Everyday.

Two weeks. Two. More. Weeks. That's how long I have to wait to marry my best friend and better half.

That's how long I must wait to hear those beautiful words leave her lips, those words I've been dying to hear since I fell in love with her almost two years ago: "I do."

Stories are often told of little girls who grow up dreaming of one day finding and marrying their true love. It's not the norm for a boy, much less a 22 year-old man to openly admit to dreaming of finding love.

But I did.

Growing up in church, I received my weekly ration of Adam and Eve references, how God created Eve of the same flesh as Adam and how whole and completing their relationship was. I marveled at how love between two people could be that powerful, so powerful, in fact, that the human race was literally born of it. Words cannot describe how sacred and profound that first romance must have been. Their marriage was founded deeply with God-crafted emotions predating the universe itself, and while they were created as two creatures, that ancient, wonderful, incredible, breathtaking love bound them together as one.

That a man and woman could bond in such an all-consuming way that they essentially become an extension of one another in mind, body, and spirit...amazing.

Throughout my life, I (admittedly) haven't prayed about very many things consistently, but one thing I have asked God for almost as long as I could remember is for Him to allow me to one day find my own "Eden" story, a love rooted in God's love for me and as joyous and rewarding as the acceptance of that love.

And so...as Matthew 21:22 says, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

And my, oh my, the blessing I have received.

So no, I don't really mind to wait a little bit longer. Two weeks is hardly anything at all.

I've been waiting all my life to find that most precious of treasures God describes in His word. The love that Proverbs describes as the "overflowing of a fountain," a love that's "worth far more than jewels" and the physical manifestation of God's own love for man. Patience is a virtue, and my beautiful girl is the reason I know that.

A few weeks ago, I was looking through photos of the day we were engaged. The joy on her face was absolutely priceless. I decided right then, that if I could make her that happy everyday, if I could make her want to marry me everyday, and if I chose to love her like God loves me everyday, like Adam loved Eve everyday, then at the end of my life I wouldn't have wasted a single moment.

I love you, Molly, and I will everyday. I promise. Two more weeks 'til forever.

Do as I say, not as I do

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, so you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."

Matthew 23: 1-4 (NIV)

This verse is kind of a big deal for me lately.  As I grow older and more involved in the "business" side of life, I'm becoming more wary of modern-day Pharisees, people who exude a false dedication to the teachings they so shamelessly force on others. From church members to coworkers, I've had my fair share of dealings with people who call on Jesus's name as leverage rather than a lifeline. Unfortunately, Pharisees have had roughly two-thousand years (give or take a hundred years) to perfect the art of hiding how blatantly hypocritical and simultaneously prominent they are in society today.

Time and again, I've watched self-proclaimed Christians bastardize God's Word, reducing its purpose to that of a corrupted pedestal on which to exalt themselves. These Pharisees practice something I call "situational faith," or in layman's terms, "they're a bunch of two-faced phonies." I realize it's cliche to invoke the "Is the person you are on Saturday night the same person you are on Sunday morning?" bit, but yet, I've known so many who can't answer "yes" to that question. Just a few examples:

I've met a deacon that consistently fills his "amen" quota every time the church doors open and can out-swear a sailor throughout the work week.

I've met a music minister that sang "Amazing Grace" more times than he could count who frequently made sexual jokes about "what he'd do" to women in the church, including the pastor's daughter.

I've met a Sunday school teacher who, no doubt, taught her class the importance of forgiveness and showing God's love to everyone, yet I've watched her viciously insult others behind their backs in an attempt to exile them.

If you read my last post, you know I'm not claiming that Christians never do wrong. I'm not even claiming that Christians should never do wrong because even God acknowledges that perfection is impossible for anyone but Himself. I'll be the first to admit that I consistently fail God and consistently fall short of His standards.

But the people I mentioned aren't pharisaical because they're Christians and they screwed up. That just means they're human. No, they're pharisaical because they don't own up to their sins, instead they actively and knowingly choose to live like they don't sin at all.

They want the title, they want the "oohs and ahhs" of the congregation in awe of their heightened levels of spirituality, but they don't want to work for it. They want to pick and choose who is worth witnessing to or worth "playing the part" around. They don't "practice what they preach." And in doing so, not only are they openly mocking the name of Jesus and His followers, but they are playing with the souls of those who don't yet have a relationship with God.

It's not my intention to bash anyone, but there has to be accountability somewhere. We can't all go on ignoring the fact that "Christian" has become a label with a negative, hypocritical connotation tied to it. Surely, I'm not the only one who is bothered that our faith is being considered extremist and discriminatory.

But if we want to abolish the predominant image of the Pharisee from our culture, we have to do more than run around cramming God's word down people's throats. We can't allow ourselves to buy into the notion that Christians are entitled or better in any way. We have to do more than "amen" the pastor's sermon about God's love. We have to do more than act like Christians.

We have to live like them.