I'm back from a L.O.V.E. hiatus!

Brad & Manike at Disturbed Concert

And my mother was right! At the beginning of the summer, I listened to countless jokes from my mother. She was utterly convinced that I would come out here to Monticello and fall in love with some hottie farm boy.
I did more than that! I'm getting married! The date is September 20th. The Man is 'Brad' Pipkin from Monticello, UT. This whole summer has been a lesson on the benefits of diplomacy!

Lesson #1
Always say yes to first dates!
First of all, it's polite. No guy wants to get turned down for a first date. If you want to encourage Mr. Right to find you and make you happy, you need to inspire him to see that Vision! Say yes, be jovial, happy, fun, and be yourself. Don't hang all over him. That's not required every minute of a date. Giving him some space to breathe will give him a chance to look at you while you're both at your best--relaxed and with personality shining thru!
Lesson #2
Be Willing To Change Your Mind
If I had known the Brad summary before we met, I would have just said no thank. I used to be a 'stickler' on dating return missionaries with my same opinions, and never dating in the military. I sure would have missed out! Testimonies are made with or without missions. Sometimes you just take different turns.
Having different opinions means we have lots to talk about. I don't have to worry about him making me his life because guess what! He's living his dreams! Just like I am. We have a fuller, richer life from all the variety.
As for the military, I have learned a respect for our armed forces that I never had before. Being personally involved has already shown me that our US Military has the leadership and brains to pull us through whatever is ahead in the future. That is a big change for me.
Lesson #3
Believe in being happy
Don't believe me? Check out this video with Will Smith.
We set ourselves up for so much hardship in dating by assuming what the world calls a realistic view. You expect to have fights; you expect to raise your voice, cuss and yell. You expect to fight a power war; sometimes you're stepping on his neck and sometimes you're really insecure. You expect him to do the same. But none of this makes you happy.
What if you really could have a honeymoon marriage?
What if you could solve concerns you have calmly without fighting or unnecessary pain?
What if you could build up feelings of love continually so that your marriage would never die?
Let's admit it. People don't get married just to have someone else balance the checkbook. People get married because they are deeply in love. If that love isn't there, is it really a marriage?
Or just an economical arrangement?
Economics aren't the glue for a marriage. Love is.
And Love leads to family.
When I took political economy during my sophomore year at George Wythe University, none of us had a wide perspective. The first definition we were opened to was "the workings of a home".
Clearly, a home is started by a family which begins most often with marriage. I say it that way because college lesson #789 was home and family are essential as your everyday support regardless of your marital status. I created many of them. Now I'm choosing to start another through the institution and covenant of marriage. Our goal is the same; be happy because we're together.
So obviously, in this chicken and egg story, Love comes before marriage. It creates it, before and after the ceremony. Creating love is labor, but it's an exhilarating adventure! As all creation is.
So when people ask me, "Are you sure? Do you know what you're getting yourself into?"
I just smile and say, "Yes."
To the never-ending adventure
Happily Ever After

Can you hear me?...a day at the Lake

At the lake today, I watched two kids playing in a raft. They were horsing around like most would, so it wasn't a surprise when the boat flipped over. I'd derived earlier that they were brother and sister. They laughed and splashed for a while, but within minutes, they attempted to climb back into the raft. They tried balancing on each side, but no luck. The girl even tried to put her feet in at the same time as her head! The raft plopped her out.
As I watched her try again, I realized she and her brother would never get in that way. I yelled to the girl.
"Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?"
After half a minute passed, I saw her turn towards me.
"Turn around!" I yelled. "Try putting your hands on the sides and jumping on it like a curb."
The word running through my head was stage, but she got the message, attempted and plopped again. This time on her back into the raft.
"Thank you!" She yelled back.
"No problem. I thought it might help."
As I sat down again on my blanket, something struck me about the way she had succeeded. She had some fun, fell out, then wanted back in. Going forward didn't help her, matter how balanced she was. She had to go backwards because her center of gravity was literally behind her.
Perhaps in life, going forward with weightless arms and legs, and even a head, does us no good. It is our weighted center behind us that gives us stability and pushes us forward. You have to turn backwards to the past to move towards your goals. Your center could be called many things. Family, mission, vision, a call from God, or a duty or debt you owe the world to help make it better.
I've got a lot of goals in life, just like I have pictures on my wall. They show all the places I want to go. How? My secret is out in the open, but most don't notice it. High above my desk are the words,
"Study as if the future of the world depends on you. It does."
Only God and I know what that really means.
Are you having fun or are you falling out?
Are your ears clear?

~Manike~

George Wythe College mentors me...www.gwc.edu Comanity funds me...www.comanity.com