Faithful Love

The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is a familiar one to me.  You can read it in Genesis 39.   In this story Potiphar's wife tricks Joseph.  He does the right thing in refusing her advances, and he is lied about because of it. Then he ends up in prison because Potiphar believes his wife.  It doesn't seem fair, does it?

Continue reading "Faithful Love" today over at Laced With Grace.

Have a day of blessings!
 

Choose Love

I have listened to an audio book called Choose Love by Stormie Omartian.  Let me tell you a little bit about this book.  I have read other books by this author such as Power of a Praying Wife so I looked forward to another by this author.

About the book:

Stormie Omartian’s bestselling books on the power of prayer have touched millions of lives. Recent books have taken a closer look at the leading of the Holy Spirit and the call to be a prayer warrior for God. Now Stormie takes a fresh look at another powerful aspect of knowing our Creator…His amazing and great love for us.

We reflect God most clearly when we are motivated by the power of love in all we say and do. But first we have to understand the depth of God's love for us and receive it. Then we must learn how to effectively express our love for Him.

“One of the many ways we can show our love to God is to deliberately choose to show love to others and in every situation,” says Stormie. “We can only accomplish this with the guidance and enablement of the Holy Spirit. When we do that, God blesses us and transforms our lives in ways we cannot even imagine. And we will have a sense of God's pleasure toward us that is far more valuable than anything else we may desire. This book is about making that sometimes difficult choice and the rewards that follow.”

Transform your heart, your relationships, and your future as you press into God’s love and let the power of His life and character move through you.

My thoughts:  
I found this to be an insightful book about the many aspects of choosing to love.  It really is a choice we can make. This involves loving God, loving others including enemies, and even loving ourselves.  The author has a lot of valuable insight about love and shares her own stories throughout to effectively illustrate her points.

I really liked the chapter near the end of the book that pointed out what a lack of love for others is like...using the things in I Corinthians 13 that love is not.  These made me stop and think if these are in my own life.

Each chapter ends with a "prayer of love" and "words of love."

The author reads this book so it makes it feel more personal as you listen.  She has a soothing voice that fits with this topic. 

This audio version of this book was provided to me by the christianaudio Reviewers program for my honest review.

Have a day of blessings!
 

Your Heart's Desire

I have been sharing articles by Sheri Rose Shepherd recently on Fridays here on my blog.  I have finished the book and wanted to share my thoughts with you. 

From the publisher:
Hope and healing for every woman who has ever loved a man
Bestselling author and Bible life coach Sheri Rose Shepherd shares 14 truths that will forever change the way you love and are loved. This book is written for the married woman who loves her man but struggles in her marriage. It’s for the single woman who wants to find a godly man to love and for the divorced woman who believed in her marriage until her man walked out.

Each chapter has life-challenging love stories, love coaching, powerful prayers, inspiring scriptural love letters, and a Transforming Truth.

If you’re ready for a refreshing perspective on love, men, and marriage, this book is for you.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading Your Heart's Desire by Sheri Rose Shepherd.  This is a book I wanted to read a little bit at a time.  I liked how the book was easy to understand and easy to follow.  The chapters were not long as some nonfiction I read seems to be.  This was the kind of book that seemed personal because of the stories that were shared, and I felt many women could benefit from it. At the end of each chapter she has a short letter that is written as a letter to you the reader from God.  Besides the book a group experience that goes with the book is supposed to be released soon   

Have a day of blessings!

Article: Building a New Foundation of Love

Building a New Foundation of Love

By Sheri Rose Shepherd

Bestselling Author and Bible Life Coach

In Nehemiah 2:17 we read about a city that has been shattered: “Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.” The walls that once protected God’s people had been destroyed, and all that was left were brokenhearted people and one broken man of faith who saw the ruins of Jerusalem and cried out to God. I can imagine Nehemiah questioning why God did not stop this destruction from happening. Surely if God cared, He would have protected His own holy city. Today, many of us hold the ruins of our own lives, broken by the destructive behavior and neglect of others, and we ask God the same question. We are just like Nehemiah, living in a land of hopelessness when it comes to love and marriage.

We see the moral decay and devastation of shattered lives and the ruins of families from relational wreckage. There are many reasons we are in this mess, and we could continue to blame one another—but what good would it do? The truth is, none of us ventured into marriage to see it end in misery or divorce. It would be wise for us to look at our own wreckage the same way that Nehemiah did his. What I mean is, let’s do something about it. We need a Nehemiah revival today if anything is ever going to change.

Nehemiah could have given up on God and his people and finished out the rest of his life depressed, bitter, and hopeless. Instead, he chose to fight the temptation to quit, to speak life into a dead situation, and to start building. Nehemiah took a step of faith and refreshed the people with a new perspective on the devastation around them.

Nehemiah did not deny that there was a problem; he didn’t ignore the fact that God’s people were discouraged and depressed. He himself was broken by what he saw. However, he took his brokenness and did something about it. He spoke words of life, and he inspired the people to take the broken stones from the wall and lay them down one at a time to build a new and stronger wall.

With God, brokenness does not have to be the end. Pain can become the very thing that brings us into a closer relationship with God and transforms us from the inside out.

Nehemiah’s broken heart compelled him to faith and action. He knew that what he was asking appeared to be impossible, yet he dared to believe God. His heavenly Father was then pleased to bless him with great favor. God used Nehemiah’s compassion to rebuild what was broken as He gave Nehemiah the strength needed to help his people live for a greater purpose than their own personal loss. He showed them how to begin rebuilding a foundation with a thankful heart and renewed faith.

We have all been hurt, and our hearts need healing at some level. We each hold a stone that represents our reaction to those who have broken our hearts, and we all have a choice with what we will do with the stone we’re holding. We can throw it, or we can use it to rebuild what is broken.

For more teaching videos from Sheri Rose, go to www.biblelifecoaching.com.


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Have a day of blessings!

Feeling Unworthy of Love

I have another article today to share from Sheri Rose Shepherd.  This one is called Feeling Unworthy of Love.  If you would like to read more, be sure to check out the book Your Heart's Desire.

 

 

Feeling Unworthy of Love

By Sheri Rose Shepherd

Bestselling Author and Bible Life Coach

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:19)

There is a battle within most women’s hearts to believe they are worthy of love. If we believe the lie that we do not deserve love and are hiding behind feelings of unworthiness, even the most loving man in the world will not be able to break down the wall around our hearts.

Can you imagine if every night when you went to tuck your children into bed they refused to let you hug them or express your love because they did not feel they deserved it? As a parent, you would embrace them every time you could to prove to them they were indeed worthy of your love. If they refused to receive it because of how they felt, it would break your heart.

I believe that is how our heavenly Father feels when we refuse to let Him love us. But there’s so much more at stake when we feel unworthy of love. When we are locked up inside, we cannot become the women we want to be in our men’s and children’s lives. If we do not love ourselves and do not let God lavish His love on us, it will hinder us and hurt others.

There are many reasons we may fight feelings of unworthiness. Some of us had fathers who never expressed how much they loved us, and others had mothers who did not feel they deserved love and did not know how to show love, so we began to see our worth through their eyes and not through God’s. We may have been abused verbally, emotionally, or physically. Maybe our first love made us feel we were worthless. Some of us had all the love in the world from our families, but we felt rejected by our peers.

The list of things we women believe when it comes to love is endless. But the truth is, how we feel will never change how loved we are by the Lord. And nothing that we have done or that has been done to us can keep God from loving us. The question is, will we open our hearts and let His love in? I believe if God wrote us a love letter, it might read like this . . .

   My Beloved Daughter,
   I love you with an unconditional, everlasting love so you can be free to love. My precious daughter, don’t allow those who have hurt you to keep you from experiencing the joy of loving others. I know giving a piece of your heart away involves risk, but I am here to heal your heart when someone hurts you. I want you to choose wisely whom you allow in your heart, and I also want you to give those you love the freedom to fail. Remember that no one else can love you as perfectly and completely as I do. Don’t look for a perfect love in people, or you will always find disappointment and heartache. If you allow your soul to settle into Mine and become one with Me, you will never doubt that I am forever and always devoted to you.

Your Prince Jesus, who can’t stop loving you

May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. (Ephesians 3:18)

For more teaching videos from Sheri Rose, go to www.biblelifecoaching.com.

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Have a day of blessings!

Reminder to love

On Sunday evenings at our church we've been having a series of lessons on the three words faith, hope, and love.  The last lesson was last night and it focused on I Corinthians 13. 

You have probably read this countless times as well as heard it read at weddings or seen it printed on artwork.  It is a very popular passage.  I appreciated the reminder I had about love last night from this passage and wanted to share it with you today.  We started with the last verse of I Corinthians 12. 

As Christians we need to remember that anything we do that is not done in love will amount to nothing.  It may look good to others on the outside, but if it is not done in love then it does not matter.  As humans we take pride in our accomplishments, knowledge, and generosity.  But if we do not have love then none of these amount to anything.  Something that stuck out to me last night was the part about faith....we can have faith that moves mountains but that is nothing if we do not have love.  This shows me just how BIG of a think love really is!  Love really is the "most excellent way."     

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  I Corinthians 12:31--13:13

 I hear this song on the radio all the time and thought it was appropriate to share with this today. I love the ending.   

Have a day of blessings!

Book: Unfailing Love

Unfailing Love by Karol Ladd was released earlier this month by Harvest House Publishers.  I was interested in this book because I have read work from this author in the past and also because I wanted to learn more about the book of I John. 

From the publisher:
Step by step, Karol helps her readers understand what happens when they embrace the truth of God’s love:

• They can experience His joy, strength, and comfort in daily life.
• They are transformed, because His love changes the way they see themselves.
• They begin to think differently about their circumstances and the people in their life.
• They can express His love to others through their words and actions, shining His light in dark places.

As readers see the apostle John’s picture of how God is Light, Love, and Life, they will experience how He gives meaning to their existence, victory over their discouragements, and hope to the world.

My thoughts:
If you are looking for a Bible study to do by yourself or with a group of ladies, this is a good book for you.  I had never really read I John verse by verse, which is what this study does. This book is divided into six parts with two chapters each.  At the end of each chapter you will find a section called "Getting Personal" which has a review of the main points of the chapter, another passage for you to read, and an action step to take related to the chapter. Discussions questions can be found at the end of the book also. 

The author talks of what it means to be loved by God and how to follow Him and show that love to others.  She shares touching stories of people who have loved and other who have been changed by love in their lives.  What I liked was how she broke down the book of I John by verse, making application of each short passage.  It was easy to understand this way to see it in small chunks and then to put it all together to see the whole message of the book.
 
Thank you to Christianne at Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy of this book.

Have a day of blessings!

SSMT #18

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."  I John 4:16

This is my new verse.  As I type it and read it I am thinking how do I "live in love" in my daily life.  Something to think about. 

Have a day of blessings!

Book Review: 365 Ways to Say "I Love You" to Your Kids

I have read 365 Ways to Say "I Love You" to Your Kids by Jay Payleitner. 

From the publisher:
Parents adore their kids, but expressions of love can get lost in the mayhem of carpools, diaper changes, and afterschool activity schedules. Jay Payleitner, author of 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad and proud father of five, inspires parents to turn love into an action verb with 365 simple and doable ideas.

My thoughts:
This is a WONDERFUL book that I highly recommend to you. It is basically a list of short ways to let your children know you love them.  Many of them are very simple ideas yet they will speak volumes to your kids.  It is those little things the children will remember and remind them of their parents' love to them. 

I liked how this book was divided into chapters.  Some of these were age-based to give you ideas of how to show love to various age groups, which I thought was beneficial.  This is a great book to have in your home just to serve as a reminder of all the different ways you can show your kids your love for each one. 
Read more about the book here.

Thank you to Harvest House Publishers and netGalley for providing me an ebook version for my honest review.

Have a day of blessings!
 

2010 Book #21: Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman

At our library book sale, I found the audio version of Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Dr. Ross Campbell. Being a fan of his book The Five Love Languages, this is one I've wanted to read. Since I like audio books now I was glad to find it and get it for a quarter. It was new, still in the package too.


I listened to this book last week and really enjoyed it just as I expected. I liked listening from the approach of a parent. We all have different ways to give and receive love. This is true of us as parents and also of our children. When we learn each other's language, we will be able to give love in a way that they understand and will meet their need for love. The five love languages are:

• Words of affirmation
• Quality time
• Receiving gifts
• Acts of service
• Physical touch

If you are a parent I recommend this book to you.



Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: Anger

This week our theme for Pursuing Love over at Marsha's Musings is anger.

We find many verses and warnings in the Bible regarding anger. One that comes to mind is Ephesians 4:26, 27--

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still
angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

If we hold onto our anger overnight without settling the matter or if we sin in our anger, we are going to give the devil a little door into our heart. This verse is great advice, especially for married couples. I remember at our wedding rehearsal dinner the preacher asked if anyone would like to share advice. One lady said not to go to bed mad at each other. That is such a good practice.

I'd like to share these great questions also that Marsha posted on her post because they are really good to think about and consider our actions.

Do you have the kind of love that overlooks offenses, or do you get easily irritated when your rights are violated?
Do you fly off the handle and blow up easily, or do you have the kind of love that is unchanged by circumstances?
Are you easily upset by unpleasant circumstances that are beyond your
ability to control or change?
Do you cast blame, when in reality you are simply being touchy or thin-skinned?

I don't get mad very easily. There are a few things that "push my buttons," but for the most part I overlook offenses. As I was reading these questions I thought about my Mom. She is a school secretary. Many times she's shared stories of angry parents screaming at her over the phone or in her office. Other school personnel have commented on her calm demeanor in handling the situations. I think this is a very admirable trait to have.

I've enjoyed this study about the qualities of love. If I have Christ's love I won't be easily angered.

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: The "I" in Pride

This week in our Pursuit of Love over at Marsha's Musings the topic is "The 'I' in Pride."

I've been thinking about what to type in this post all week. I've looked over the questions and tried to think of personal examples of pride. I think it is something I need to work on in certain areas of my own life. One thing that came to mind is working in groups. Sometimes it's hard, depending on the group and the project, to say "okay do it your way" because I like my own idea better.

I think it's okay to be confident. God wants us to be confident in the abilities and talents He gave to us. But I don't think we need to turn this confidence into an "I'm better than you" attitude.

Pride can cause many problems in relationships. Many times our own pride keeps us from admitting we are wrong and apologizing. This leaves painful marks on relationships, causing them not to be healthy.

We are warned many times in Scripture about pride. Pride says me, me, me. Pride says look at me, look what I did. Pride says you have to do it my way. Pride says I'm the best. Pride seeks the glory. Pride is selfish.

Love is none of those things. It is just the opposite. If we are truly loving then these prideful attitudes won't be in our hearts.

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: Are you rude or courteous?

Part of I Corinthians 13:5 says, "Love is not rude." This week as we are Pursuing Love we are asking ourselves are we rude or courteous.

"Do unto others" is a good way to live life. But do we really follow this in our thoughts and actions? When I face a rude waitress or clerk at a store, I often think, "why do they have to be rude to me? What did I do?" And then I want to be rude back to them. This is not what my response should be though. I need to stop and consider their life and remind myself that I don't know the road they are walking. While we like to think there isn't an excuse for rudeness, there are probably contributing circumstances that we don't know about causing the rude behavior in the first place. Maybe they just got some really bad news and would rather be home with their family. Maybe they have been on their feet all day, working multiple jobs to try to provide for their children. Maybe they are sick and don't have the option of using a "sick day." Maybe they don't even know the love of Jesus. We just don't know.

This is something God has shown me over and over in various ways this week in things I've read and heard. I need to be looking at others through His eyes. He shows us grace and love over and over. Every time we mess up, He is there and still loves us. This is what I need to do for people in my life, both my family as well as strangers.

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: The Unloving Twins

This week in Pursuing Love we are looking at bragging and arrogance, two more things love is NOT.

Marsha shared this: Last week we looked at jealousy and wanting what someone else has. This week we’re looking at the unloving twins – bragging (boasting) and arrogance, or trying to make others jealous of what we have. While jealousy puts people down, bragging and arrogance puts ourselves up much higher than we desire.

Personally I do not like being around people that are constantly bragging or arrogant. It seems there is at least one in every bunch, as they say. Online there have been people that seem to have to constantly "one up" anything you say about your life, kids, or family. I remember certain people through school who had a certain arrogance about them and seem to continue to portray this attitude to others. These type of people are so full of themselves and their accomplishments that they make you seem insignificant. No one wants to feel like a nobody!

Thinking about myself, I don't like to tell people what I've done. There are certain accomplishments that I haven't told people in my life because I don't want it to seem I'm bragging about them. (Even typing that sentence makes me feel like I should delete it because I don't want to be boasting in myself!) But even though I don't like to say it, I do admit that sometimes I think to myself an "I'm better at...." attitude. God wants me not to be judgemental though but instead to see everyone through His eyes.

Thinking about this I think it's important to point out that God does want us to be proud of who we are in Him, but we don't need to be haughty in our pride. Maybe confident is a better word for that.

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: No room for jealousy

This week's topic for Pursuing Love is "No room for jealousy." Marsha asked some great questions with this post.

I think most everyone has felt jealous at some point about something if we are honest about it. I notice it in myself when I see someone else have a real great idea. I think to myself, "What a great idea! I wish I would have thought of doing that."

There's a story I remember from my middle school years. Some girls were very mean to me constantly. I didn't know what I'd done or why they kept treating me so hatefully. I came home upset many days after their rude remarks as I'd walk by them, and one day in gym I even got hit in the back with a basketball that was thrown rather hard in my direction. I tried to ignore it, but it got to the point that my Mom felt she had to address the issue with the principal. It finally came out that the girls were jealous of me. I had no idea. It took many years for me to really forgive those girls. One even became a good friend to me in later years. This has shown me how ugly jealousy can be.

Jealousy may start as something small but it can quickly get out of hand and grow into something that damages many relationships. We will hurt people in our attempts to try to be better than them. These wounds and scars will last many years. As Christians we need to be on the watch for jealousy.

Have a day of blessings!

A dozen things I remember...

Thursday afternoon I received a surprise delivery. The UPS man pulled up. Caleb said, "I hope it's for me." And I said, "I hope it's for me." The delivery man got out and had in his hands a box from Proflowers. Inside were a dozen multi-colored roses. The card said there was one for each year I've been his Valentine. I was so excited. Soon after that my Valentine got home from work. He said he thought they were coming on Friday. It was so sweet and such a sweet surprise!

I've had my very special Valentine for 12 years. He asked me if I could believe it has been that long and really, I can't! On February 13, 1998 he gave me a card he had made and asked me to be his Valentine. I'm so glad I said yes. :)

So today I'm remembering. I'm remembering a dozen things that have happened in the past 12 years since I said yes.

1. Remember giving me a Valentine in the Bean during lunch. You must have been nervous! It had the poem in it about the value of a smile. It made me smile again to read it the other day.

2. Remember not being sure you'd be able to come back to ACU yet God made a way and you were there every year and finished your degree there. I was so proud of your hard work and determination through those years. It really was inspiring to see you work so diligently in pursuit of your dream.

3. Remember on December 2, 2000 when you surprised me with a marriage proposal (which I will say I was expecting at some time, yet not at that time!) What a great surprise! I loved it!

4. Remember when people asked us where we would live or how we would make it when we got married. We didn't know all the answers but found out God did!

5. Remember our perfect, beautiful wedding ceremony, those delicious chocolate covered strawberries at our reception, leaving without shoes on, and our wonderful honeymoon together (and getting sunburned!).

6. Remember when God provided my first teaching job for me in a district that was closing schools at the time and said they weren't hiring.

7. Remember the excitement we felt when we found out we were expecting our first child only to go through a miscarriage a few weeks later. You were such a rock for me of love and support during that painful time filled with questions, sadness, hurt, doubts, and fears.

8. Remember when God gave us good news (just when we needed it) of a new job for you, one for a position that you really specifically hadn't even applied.

9. Remember how we watched our home being built and we'd drive out most days to see the progress that was made. We have so many special memories here in this home.

10. Remember on that wonderful day in August when the doctor said "It's a boy!" Our lives have never been the same! Parenting has been an amazing learning process with you. You've supported me in countless ways, and I appreciate that more than words can say. Seeing you with our son brings me great joy as well. You are such a great daddy.

11. Remember how we helped each other through the painful times, including sicknesses and the deaths of our loved ones. Having each other to lean on helped so much. I know there will be other times of pain and sadness through the years, but I know we count on each other.

12. Remember, always remember that God has a plan, His timing is perfect, I am proud of you always, and you are the best.

It's wonderful to remember (and kind of hard to stop because I keep remembering more things) and be reminded of all the ways God has been there for us through every thing we've been through together. Thank you for so many wonderful memories. Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet wonderful amazing forever Valentine! I love you...

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: Love is Kind

I enjoyed reading the posts shared last week in our first week of "Pursuing Love." This week's topic is Love is Kind. We'd be glad to have you join us over at Marsha's Musings. Click the above link for more information.



"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." ~Author Unknown



"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." ~Mark Twain



"Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns." ~Author Unknown



The definition of kindness is "compassion, generosity" while the opposite is "cruelty, harshness, meanness." We sometimes hear about "random acts of kindness" in which someone does something kind anonymously for another. Kindness is another one of the fruits that will be growing in us when we have the Spirit living in us. There are all different ways to show kindness to others. It can be a kind action or kind word spoken.

One of Marsha's questions that I particularly noticed today was are you kind in your own home? Our family lesson last week was on kindness so we talked about how we can be kind to each other in our home and at school or work. This has made me think about what we each can do to show kindness to each other. I've heard before of how people are always doing for others and yet not doing for those in their own home. I think we need to be careful that we find ways to be kind to each other. One way to do this is to learn each person's love language and then act on that love language and start speaking those languages to each other to show them kindness. It might be an action you perform, like cleaning up a mess for them, or some simple words of praise and love.

Something that comes to mind that my husband does for me is put up the dishes. He helps clear the table after we eat every night and I'll wash the dishes. Some nights he will put the dishes away too. Sometimes he does it while I'm washing and we'll talk or some nights he does it later. It is always nice to have them put away and not have to do that myself. That is something so simple yet it is such a kind thing for him to do for me.

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:12

I posted a song called "Love Never Fails" on yesterday's post that goes along with our pursuit of love.

Have a day of blessings!

"Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath

For this week's song in honor of Valentine's Day I want to share "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath. I have been hearing this song regularly on KLOVE. It is based on I Corinthians 13.




I'd like to dedicate this to my husband today. He has taught me so much about God's love and lived that for me. We have grown so much deeper in our love for each other and God I believe through the years we've been together. I'm so thankful for share this life and love together with him.

Have a day of blessings!

Pursuing Love: Love is Patient

Click on the heart above to join us at Marsha's Musings in "Pursuing Love" over the next several weeks.

This week's topic is "Love Is Patient." Well isn't that such good timing! I've mentioned before that we do family Bible lessons together on Wednesday nights. Right now we are going through the Fruit of the Spirit. Last week was on patience. Then Friday night I realized how impatient I can be! I ran into Walgreens to pick up some pictures. The store was pretty empty and I grabbed the couple other items on sale and went to the photo counter. No one was there and I didn't see any employees around either. Then a girl walks in and asks if I needed help. I said yes and she hollered down an aisle at some lady who was pulling old price tags off of a shelf. That lady never did come and the other girl came back later and got the pictures for me. I probably wasn't there five minutes. It felt forever to me because I didn't want to stand and wait when there wasn't even a line and all I needed was my pictures grabbed off the shelf! It annoyed me as I went back to the car. Later I realized how silly it was for me to be impatient to wait on such a silly thing.

God used this to remind me that I need to be patient for His timing. I think He uses little things like this to see how we'll respond as we need more patience to wait longer or for bigger things. As I mentioned yesterday waiting is hard. I know I have got to just trust Him though as I wait.

I know from past experiences that His love has been patient with me. I want to show that love to others, both my family and strangers in line at Walgreens, by being patient with them.

Have a day of blessings!