Spirit intercedes for us. If you will seek he will show you. 

Biggest strengths

What strengths do you have that if developed you could be world class at? What is your God given super power and what habit could you develop to help you practice more?

Once you know the strengths and weaknesses do the following...

1. Pray and ask for help developing that area
2. Take the first step and get...

Lately I have been pondering 1 John 1:7. It says " If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sins."

Recently I have been going for walks with God and he has been bringing to life scriptures about walking. When you go for walks with God, who is light, it seems to lead to better fellowship with people. It has increased my prayers for others and my feeling of connection with others. 

Another way of thinking about walking in the light is walking in total transparency with nothing hidden. As you do this it also increases your fellowship and connection with others. 

The other thing about this verse is walking in the light purifies us. Galatians says that if we will walk in the spirit then we will not satisfy the desires of the flesh. 

The key takeaways for today...

Go for consistent walks with God. ( Set an appointment time)

It will lead to better fellowship and relationships. And it will...