RIGHTEOUSNESS

2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10 This passage gave me hope this morning as I wrestled with trying to live a life pleasing to God. NLT

Verse 3: We try to live in such a way that no one will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way we act, and so no one can find fault with our (my) ministry. In everything we do try to show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless night, and gone without food. We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We have faithfully preached the truth. God's power has been working in us. We have righteousness as our weapon, both to attack and defend ourselves. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are well known, but are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive!!!! We have been beaten to an inch of our lives lives. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. Amen. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians, begging them to live as ambassadors for Christ, no matter the cost. And so I pray, "Jesus, the way of the cross is hard, but I desire to be known for having kindness, patience, sincere love and the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I own nothing, and yet have everything."

Love and Respect

As someone who has been married for almost 26 years, I keep learning that marriage is a partnership. One counselor told me marriage is all about these three components: Love, Honor and Negotiate. I agree wholeheartedly. And I am learning that I never want to disrepect my husband, emasculate him, treat him as a child or even treat him with contempt.

What I am learning now is that it is possible to break the Crazy Cycle as mentioned in the book, "Love and Respect," by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.
The Crazy Cycle goes like this---WITHOUT LOVE---SHE REACTS---WITHOUT RESPECT---HE REACTS. And both partners react in ways that are damaging to a marriage. I can belittle my husband without even realizing it. And I can be right but wrong at the top of my lungs.

I don't claim to have all the answers in making a relationship work. I do claim Jesus and I am relearning the meaning behind Ephesians 5. Without love from my man, I do react without respect; without respect my me, my spouse reacts without love. Around and around it goes.
Time to get off the Crazy Cycle.

Blessed

I realize now more than ever that Greenwood, SC is home. I wasn't so sure that I would ever want to venture back to Greenwood after my first visit back in 1995 or 96. We were driving to Fripp Island for a week-long vacation and my husband's friend and mentor Earl asked us to detour a little and come west to see GWD. It seemed to me at the time that Greenwood was just a tiny town out in the sticks!! And yet to many people it is homey, friendly and welcoming.

Our buddies Earl and Teresa put us up in a beautiful lakefront apartment for the night and fed us grilled steak, baked potatoes and something else, probably strawberry pie (all GWD favorites). They also treated us to a pontoon ride under the stars. I couldn't wait to get my toes in the sand on Fripp Island, but at the same time, our hosts extended to us great southern hospitality. And now all these years later, we live on Lake Greenwood. My husband has a wonderful job working side by side with Earl. We are riding around on that same pontoon boat every weekend, although now it is docked at our place.

We have lived in Sheraden, and Crafton PA, Laurel MD, Savage MD, Columbia MD, Fleetwood PA, and Oley PA and now reside in Greenwood. These locales all have a special place in my heart, but I see that SC was meant to be. I'm still a Yankee to some, but I am a content Yankee, one who feels so blessed by the direction our lives have taken. Really, it is God who brought us here for his purposes. I believe we are now able to extend that same southern hospitality to those who cross our path.

Klutzy moments

Yesterday was a glorious day of sunshine and temps in the 80's. Yesterday was also a very klutzy day in the Z house. I managed to knock a good bottle of red wine off the granite counter without breaking the bottle. I did however spill about 4 ounces of red wine onto my new bamboo flooring. Should I mention that the bamboo flooring is green and therefore does not have a high gloss poly sheen on it so the bottle left a dent and the wine was absorbed into the wood? After 15 minutes of cleaning the floor, wiping down the cabinets and everything that had been sprayed, we had another spill on our hands...or rather on our floor.

Only 2 feet away sat a cutting board with meat juices on it. At some point during our meal, the excess meat juices drizzled down the front of another section of cabinets and onto the floor. I had nothing to do with this fiasco; it was merely an accident. Nothing had been bumped, dropped or drizzled on purpose. The juices merely ran their course. 20 paper towels later we'd had enough fun for one evening.
Tonight is leftover night and we are considering eating over the sink to be on the safe side.

P.S. My husband lovingly reminded me that I also walked into the treadmill we'd put in the bedroom (on my side of the bed) later that same evening.

Mathare child's letter to his sponsor