Bear with me through a little Bible pilgrimage to illustrate a point about grace.
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I had a great conversation with one of our original core members this morning as he stopped in to say hello. We were reminiscing about the first four years at Grace Community Church. Our anniversary is in September. God has continued to amaze us with His presence. Last Sunday we had a 43% increase in attendance over the same day in July last year. Wow!
I have heard all the arguments. One spouse feels unloved so he or she refuses to give love or respect. One spouse feels disrespected, so he or she refuses to give back respect or love. I understand it is difficult, but the fact remains each spouse is accountable for his or her heart and actions.
It is hard being the nice guy all the time, is it not? I have heard people ask, “Why do I always have to be the one to give?” I’ve heard that question relating to marriages, to parenting, and among friends. Sometimes it just seems that we are the only ones doing good unto others. I know that is not true, but it does feel that way at times. We sometimes start to feel that we are being taken advantage of, do we not?
I love shirts that do not have to be ironed. I travel a lot and right now the nylon, breathable shirt appears popular, at least among my age, and so I can be “in style”, comfortable and basically wrinkle-free with little effort. I have to confess to something, however. My style is usually determined by what other people do not want. I choose to dress primarily in rejected clothing! You see I am hugely price conscious. I love new clothes, but the thoughts of spending more than $10 for a shirt bothers me, so if it’s on sale for $6, I tend to like it even more. I have often wished there were a store for folks like me that sold only the clothes others didn’t want…the rejects…at dirt cheap prices.
Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am a networker and a wisdom-seeker. Since I was in high school I have tried to surround myself with people heading in the direction I want to go who know more about a subject than I do and I am never afraid to ask for help.
I remember when my son was younger, three or less, and we would be in public and a stranger would come up to take notice of the cute little blonde in my arms. The more the person would try to get my son’s attention, the more my son would hide his face in my chest. We called it shyness, but it was really a son seeking protection in his father.
I cannot imagine history in terms of the thousands, but it is standard in this part of the world. One thing that spoke highly to me is the pride that was displayed in the people that night. For one thousand years the country has suffered periods of wars, domination and corruption, but one thousand years later they still have pride in their nation. I love the perseverance in that fact.
Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave a foreign country to return home after almost two weeks away from the United States, I posted a quick entry called 10 Reasons I Love the USA. A comment to my earlier post convicted me that I needed another post. I often write tongue-in-cheek satire posts that are a reflection of some of the random thoughts that go through my mind at times. This post was one such entry.
We love to travel. Through personal travel and missionary trips I have seen many wonderful places in the world. I love discovering new culture and I believe there is much to be learned from other countries. After almost two weeks away, however, I am reminded how much I love my country.