Happy Monday - A Guest Blogger!

Good morning and Happy Monday to you all!  Today I am very excited to announce that I have a guest blogger here on My Beautiful Day!  My guest is my oldest brother, Jeremy.  He is an amazing brother, a husband and father to four beautiful kids (the last of whom is not yet two weeks old!), among other things.  He also is the one person who harasses me constantly that I'm not good at keeping up with writing on my blog - and every time he says this to me, I always tell him that he's welcome to do a guest post and that way my blog will have new content.  Well, this time he took me up on it!  What he wrote is something he posted on his Facebook page and told met hat I could use it for his guest post.  I love what it says and appreciate any positive feedback you might have for him.  Even if you aren't in agreement of what he says, at least be positive with your response.

So, without further ado, here is my big brother!

Minnesota Marriage Amendment

As the days to voting get closer the more I hear and see people putting there opinion of why they are voting yes, or no on the Marriage Amendment. I have had discussions on this issue with people. And when asked why I am voting yes for the Amendment I tell them that that is the way God intended it. And for some people they understand. Others want more of and explanation. I would tell them the Scripture 
Genesis 2:24
New International Version (NIV)

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

And say there is one scripture with two examples. 
Example 1: Father and Mother.

Example 2: Man united with his Wife.
Still for some this is not enough. And I never had more than scripture and saying that it the way God intended it. For some still not enough.

I prayed for a better answer. I got the answer a couple weeks ago and will share it with you all. It is a story from my baseball playing days. I will relate it to the issue at hand, the Marriage Amendment after the story and why I still plan to vote yes.

I was 17 years old playing American Legion Baseball in my home town of Perham. This day we were playing New York Mills. Two towns just 10 miles apart. Now this game was like any other with two teams and two umpires. One ump for the bases and one in the “box” behind home plate. The thing that made this game different for me was the umpire behind the plate calling balls and strikes was my Father. And his home town that he grew up in was New York Mills the team we were playing. Most players on both teams and most fans in the stands knew the ump was my Father. I came up to bat for the first time and as I walk to the plate I can hear the fans for the visiting team start to say, “Oh the ump is going to favor the batter. It is his son. This is not fair.” With that the ump takes out his brush and cleans home plate just as I am digging in the batters box. Once he is done he looks up at me and says, “You better be swinging boy.” To which I reply, “If it is a strike blue I will swing.” (Blue is the nickname for ump most players call him that).

Well the ump says, “Play ball.” And I get ready for the first pitch. As it comes to the plate I think it is just too far out side and let it go. The catcher catches the ball and I hear the ump say, “STRIKE ONE!” My head instantly turns straight back and looks at the ump, my Father, with confusion and I shake my head in disbelief. The second pitch now come and it is even further outside of the strike zone and I let it go. To which the ump says, “TWO!!” This now means I have two strikes against me. I step out of the batters box and look at the ump my father and shake my head in even more disbelief. After roughly 20 seconds I step back in to the box and get ready for the next pitch. As it comes I remember it being so far out of the strike zone in my mind that if I swung at it I would not have been able to put my bat on it. Then hear the umpire say,” STRIKE THREE YOUR OUT!!” Right there I wanted to argue with the umpire. I wanted to get right in his face and yell at him and tell him how he was wrong. But I stopped. Because I know that there has never been an umpire that has changed his mind on a strike call once he made the call. And arguing my point was not going to change the fact that I just struck out on what I though were three balls for pitches. The Ump called them strikes. That made them strikes. It did not matter that I thought they were balls.

Now you might be saying how does this story relate to the Marriage Amendment? Let me show you.

Let us put you in this game. But the game is not a baseball game. It is the game of life. There is an Umpire in this game of life. He is Jesus Christ. He is not calling balls and strike but truths and lies. The batters box at this particular time of the game of life will be the voting booth. In which the pitch thrown to you will be the Marriage Amendment. But the best part about this game is that even before the pitch is thrown to you the Umpire, Jesus Christ, is telling you to vote yes. He is saying, “I created man in my own image and created woman to be his wife.” And any argument or disagreement you try to have to change his mind on that call of the game will not change it. Cause it is the Truth. He said so. And when your time comes to be judged by the Umpire in the game of life, Jesus Christ, don’t let your no vote on the Marriage Amendment be a replay that he asks you why did you vote no when I told you in the Bible that Marriage is between a man and a women. Because any explanation you give to him still will not change his mind on the call. 

I hope this helps anyone who believes in Jesus to vote yes for the Marriage amendment.