Nick's Marrying Beth. Lucky Guy!

We got the happy news this week that Nick Pennino, my sister's oldest son, proposed to Beth (pictured here), his "steady" for some time now. I believe he proposed to her on Friday, December 5, 2008, and she said "yes" the same day!!! The Glenn family here in Pittsburgh has met Beth only a couple of times and all impressions were VERY positive (just so you know, Beth!).

The whole family was very excited and by means of this blog we our very best wishes to Beth and extend our congratulations to Nick.

Along these lines, we had a good discussion at dinner the other night and I asked the kids what type of advice they would give to Nick or Beth. Hmmm? Interesting the responses.

Evelyn: "She's always right!"
Meredith: "I like her. What Evelyn said and never put her down."
Clint: "Don't get married." (He was just kidding...but he didn't have any serious advice.)
Ellen: "I refuse to comment."
Mary didn't have time to comment. Too much talking by the kids.
Doug: Ditto Mary's situation, but since Doug's the one typing this blog, he has the great privilege of typing out his advice . Here goes.....

To Nick.....

• Truly loving Beth involves the willing, premeditated sacrifice of all you hold dear for Beth's sake. (Not a platitude. List the things you like the most and plan on sacrificing those exact things for Beth, even if she doesn't ask you to. If you don't want to or think you can't, see the next item.)
• You can't. Not on your own. You won't be able to maintain the "want to" on your own even if you have it now! Ongoing "want to" only comes from God -- it's super-natural if you will. Now, here's the sticky part. God only gives ongoing "want to" to His friends. So look up John 15:14 and see what you have to do to be His friend.
• Real men go to church and take their wife with them (preferably a good reformed Presbyterian church--I'm serious--the RIGHT church makes a huge difference), take it seriously, and stick with it for life.
• Love one person more than Beth..."no" not you! Love Christ more than Beth. She'll love you for it (ultimately) because a man who truly loves Christ is a passionate lover, protector and defender of his wife.
• It's all about Beth now, not you.

I could give you a lot of other less important advice, but these are the main items. Remember, you can't do this own your own. No man can.

Now my advice to Beth.

• Your perfect, (not really -- no one is, but as far as marriages go, it is usually the guy who messes up), so be yourself.
  
• If anything goes wrong in your marriage it is Nick's fault.
• Guard your heart against all other loves.
• Respect your husband. It's more important than loving him. (Kinda odd isn't it! Men are weird.)
  

Shorter list for Beth, because I don't know Beth as well and besides, it is the guys who need the most advice!!

A good marriage, the way God made it, is the best thing that can happen to two people. Even a good marriage NOT the way God intended it is tolerable, but nothing like a true godly message.

Advice to BOTH:

• establish good habits early -- most specifically, go to church the first Sunday you are married and commit to going every Sunday with few exceptions. I'm serious. Just do it. I'll be asking.
  

I'm harping on the "religion thing." So be it. I am. It's important-- more so than anything else....thus the advice.

Go Penn State. I'll be watching the Rose Bowl.

Doug and Mary Go To Brazil

Here we are in Campinas, Brazil, I lovely town north of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Pictured here are (l to r) Mary, Sunniva, and Udo. Sunniva is a niece of Udo and is his publishing partner -- a very hard working and intelligent work asset to our publishing team (as well as being a lovely young lady). In the lower picture are (l to r) Liduina Fiorini, Mary the beautiful, Doug, Julia (daughter of Sunniva who is taking the picture -- thank you Sunniva!), and Udo Fiorini. We had a lovely time in Brazil. Mary and I were there from November 11-18, 2008, on a business trip. Udo is publishing Industrial Heating (and soon Pollution Engineering) in the Portuguese language in Brazil. Udo and Liduina are both lovely people and Udo has a strong desire to start a publishing business. He is doing a great job so far.
We also had the great privilege of meeting the Fiorini's children, Carolina and Leonardo, both graduated from university and in or entering the business world. Both very lovely young people.
Mary and I stayed at the Mercure hotel in Campinas. It was a wonderful time. We learned a little Portuguese while we were there. Bom dia = "good morning." Abrigado/a = "thank you" depending on who is saying it. We learned plenty more. We're looking forward to visiting again. This trip was mostly business. Udo and I did a LOT of talking. We didn't really get to do any sightseeing, which is okay, but we're looking forward seeing more of Brazil the next time we visit. Thanks Udo and Liduina for your grand hospitality.