Neil Diamond

I am not a Neil Diamond fan. I just don't care for his music. In fact, I find him annoying. I'm sure he's a great guy and very talented, but I find him annoying.

I have an MP3 player. Gary gave me his when he got an ipod from a friend. About a month and a half ago, he sat down at the computer and put all of my favorite music on my "new" MP3 player. Wasn't that nice of him?

Then I took it out with me to mow the lawn. And with each pass I made, I wondered, "why is everyone watching me from the window?"

And then I heard it. Coming to America. I just shook my head and as I turned the mower and headed back up toward the house, still shaking my head, I saw the grins on the faces and knew why they were watching! Very funny.

We all had a good laugh. Aidan thought this little prank was hilarious. It was fun to see that even the kids were having fun with this.

I still don't like Neil Diamond.

A few days ago, I was listening to my MP3 player upstairs while I was cleaning. And there he was again, my friend Neil. I laughed to myself and kept cleaning.

Would you like to know why I still have Neil Diamond on my MP3 player? It's not because I don't know how to delete songs. I haven't tried but I'm pretty good at figuring out how things work. I'm certain I could do it if I tried.

It's because it's not a Neil Diamond song to me anymore, it's a reminder. A reminder that I have laughter and joy in my marriage, when not too long ago, I wouldn't have thought that was possible.

What satan intended for destruction, God worked for His good, for our good. And here we are, both committed to God, to each other, to this family. The world would have written our marriage off, but that would be because they don't add God into the equation. The world sees this: his mess + my mess = better off walking away, pick up what's left of yourself and start over somewhere else. But the world is deceived. Here's the true equation: his mess(confessed and forgiven by God) + my mess(confessed and forgiven by God) x 2 personal relationships with Jesus = 2 sinners, forgiven and able to forgive with an opportunity to walk/struggle through this life together with God, with love, with hope, and with laughter.

When I was tempted to fall for the deception that my marriage would be better if it was over, God gave me this verse:

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27

When everything I could see told me otherwise, I held on to that promise.

And here I am with laughter in my marriage. And Neil Diamond on my MP3 player. Who would have thought?