The Plan I Have For You

Happy Anniversary, Troy!  May 25, 1996, we stood in front of our family and friends and made a commitment to a lifetime together.  Love, 17 years ago, meant you treated me like a lady. Love, 17 years ago, meant you listened to what I had to say. Love, 17 years ago, meant you held my hand, and took me to dinner. Love, 17 years ago, meant the excitement of buying a house together. Love grows, and love changes.  As we grow together love deepens and takes on a whole new meaning. Love, today, means the fulfillment of the vows we made that day...for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. Love means making the tough decisions together with prayerful consideration. Love means often giving up our time to pour into preparing two children for a great big world. Love means saying I'm sorry, a lot. Love means needing to say I'm sorry more than what we do. Love means compromise. Love is the admiration of watching you grow in your Christ-lead role of father and...

Proverbs 31: 10-30  The Wife of Noble Character A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night;  she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it;  out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously;  her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for...

My 10-year-old son, just like his mom, loves to fix things.  It's a great skill to have.  He's perfected the art of identifying there is a problem, taking an item apart...then not being quite sure how to put it back together.  We have two weed eaters in the garage he worked on last week that are still torn up, and the parts of both are sitting together. Not only do we get to figure out how to fix each one, we first must determine which parts belong to which unit.  What a mess! My desire to fix things and solve problems extends beyond sinks and weed eaters.  It goes into the everyday decisions of my life.  I have this need to be a problem solver, and I often go about the job of handling my own crises, then handing God a pile of tools and parts to help me sort out the mess when I FINALLY admit I can't do it by myself.  What conviction he has placed upon me about this! A lesson from Deuteronomy 8 was a reminder in a week I have been strug...