Why Don't I Do What I Ought?

I'm reading an excellent book and have recently completed a chapter that has served as a wonderful reminder of showing love by the choices we make. It is impressive to me the way books work. One person might come away with different thoughts than another person based on where each individual is in their life. I'm thinking a great deal about several points even though I'm only midway through the work. 

What I'd like to share about today is showing love through our actions and daily living. 

If we claim to love someone, which we do actually proclaim regardless of what we verbally say, it should impact how we live. For example, I'm a wife, so it is presumed and expected that I love my husband. I'm a mother, so it is presumed and expected that I love my children. If I fail to demonstrate love to my husband and children, who does it reflect poorly on? Is it solely me, or is it also my Savior, who I claim to represent? How important is it that everything my life touches looks and IS excellent as a representative of Jesus Christ?

We live in a world surrounded by social mores, and we all know what love looks like in general. We also know what it does not look like. 

In thinking of these two very important areas of my life, my husband/children, and God who has given me all good things, these are the thoughts I'm having:

How do I take care of the people and things I am thankful for? 

How can someone tell something or someone is neglected? (Can we assume what is cared for by someone is likewise valued by them?)

What are the things my husband cares about? Do I take time to nurture those things daily? Can people see that I'm doing, or not doing, that?

What about my children? Are there things they care about? Am I taking time to value those things with my actions and words?

Are there any areas of my life that a person could look at and wonder how I can claim to be a Christian and yet be so neglectful of, or do people look at my life and see a commitment to striving for excellence in all things? 

When my Savior has called me home and people are standing around talking and reflecting on my life, I want them to reflect on how hard I worked to represent Christ well in everything I did. I want my home, inside and out, to reflect gratitude and appreciation for those in it and for the fact of being given it to raise our family in. I want my body to reflect gratitude to God in how I take care of it, and for it to be obvious I view my body as not belonging to me, but to my husband and ultimately, the Lord. I want my work to show that I answered to Someone higher than who was paying me to do the work. I want my children to be a representation of a life poured into them in the right ways--the correct balance of giving, withholding, sacrifice, indulgence...and I want my words to build up and not tear down. God help me. 

Each of us have areas in which we need to grow. Are we taking time to assess those? Do we listen carefully when we're given advice on how we might need to change or do we dismiss it out of hand? Do we read the Bible and sound books on how to live righteously or do we assume we know it all? Do we spend much of our time looking at the faults of others rather than looking at ourselves to see where we fall short so we can improve? Are we most concerned with being known, or with getting to know others? Often if we would stop talking and listen, we will find what those around us need rather than worrying so much about what we want that we don't have, or what we want to try to impart to them. 

May God have mercy on us and help us grow more like Him. 

Losing Respect for Someone

We all have people we know and respect. Sometimes onlookers would wonder at why a certain person would gain our respect, and perhaps sometimes we wonder why others respect us. Regardless, for better or worse, there are those we esteem above others for their character, accomplishments, conduct, reputation, knowledge or something else. Then there are those who look to us as role models.

What is rather interesting is that while earning respect or choosing to bestow it can take time, removing our respect for someone or losing someone's respect, can happen quickly. There can be an irrational nature to the ending of an esteemed status. This causes me to pause and think hard about the emotional nature of respecting others, or being respected, and why it should not be very important to us one way or the other. It shouldn't puff us up when we've found ourselves respected by others because it is often a fleeting emotional situation. And we should be cautious how much respect we bestow on others because it may not take much for us to feel differently. 

In the era of covid-19, we've all seen this shift due to something simple like people's personal choice over getting or not getting a vaccine. The harsh judgment that ensued from one person to another is truly beyond comprehension. This situation was used by the devil to put rifts where none existed, and it has not built up the body of Christ or helped society. The vaccine situation helped confirm what we knew about some people already. It also revealed the heart of others we knew well. I'm sure I'm not alone in stating plainly that the playing field looks different now among our social circles than it did in 2019. Who we count as friends, who we walk circumspectly around, and who we think has left sound reason (probably never to return) may surprise and even sadden us. What has really made this situation what it is, isn't what people individually chose to do for themselves and WHY, but the people who would not leave it at that. The people who felt compelled to push their opinion and agenda on others, whether to vaccinate or not, ruined many relationships. People who overestimated their power of influence or who failed to rightly understand those around them, those who refused to hear why someone was doing what they were doing, showed themselves to be small-minded, immature, and lacking sound judgment. Those issues are the crux of the problem. When focusing on that, who cares what someone did or didn't do regarding the vaccine (which I use that term for simplicity, the covid-19 shot did not vaccinate anyone from contracting the virus).

Thankfully, for Christians, it is the Lord whom we serve. His good opinion is all that matters, and He sees our hearts. He separates the wheat from the chaff, and He gives people positions to serve Him. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and what we used to medicate ourselves when sick will not be a prerequisite for entry to Heaven. 

25 Years Married is a Beautiful Thing

There is no substitute for Christian marriage. God designed it to be beautiful, fulfilling, and to bring Him glory. There is no similar thing that comes close because marriage is God's...it is His design. Something close isn't it. Living together isn't it. When a man commits to a woman and they pledge before God to love and cherish one another, the two become one and it is a strand of 3 cords that is not easily broken. I'm so thankful for the best 25 years of my life and for the man God entrusted me to. He's been my provider, protector and has led me closer to the Lord. I've watched Him guide our children into wisdom and truth for over 20 years and have been blessed to work alongside him. Here are a few pictures from the trip we took celebrating the gift of our marriage. May God give us at least 25 more!

Ft. Frederica

American Beach

Amelia Island

Concours d'elegance 

View at breakfast (putting green being installed, hence the cones)

Ft. Clinch

St. Mary's, GA

Ferry ride to Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island National Seashore (and above)

View from our balcony

View from outdoor seating area where we enjoyed sushi one night

Dunes on Amelia Island near resort walking path