One Phone Call With Love

It's been a while since I have written a post and I have had a few topics in mind, but this morning is a little different.  I have not purposely procrastinated in writing, but rather the motivation had not driven me to carve out the time to do so.

Early this morning as I sit at the pool-deck watching my kids swim at 7am, I am doing something a different.  I am up earlier than usual and out the house earlier than usual.  In addition, swim practice is usually in the evening, but they are on holiday schedule.  In addition to this different type of morning, today is my 39th birthday! Yaaaay, Happy Birthday to me!!!

Usually birthdays aren't a huge deal for me.  I don't count down the days or make big announcements.  I give thanks to Yahweh for keeping me alive yet another year and cherish the moments that I have with my family.  I don't ask for anything and it sometimes frustrates my wife and/or mother that I want nothing.  But just as this morning is different, so too is this birthday.

For once I have a desire for something like a little five year old wearing a birthday hat.  It is something that I REALLY want, but something that no one can provide - just one phone call from my father.  For the first time in my life, I will not hear my Daddy's voice on December 21st.  That is weird.  No, wait.  Actually, it is really weird.  Every year I would get a call from my parents singing Happy Birthday, but this year, the tenor from that duet will be missing.  One half of the reason for my existence no longer exists and it is a odd feeling.

It wasn't that he made promises of giving me lots of money or things.  It was that he was my Daddy and he loved me (and my brother who has a birthday tomorrow) unconditionally.  Now, it has been three months since his passing and while every day has its ups and down, it has generally gotten better over the short time.

I know that I am not the first to experience the lost of a loved one nor am I the last, but when a parent passes away, the situation seems to be parked only in your drive-way.  To those who will experience a first special occasion or holiday without someone they love, be encouraged.  Let the ones around you love you the way they know how and you reciprocate that love the best way you know how. There is some things that we can never get back, but there are somethings that we can pass forward. With that, I will leave you with the scripture that I shared during my father's funeral.  It described him to a "T", but also is an example of how we are to love as well.

1 John 3:17-19   "(17) But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (19) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." (NKJV)

Be blessed folks.

Antoine Hall


Phone image is from Creative Commons and created by Christos Vittoratos

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Love Is The Basis (Replay)

Good morning and I hope all is well with you.  Today, I am sharing a writing that I did back in May of 2008.  Yes, I know it was nearly six years ago, but it is just as relevant now as it was back then.  With Valentines day fast approaching, I figured it would be just as good of time as any to share.  Without further adieu, here we go.

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May 13, 2008

I hope that all is well with everyone this fine Tuesday morning! You know yesterday, my wife and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary and needless to say I am still alive and my wife has not taken me out yet :-). No but seriously, it is truly a blessing to be married and the both of you share the same affection, open lines of communication and at the core, pure love for each other.

We didn't do anything different than a normal day at all. Money is tight so we cooked at home like normal. At first it was quite disappointing and frustrating because in your brain, you wanted to go all out on your anniversary. You want to roll the kids out to a relatives house, and go have a good time with your husband or wife. That's what is always assumed you do, but sometimes life doesn't always lend itself to what you want to do when you want to do it. So while for a bit I was frustrated yesterday, I had to remember the reason why we got married in the first placed. It was love for each other. It wasn't to pawn off kids and have a good time. It was to form a union in the presence of God according to His season.

Let's go to the 1st Book of the Bible and Old Testament. In Genesis 2:24-25, it says 

(24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 

In the beginning, it was God who set the rules. A man shall marry a woman and they shall be as one. Now verse 25 is the "nugget". It said, "..they were both naked....and were not ashamed". So here Adam and Eve are and all they have is their nakedness and each other. It didn't say, they were ashamed of what they didn't have. It didn't say they wished they be without the kids one night (I know there were no kids at this point, but work with me here) or wished to head out to the best and fanciest restaurant. It didn't say, they wished to sail down the Nile River on a yacht. It said, they had each other and was not ashamed. 

In the words of my daughter, Zion, "what does that mean?" Glad you asked. Let's flip to the 1st Book of the New Testament, Matthew. In chapter 22, verses 37-40, it says:

(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

We are to first place God at the head of our marriage and household. We are to love Him with every inch of our very existence. Second we are to love thy neighbour as thyself. Before your spouse was your spouse, they were your neighbour. If you couldn't love them from that standpoint then you were getting off on the wrong track any way.

You can have all the money in the world. You can have the largest house, nicest & fastest car, and all the richest friends in the world, but take them all away and what do you have left? You have God and each other. If the very existence and core of your marriage was not right from day one, then your marriage was predicated on the wrong things. At the end of the day, it's about the love you share for one another and how no one or nothing but God takes precedence over that.

Be blessed gang and have a good Tuesday!

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Antoine E. Hall

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Love Is More Than One Day

One "holiday" of gifts is not a strong indicator of how much one loves another.  There are 364 other days in the year and if those are ignored, then you have nothing but a nice shiny new gift until the next year's gift.  It should make you wonder to what you are looking forward....is it the gift or is it love?

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