Trick or Treat and Life in General

Well….  We did go trick or treating, but my battery was dead, hence no pictures.  So Jenn, Pam, Peggy, Jodi… please send me any and all  We had a blast and went in a whole pack of kids.  Our neighborhood is prime trick or treating because of the closeness of the houses and vast number of children.  We started the night on our street.  Most of the streets had what is called a “cider home” that would have cider, drinks, chili, and snacks.  That was great.  

People in this neighborhood go all out.  Many of the homes were decorated like they would be for Christmas, but with orange lights, webs, and spiders.  Some were a little scary for my taste, but most were just cutesie and fun.  

After the kids’ bags were so full they could hardly carry them we ended up with incredible chill time at my friend Peggy’s house.  She was so generous to open her house up last minute.  The kids’ played upstairs and the adults hung downstairs just having great chats and bonding  Trick or treat was a lot of fun for all involved.

Yesterday church was amazing.  My friends Peggy and Ian are going with us now and we love that.  My friend Jenn came along this Sunday and liked it.  The message was all about how the Kingdom of God is not an earthly one, not tangible, but the Israelites were looking for that.  He compared it to how we are looking for that in our political system, that we have to remember regardless of the outcome we have an intangible kingdom that can not be shaken.  That maybe even if Obama wins it will actually energize his people to pray and seek out rivival instead of sitting back and doing nothing like the religious right did during the Bush administration.  He said regardless of who is president our call is the same.  

This wasn’t used during the sermon but in Psalm 146:3 it says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.”  I cling to this verse right now.  The fact is you have not seen on this blog a ton of McCain excitement.  Not that I don’t like McCain, I do… but this time around I don’t think all in the Christian world will be right if he is on the “throne” (so to speak)…. But I do think a lot will be wrong if Obama is.  But either way it should not shake our resolve.  We trust in a supernatural authority of our Lord God Creator of all.  I do think that Obama’s policies will not be good for the health of our country and I feel they are in direct contrast to how our fore-fathers set up our government and authorities.  I think if he does all he says he will that our nation (after a few years) will see some pretty depressing times that make the times we are in now look like the “good ole days”.  But regardless, we will serve the Lord. In good times and bad times.  I’m so thankful to have more than our President and Congress to trust in.  

Ecclesiastes 7:14- “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

That’s all I got for today.

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What Can I Say About Love?

Love. The Apostle Paul already wrote on Love in the Bible better than I possibly ever could. It sums up the entire concept. In his words, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Love is patient with my children when they aren’t responding fast enough.

Love is kind even when I’m in a bad mood.

Love does not envy. Envy is a destroyer of friendship. I have seen it happen. I commit to not envying my friends but rather be happy for their good things.

Love does not boast. Applying this is a little more tricky for me. I suppose it means I view accomplishments humbly and do not boast about them.

Love is not proud. Pride is all about oneself. Pride is selfish. Pride is the root of all sin because it says, “I can be like God.” Pride definitely destroys relationships. Not being proud means saying I’m sorry when I wrong my husband or kids.

Love does not dishonor others. That means love honors others. Not repeating things people are ashamed of. (Especially your husband!) Sometimes honoring someone and possibly their wishes means doing something you don’t want to do. There are so many ways to honor others.

Love is not self-seeking. The flip-side on this one is it is other-seeking. Not thinking what I can do for myself in a relationship but what I can do for others. This means when I’m with a group of girlfriends and can’t get a word in, that I love that I can sit there and listen to them. I don’t have to butt in the conversation.

Love is not easily angered. For me, this really comes back to my children and husband and being patient. Giving the benefit of the doubt to those I love most. The people you know most seem to be the easiest to not give slack to for some reason.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. This means not bringing up something my husband may have done years ago. Letting it go, forgiving.

Love does not delight in evil. For me this would be gossip. Not being anxious to talk about someone. In a sermon my brother once preached he called gossip the “devil’s intimacy”. If I find I have a relationship that seems based on talking about someone else I realize that we don’t have a true bond. It is interesting to see what happens to those relationships when you determine not to do that anymore. Is anything left?

Love rejoices with the truth. This is speaking truth at all times to those I love. When they are hurt or depressed speaking truth into their life can be a fresh breath. Obviously this applies at home too!

Love always protects. This means when I love someone, even when they are doing something wrong, protecting them by not telling others about it. I know that this will come in handy with my children when they are teenagers. Not that there isn’t a time to share with someone close and prayer, but not to just air it out in your general atmosphere. I have been unprotective before and it is a bad feeling left in your mouth when you realize what you have done has hurt someone.

Love always trusts. This can be a hard one. Especially when we know their are legitimate reasons not to. I feel blessed to have a husband who I am not suspicious of, but the fact is not everyone is in that positions… so I’m not sure how to apply this one.

Love always hopes. Hope sees the bright side and believes it can be. Having hope in love doesn’t say… “things will always be like this, I can’t take it!” but hoping and praying always for more.

Love always perseveres. This means also that we don’t give up. Even when things are so tough. It’s that “sickness and in health, richer or poorer” part of the marriage vows. Persevere through good and bad.

And lastly, LOVE NEVER FAILS.

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Written for Skribbit’s February Write Away Contest.