Love Is In The Air
Jim and Melissa Brady
February is the month of LOVE, and I thought that I would take the opportunity to talk to a young couple about marriage and love. Let me introduce to you Jim and Melissa Brady. Jim sings baritone for the Booth Brothers and Melissa sings as a soloist.
While interviewing the couple, the first sentence out of Jim Brady’s mouth was, “I found the secret of a successful marriage.”
“What would that be?” I asked.
In all the profound wisdom that a Baritone can muster, Jim said, “I take Melissa to WalMart and let her buy anything she wants.”
Although we were on the phone, I could see Melissa giving him that “look”. You know, that look that says, “Jim, you better let ME do this interview.” Going on in his wisdom, Jim also said that the other secret to a happy marriage is that there is "no sharing at Starbucks."
I asked Jim if Melissa ever went to the Mall without buying something and Melissa quickly jumped in stating, “Sometimes it’s not the spending, but the chase of the item.” Jim added that he could remember once or twice when she didn’t “buy” something.
Sensing that Jim was pretty much out of witty wisdom, I moved on to Melissa. She quickly informed me that they had been happily married for 12 years. To which I could hear Jim’s head nodding in agreement.
After 12 years of marriage the Brady’s are one happy couple, but still individuals in themselves. Their differences are what make them stronger. For example, Melissa likes to read in her spare time, while Jim likes to listen to CDs for his pleasure.
Jim and Melissa met at a Gospel Jubilee where they were singing with their families and both of their Dads were preaching, so they knew each other for a while before they were ever attracted romantically. Music is a common bond between them. They both sing and they both write songs and sometimes they do it together.
I asked what attracted Melissa to Jim, and without any hesitation she said it was his kindness.
Melissa said, “I saw how kind he was to his sister and Mother, and I knew that he would be that kind to me as his wife. He has never failed to treat me with kindness through all our years of marriage.”
How does a young couple keep it together when the husband is on the road so much? What is the key to keeping a happy marriage under stressful conditions? Jim says that when he is home, Melissa is his top priority and he makes it a point to spent quality time with her.
Jim said, “A good relationship doesn’t just happen, you have to work at it.” By making her a priority, Jim makes a date with her. “A date” says Jim, “is a planned evening, one that has been thoughtfully planned out, not just saying ‘Let’s go out to dinner’, and jumping in the car.” Sometimes a “planned date” is just spending the evening at home watching a movie, but Jim has already made plans and gotten the movie and ordered the pizza. Other times their “planned date” is a stroll through the mall that always ends up with a “planned” stop by Starbucks. I did tell you that they NEVER plan to share Starbucks. “The reason for that”, Melissa said, “is because Jim drinks it all.”
Jim also said that planning ahead can create some really good “brownie” points. He reminisced about the time last year when Melissa couldn’t go on a cruise that the Booth Brothers were singing on, because she had a prior singing engagement herself. It happened to be the week of Valentines Day. A couple of weeks ahead of time, Jim called a florist in the city where she would be and had flowers sent to the hotel she would be at on Valentines Day. Melissa was thoroughly impressed and agreed that it did get him major “brownie” points. One lesson that Jim had to learn the hard way was to turn off the telephone on their dates. Apparently Jim messed up several dates before he finally caught on that the phone ringing was usually a business interruption that ruined the whole evening.
Interestingly modern technology helps them deal with the problem of being apart. Jim says that he doesn’t know how he would make it without his cell phone. They talk everyday and that really eases the tensions of being apart on tough days. It may sound like a cliché, Jim says that when they are out of touch with the cell phones, they depend on each other prayers and trust God for his protection.
I asked Melissa how difficult it was in making the decision for Jim to go with the Booth Brothers. “Actually, not hard at all” was the reply. About a year before Melissa, Jim, and Melissa’s Dad quit singing as the Shulers, they knew that some change was about to happen. They never dreamed that it would be Jim going with the Booth Brothers, but they knew that a change in their ministry was happening.
Melissa enjoys being Jim’s cheerleader, and Jim said that there wasn’t any way that he could do what he does with the Booth Brothers without her support. At this point in their lives, they thank God for putting them together, and for making them best friends. In fact, it was Melissa’s encouragement that convinced Jim to take the position with the Booth Brothers.
Melissa is quite the singer in her own right and when that “burn” to sing hits, she is blessed to sing at some women’s conferences. Melissa is in the process of making a solo CD of her own.
Jim and Melissa have just released a CD of love songs. Something we don’t see enough of is music that Christian couples can enjoy romantically. It really is kind of hard to get romantic listening to “I’ll Fly Away.” Jim said that this particular CD came about by accident. They had written some love songs for their wedding, and a couple of others were written for other couples weddings, and before long someone suggested that they put it all together for a CD. Sure enough, they had just about enough material for a full length CD. The got together and wrote two more songs to complete the project and now they are blessing couples all around the country with their LOVE songs. By the way, they will soon have tracks available if you are planning a wedding. The Booth Brothers also carry it on their table and Jim said that men and women of all ages are testifying to the fact that these songs are blessing them and touching their marriages.
After spending an hour chatting with Jim and Melissa for this article, I can tell you that they truly do seem to be “one happily married couple”.
http://www.jimandmelissabrady.com
http://www.boothbrothers.com
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Written: 01/31/2005 
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