A Good Marriage

     Of all the types of advice we receive in a lifetime I think the most attentive you'll find a recipient is on marital advice. I've seen enough Phil Show segments myself and gotten my fair share of seeing the negative side of what can go wrong with a marriage, that a positive spin on such a subject is always a welcome change. Since I have never been married I figure it's quite a job sifting through all the aspects- good and bad- that are said but I am not sure the advice has prepared me for the (hopefully) inevitable.

     The following quotes are from a short segment on marriage by Wilfred Arlan Peterson. I thought these were very good with a few amendments of my own:

•          You are never too old to hold hands.
•          Never go to bed angry with each other.
•          Don't take your spouse for granted. Keep the courtship going perpetually and learn to be romantic.
•          Keep a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
•          Stand up for each other when facing down or to the world.
•          Do things for each other in a spirit of joy not an attitude of duty.
•          Your independence should be equal, dependence mutual and your obligations, reciprocal.
•          Don't expect perfection in each other and have compassion for failings and faults.
•          Speak words of appreciation and demonstrate gratitude in thoughtful ways of your own.
•          Learn to forgive and forget.
•          Don't forget the words "I love you" and say them as often as you feel necessary- or more often.
•          Half of marrying the right partner is being the right partner.

     The last one is so true and the most important one of all, I believe. I once read those words on a bumper sticker and it impressed me so much that I have worked on that more than all the advice I have ever received. No one is ever really ready for marriage- at any age- until they get that one right. All the rest of these pointers are much easier to execute in a relationship if you take care of that last one first!

 

Just pointing the way to marital bliss-

with a kiss!

 

 

The Castle Lady   

 

All for One and One for All

     Today I was reading a section of the newspaper which had a wonderful article written by David Shribman on our past president's inauguration speeches. It mentioned the quotable quotes of Lincoln, FDR ("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself") and JFK's immortal words- "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". The article goes on to show how many of the presidents who took office used the inauguration day to inact, through symbolism, what their primary aim would be while they were in office.

       An example is when Jimmy Carter, along with his wife, got out of the presidential limo and strolled down Pennsylvania Avenue, which was risky behavior for a president after the assassination of JFK. His point? It was to show that he was going to have an open book on his dealings in the White House- as opposed to the clandestine dealings of Nixon and the Watergate Scandal. There is more in the article dealing with the movers and shakers that have taken to the Oval Office and it really started my thinking processes along another line. Something I only thought about today.

        Obama has been speaking a lot about us basically taking our country back by using the privilege of being a citizen, taking on a responsibility we have not been exercising. This makes perfect sense to me and I believe he's right. We all need to do our part to help him make these changes effectively. Together we can make great achievements in the areas of obtaining affordable health care, securing our borders effectively, putting people back to work and making sure that each and every person who has put a portion of their work into social security will have this fund to fall back on when they most need it. Collectively we can get our economy and our greatest strengths back on track and going in the right direction.

        Perhaps the most important lesson this country has learned in the wake of 9/11 is how important our people are- when we unite and pull together for a common cause but this is not to take away from each individual. I think about one president- perhaps the greatest president this country has had in modern times- being taken away from his post and out of the presidency in ill-timed fashion. This is, of course, John F. Kennedy, who by his absence has shown how important each individual is to the fabric of the common good. You don't have to be a president to make a difference, just someone with a strong vision and motivation to better yourself and others.

         Therefore, I propose that each and every one of us who want to see this country get back on its feet and once again lead all the nations in every aspect, to see Obama as the leader of our great citizens who will go on to do great things. Obama is the figurehead but our greatest strength will be ourselves working for the common good.

Here's a bear hug from The Castle Lady !  

What a Year !

This past year has been one for the records ! My work alone on Northumberland about did me in because it took seven separate entries just to cover all the castles in that county and I didn't get my additional North England material posted because I promised my Live Space readership to put up a few entries on countries I hadn't covered, Switzerland (Chateau de Chillon) and Luxembourg (Chateau de Bourscheid), Ile de France ( the area that surrounds Paris) plus many of the Treasure Houses of England and an area of Royal Palaces in London (St. James's Park).

In addition to those castle entries I posted up two pieces of Holy Spirit-inspired writs "To Pray or Not to Pray" and "The Nature of Love" that I am grateful to God for giving me to impart to my readership. In fact, I am always more awed by the inspirational writing I do than any other because the ideas and the methods, so often come to me in very unconventional ways. I feel the only way to get to this point is through diligent bible reading with prayer beforehand so that God will lock in with what you are doing. He will always answer a call to communion with Him especially concerning the Word. When you do this He helps you properly interpret His word for your edification. I often think of my inspirational writing as my confirmation back to God which edifies Him. I'll bet you didn't know that we also edify God but we do so by listening closely to what He is telling us through His Word.

If you haven't visited my official web site for awhile www.ilovecastles.com you may want to check it out because I've revamped the overall look before I start putting up the individual castles of England- county by county. You'll have to be patient but it will all be worth it! I will be posting a few more articles on North England's counties on my Castlelady blog

(http://castlelady.spaces.live.com/ ) while I am concurrently putting up England on my web site to fill in- with extra data- those castles I hadn't already covered back in 2006 and 2007.

Watch me put the pedal to the metal !

The Castle Lady ; )