Slow Fade

This is for Elisha Reagan and Ryan. May no one else hurt you again.=)

This song is so powerful... how many families have crumbled... how many daddies have left. It is such a slow fade. It isnt like one morning a man wakes up and decides he is going to walk away from his family. It starts with an attraction to someone.. then a smile returned from that person, then a conversation that goes a little to long. Then it turns into texts and calls... trying to hide it and then lying. It starts so innocent. So when should he have known that he was falling over the edge. It is hard to say... but I would say the moment you are attracted and can feel any sort of emotion above a friendly level. There are going to be times that you are attracted to someone else. It is human nature but when you long for that person. When you see them you feel happier, when you talk to them you have butterflies. That is the time that you need to walk away. There was a time that your wife made you feel that way, she still should. But once you get those happy feelings with this other woman... that is when you start to see the faults in your spouse. She isnt as pretty, she isn't as skinny, she doesnt nag me, she does all these fun things. That is how you saw your wife before your lives got involved. Like the song says it is a slow fade... Daddy used to be here everyday, then he was gone 3 nights a week working late, then he was home every once in a while.... and eventually he is gone. It is a sick sad world that this happens... but it does everyday.

The devil is more cunning than anyone can imagine. All he needs is one foot in the door and then he is like a theif and will push his way into your house. He is a seducer, he is a dancer, he waltzes with you..."she is pretty" "wow I can't believe she was talking to me" "I think she is flirting with me" "hmm I will tell my wife I was talking to Bill... she will never find out" "I bet we could meet up out of town, I am sure I can get away for a day".... this is how it goes. It is a dance and you think if you just dance on that edge you will be fine. You would never go that far.... I dont think anyone who is cheating meant for it to go that far. But it does.

This is out of The Message Bible

Proverbs 5
1-2 Dear friend, pay close attention to this, my wisdom; listen very closely to the way I see it. Then you'll acquire a taste for good sense; what I tell you will keep you out of trouble.

3-6 The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet, her soft words are oh so smooth.But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.She's dancing down the primrose path to Death; she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.She hasn't a clue about Real Life, about who she is or where she's going.

7-14 So, my friend, listen closely; don't treat my words casually.Keep your distance from such a woman; absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.You don't want to squander your wonderful life, to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of you? Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you? You don't want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones,Saying, "Oh, why didn't I do what they told me? Why did I reject a disciplined life?Why didn't I listen to my mentors, or take my teachers seriously? My life is ruined! I haven't one blessed thing to show for my life!"

15-16 Do you know the saying, "Drink from your own rain barrel, draw water from your own spring-fed well"?It's true. Otherwise, you may one day come home and find your barrel empty and your well polluted.

17-20 Your spring water is for you and you only, not to be passed around among strangers.Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man!Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore? for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?

21-23 Mark well that God doesn't miss a move you make; he's aware of every step you take.The shadow of your sin will overtake you; you'll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.