Amazing video. My parents have been battling cancer since 1996 (Dad - leukemia) &1997 (Mom - breast cancer), and their stories have a lot in common with Zac's. One thing this video made me realize is that even though both of my parents have similar inspirational stories of faith through sickness I still manage to lose perspective and need to be reminded that my problems aren't really that big.

Thanks Clover!

In my world if you're giving something away you can make up whatever rules you want. I can't imagine thinking I have the right to complain about the way you choose to give.

To some your "five years" comment may sound crazy, but I watched my 6 year old daughter walk up and kiss a boy on the lips last night while picking her up from school. So for the 3rd time in the last couple months (same boy) we had the long discussion with her about kissing not being appropriate for a six year old, etc. Some day this will be a funny story - but not yet.

The last thing I want to do is offend you and you are right that I don't know your situation. I made an assumption based on others praying for contentment and my own struggles and experiences that you may not be surrendering your desires to God's will. There is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring a spouse and nothing wrong with praying for and requesting prayer for that.

Please forgive me for making the assumption. I'm probably not the person and this probably isn't the place for the comment I made.

Disclaimer - I don't know your situation and I may be speaking out of line. Please don't hurt me.

Sometimes God requires us to turn a part of ourselves over to his control before he blesses us. It may be that you need to surrender your desire for a spouse (find contentment being single) so that God can lead you to the right person.

You can't go wrong keeping God's will at the center of your prayer.

This may not be a popular opinion, but I don't think God necessarily wants to hear it all. I think many of us pray for things that are either outside of God's will or aren't relevant to his plan and then wonder why he "isn't listening" to our prayers.

If God's will is at the center of your prayer request it is never trivial. If your will is at the center, it likely is.

If you find an answer, please pass it on. My wife & I lead a small group. Naturally we have more in common and are therefore closer to some of the couples than others. But every time we plan to get together we have to deal with the "is it ok to just get together with 1 or 2 other couples or do we have to invite the whole group" question. We have regular group social events that everyone is invited to, so why do I feel guilty about spending additional time with those we are closer to? I feel like I have to limit the depth of community with some in order to preserve the overall depth of community for the group. Or maybe it's really just limiting the depth to the least common denominator?

For me a lot of this is related to yesterday's post. I feel responsible for making sure everyone in the group is happy, growing spiritually, fitting in, etc. and I don't have control over that.

I've been reading for about a month. I enjoy the humor posts, but I really appreciate the serious ones. You do an awesome job of taking serious, cerebral topics and presenting them in such a way that they are not only accessible, but more like a punch in the gut. You're like the "snap into a Slim Jim" guy of Christian blogs.

I created an account just to vote this comment up.

We need to lead people to Jesus. An invitation to church is likely to be a part of that process, but building relationships and sharing our testimony are more important factors in my opinion.