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He Cries; I Do Not

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Photo by Pixabay

During a program at church, or the intense scene in a film, I now end up passing a tissue to my husband. I can still feel my own tears brimming at the edge of my eyes, however, I usually can stay emotionally composed. Yet, I remember the old days when just reading Hallmark cards in a store reduced me to a puddle.

Years past menopause, I find life much more even and constant. Sometimes I am perplexed that what used to cause me to cry, doesn’t get much of a tear. I note, “That used to make me cry.” It is as though something has been turned off. And my spouse caught it and now he is one who cries.

Such is the emotional role reversal that comes to many couples with mid-life and beyond. Those hormones that helped provide our younger identities, have waned and our emotional responses are different. I am not quite as concerned with nurturing and nest-tending. My spouse causes me some amusement with his new hobby of watching litters of puppies grow up on Internet camera websites, along with watching baseball games. Most of all, I am thankful for his increased interest in all things spiritual and strengthening family ties. I appreciate the new mellowness. I hope he finds that even though I might be a bit more assertive, I am not as likely to sink into fits of melancholy. I know he agrees that this older version of me is not as rigid and controlling as my younger self.

A dear elder saint in my church encouraged me one day by saying that if couples will covenant to have patience, commitment and prayer (with exceptions for abuse), “marriage gets sweeter at the end.” We need those who are ahead of us on the journey.

There are advantages to advancing chronology and anniversaries. I am settling into a few good things and the values that mean the most to me. I have stories to share and lessons that have been learned. I have claimed Joel 2:25, 26 (NIV), “I will repay you for the years the locust have eaten…and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.”

Read more at the source: He Cries; I Do Not

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

Love Month

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Photo by Pixabay

If months had themes, July would go down in history for me as “love month.” For one, the text of our Bible study at church has been First John, which uses the word “love” more times than the hippie manifesto.

Secondly, I’ve been working on my seminar “Love in the Last Days” for a presentation next month. Last but not least, I had my family reunion.

Eleven people slept in my three-bedroom house. There were uncles puzzled into beds too short for them, mothers on pullouts, cousins strewn on the floor. Meals were equally freeform, whether tailgating at a New Jersey beach or having a Sunday morning waffle extravaganza on paper plates. The greatest challenge was organizing and directing the activities, which had to be spontaneously planned according to the weather. Although we hit the beaches, a couple restaurants and some tourist sites, the high point for me was probably playing Cranium with my nephews Shawn and Gavin. Isn’t it telling that the most memorable activities are often free?

As the relatives gradually departed, the house fell into a contrasting silence. That silence will swell to deafening when the girls go back to school. People are a terrible inconvenience, but life—and our house—is quite empty without them. The wise man said, “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,” Proverbs 14:4. I’ll take oxen and dirt.

What’s my point? Simply that we are designed for connection. It’s as if people are born with one-sided Velcro on their hearts, capable of adhering to others. No! It’s more than that, because Velcro doesn’t hurt or hunger. It’s that we’re made in God’s image, and “God is love,” 1 John 4:18. If All-sufficiency can long for connection, then His creation all the more. Unfortunately, many human relationships fail, leaving this hunger unsatisfied. Our essential selfishness folds us inward like shriveled wineskins, reducing capacity and rendering relationships either non-existent or dysfunctional.

But there’s hope. The Scriptures reveal a God who can connect with the unconnected. Regardless of how wrong our human relationships have gone; regardless of the depths of our isolation or the death-grip of our human conflicts, we can at any point turn to Him and know that we are loved. I don’t know of another worldview that has this to offer.

Read more at the source: Love Month

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

The Mayonnaise Jar

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Photo by Dreamstime

I do not enjoy reading but fortunately for me, my wife Linda, and my daughter, DeAnne, do. They both know I love illustrations and when they find good ones, they always share them with me.

DeAnne sent me the following story and I fell in love with what it says. I share it now with you because in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we all need to remember its message.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with several items before him on the table. When the class began, and without a word, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with gold balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and proceeded to pour them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. Once again they all agreed it was.

The professor next picked up box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked the class once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced a couple of glasses of lemonade from under the desk and poured them into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students broke into laughter.

It All Adds Up

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are important – God, family, friends, health – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter in your life like your job, your home, your car, etc. The sand is everything else – the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for things that are really important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend personal time with God, talk with your children, take your husband/wife to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn. “Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

A student raised his hand and inquired. “What does the lemonade represent?” The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there is always room for a couple of glasses of lemonade with a friend.”

Read more at the source: The Mayonnaise Jar

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.

Constant Pain

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Photo by Pixabay

Dear God: Help. Jesus, I can hardly pray beyond that one word. I hurt all over. The pain is with me in the morning, nags me through the day, and climbs into bed with me at night. Even my sleep is restless and interminable because the throbbing just moves from one side to the other. It’s not even lunchtime and I’m exhausted already.

Lord, you were there and heard when the doctors gave me the diagnosis, and admitted that their pills were only going to trim the burden by a little bit. And I really don’t want to spend my last years of life in a groggy fog of anesthesia so thick that I can’t focus on my companionship with you. But when my pain is this bad – all the time – I don’t know what to do.

Right now I’ll take anything . . . any bit of peace, of release, of heavenly respite you can give me. I trust in your goodness; I know you love me. I know there’s some universal reason why it’s not my turn to get a sparkling, permanent miracle. And that’s okay. But it feels like I’m right at the limit of what I can endure, and that I really need at least some measure of that “way of escape” you’ve promised me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Read more at the source: Constant Pain

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Online prayers.

I Am Someone

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Photo by Pixabay

Dear God: I’m a nobody! I feel like I do not amount to very much. It appears as though whatever I do is insignificant. Nothing of any count! Not many friends – and, yes, at times I feel like a social misfit. I could drop out of existence and no one would know the difference.

But today I read in your word “that you have redeemed me, you have called me by name, I am yours” (Isaiah 43:1). Because of your Son Jesus, I am someone! You gave your all to redeem me. You have put your love inside me. That makes me worth something. That makes me “somebody.”

Thank you, God, for taking me, a nobody, and bringing me into your family –the family of Heaven–and by your compassionate grace giving me value. God, you are wonderful!

In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Read more at the source: I Am Someone

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Online prayers.

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