Love always protects

Well to say the least today’s Dare is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. I will get to what it is and why in a minute, But first here is why the title of today’s is what it is.

Men- you are the head of your home. You are the one responsible before God for guarding the gate and standing your ground against anything that would threaten your wife or marriage. This is no small assignment. It requires a heart of courage and head for preemptive action. Jesus said, "if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into" (Matthew 24:43). This role is mine and seriously is how I am going to take it.

With that being said here is today’s dare,

Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, any addiction or influence that's stealing your affections and turning your heart away from your spouse.

There are a few things that I would like to cut back on or get rid of completely. The first one that I am going to hammer down on, and will be the hardest thing I have done. Is to quit smoking. Did you see that? My wonderful wife just rolled her eyes in the back of her head and let out a “yeah, you’ve said that before” sigh! LOL just kidding love, but no really she did and I am going to put all my dedication without cutting from my family into this. Here is why this is what I feel most important to get rid of, besides my health which IS important. But not as important as 3 broken promises to your beloved, Ashleigh and I have been married for a little over 4 years now, and I have made many promises to her that have been broken over our years. This one being the most damaging, we got married on December 28th 2005, conceived Chase in May 2005 so from the time I found out I was going to be a Daddy I looked at her and told her that I would quit before he was born. That day has come and gone Chase just turned 4 in February, The next time I promised to her that I would quit was February 14th 2006 Chase’s birthday, I had only been able to spend 22 hours with my son before I had to pack up and leave Ashleigh alone with our New Born Son for 6 months! I promised Ash that I would be done with smoking by the time I got back from Deployment. Yep you guessed it another empty promise to my dearest. The 3rd time was after we found out about Grace, once again I said I will quit before Grace is born! On June 18th 2008, I was and am still smoking. During our process through “The Love Dare” there was a day that we were supposed to ask each other “What 3 things cause you to be uncomfortable with me?” one of Ashleigh's for me was about smoking. Now here comes my truth, you can NOT (well at least I haven’t been able to) quit smoking when you don’t want to or just because someone else in your life wants you to. That is just the truth I apologize if that makes anyone feel irritated or disagree with me. Here comes the other part of that truth I AM READY AND WANT TO quit. It has gotten to the point that I can smell myself after I have one, my garage floor is covered in ash’s (and dog food thanks to Kadence), I have been smoking since I was 16 and I am about to turn 31 in May, so now I have a slight “smokers cough”, I catch myself lighting one in the presence of our kids and they are concentrated on what I am doing. I have to brush my teeth, chew gum, throw in a mint or something to cover the smell just to kiss my wife and that still doesn’t work 100% and she pulls away on those days. I have to wash my hands EVERY time I want to run my hands through Ashleigh’s hair. So after reading today’s dare I sighed, put my head to my chest and started praying. This is what I want to do for not only my self but for my family, and with his strength I can do this. I am setting my Date to be April 10th 2010, that is the day that I am going to put it all down and what ever I have left is going to be destroyed in front of my wife and children, all smoking paraphernalia will be tossed to the wayside. So between now and 31 days from now I am going to slow myself on smoking from 1 pack a day to half and so on. 31 days now seems too short to me after reading what I wrote lol. That is the date I set and with Christ, Family and friends with me I will get there. Wish me luck and your prayers! Thank you and have a great Wednesday.

-Justin
“Blessed, indeed, is the man who hears many gentle voices call him daddy!”