We love a challenge – challenges cause you to stretch yourself in ways you didn’t know you could.  Some are physical, some are mental and some are from the heart.  The following challenge is definitely from our heart to yours:

We have been challenged by Darren Rowse with Problogger to participate in the 7 Link Challenge.  This is basically posting 7 separate links to previous posts on our blog that fit the challenge.  So, for your benefit and ours we have decided to take part.  We hope you’ll find it fun, interesting and most of all helpful, as YOU are the reason we blog at all!  We love hearing your thoughts, so after following the links to our previous posts take a minute to comment!  We promise to read every one of them, and to comment back to you as well.

1. Our first post – Our first post was on November 12, 2008.  It is titled “Bienvenue (Welcome) to Our Vineyard!”, and you’ll quickly see how our Vineyard has grown since its humble planting.  We originally thought we were blogging in order to make available date night ideas for our friends who often ask us for ideas.  We had no idea the widespread interest there would be in our Vineyard.  This post generated 36 hits.
2. A post we enjoyed writing the most – Somehow it’s the everyday moments when God comes in and highlights something for you that would normally be missed that have come to mean the most to us.  My post All The Difference was one of those moments.  Tom’s post Where Are We Going, is a representation of his passion for our marriage.  He didn’t just write this – he lives it!
3. A post which had a great discussion – Discussions aren’t usually a strong part of our blog, but comments are.  This post titled, Perfect “Time”-ing, had several comments that were encouraging to us.
4. A post on someone else’s blog that we wish we’d written – Oh this one is easy!  We have enjoyed The Marry Blogger.  Stu and his wife speak words of Truth and encouragement consistently giving credibility to their blog, IOHO.  The post titled, How Your Marriage Is Like A Wedding Cake, takes a familiar object and paints a beautiful picture of what a healthy marriage should look like.  We promise you’ll never look at a wedding cake the same way again!
5. Our most helpful post – If it’s based on popularity, we would have to say it’s Rainy Date Ideas.  Living in the Sunshine State you might be surprised to know we get lots of rain, unexpected downpours that can ruin plans for a night out.  Thus, this post.  It has proven to be quite helpful!
6. A post with a title we are proud of – There is something about love that has lasted decades that is worth showcasing.  We recently heard it said, “Old love doesn’t have to get old!” We especially like this title – Old Vines Make The Best Wines.
7. A post that we wish more people had read – Since we posted this the first week of our blog, not many have read it.  The post is titled, Making Date Nights Meaningful, and it offers tips for how to make the most of a night out (or in), whatever your plans.  There is also a poll to take, which we would love for you to do in order to add to our results.

I remember hitting a huge pothole in the road of our life, feeling unromantic and wondering why we were attempting to write about romance in marriage in the first place.  This post: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was what I realized through it all.  And it cemented the reason why we blog – to share with you who we are and what God has done in spite of it all!  Thank you for taking part in our journey!

Through The Grapevine: So, is there a post that has been particularly helpful to you?  Won’t you share it with us?  We’d love to hear!