My Love

I'm so glad that I continue to be amazed by my husband. That just means that there's still that "thing" there..ya know, that "thing" that causes me to go "Awwww!!" or "WOW" or "I love that man!" And I don't want to ever lose that "thing" for him. He is my best friend, my mentor, my guide, my strength, my counselor...my heart beats for him like none other. He's there for me, when no one else is. He "gets" me and loves me in spite of my flaws. He made me fall in love with him all over again yesterday. I'm just so blessed to have him in my life.

We buy homes that need work, remodel them, and then sell them. We don't go for these extravagant 2,000 square foot homes that sell for $2 to $300 thousand. We like to find homes that the real working class can afford. He feels that everybody deserves a chance to have a nice home and he puts his heart and soul into each one. I love working with him on these. He's so passionate about his work and I enjoy watching him do the things he can do...and he does them so well! He's just so talented and I feel I don't give him enough credit for how good he is. There are times when we get frustrated with each other because I may not like his decision on where to put something or I didn't paint the wall fast enough for him but we make it through them just fine. He has actually taught me so much during these last few "flips", as we call them. We started this because the sale of these homes allows us to supplement our loss of income due to the railroad temporarily laying him off for 4-6 months at a time. God has been so good to us in allowing us to find homes during every time he's been laid off.

Yesterday he held an open house at the last one he just completed. He did this flip entirely by himself. Painted, laid the tile, repaired everything that needed repaired, installed everything that needed installed...you name it, he did it. He told me that there was a sweet couple with a 4 month old baby that came by and he said the woman fell in love with it instantly. She told him that this was her dream house and that she started crying! This is just a small 3 bedroom home that is not that fancy at all, but it was HER dream home! So different from the 1 bedroom, run-down apartment that they are in now. Paul said that she just went on and on about how beautiful it was and that she wanted it so badly and she wouldn't have to worry about her baby growing up in a bad neighborhood...they just didn't know if they cold get approved for the loan. Paul said that he just felt so overwhelmed with compassion for this couple. He gave them the lending company's information and explained that they wouldn't have to pay any closing costs and to see what they could get approved for first and he would see what he could do for them, even if it meant lowering the asking price. He told me that he didn't care if he made one dime off of this sale, he just really wanted them to have this home. They had never had anything like this to call their own before and it just made him feel so grateful for everything God has given us. People take so much of what they have for granted. And to see what they have, compared to what we have, just made him stop and think about how selfish some people tend to be. Then, he proceeded to tell me that he felt like God wanted him to help them. (that "thing" kicked in and I was like "WOW")

I'm so proud of my husband. I'm so proud to be called his wife. I'm just so in love with him and this last month we have grown so close to each other and it has just reinforced our commitment to one another. I know that our love for each other is true and that our love for each other has been blessed by God because when he brought me Paul, He gave me everything I needed and more.

In His Steps

He stops at the corner and rests. Obviously trying to catch his breath. I know he's been walking quite some distance to have already made it to the end of my road. Usually we see him under the overpass. He must have gotten up earlier than usual this morning. He looks up at us and waves, just as he does every morning he sees us. We wave back, just as we do every time we see him. The way the sun is coming through the trees and shining down behind him, he almost looks like an angel. I stop at the stop sign and watch him. I try to imagine on some days what he would look like if he were given a nice hot shower, hair cut and beard trim and some new clothes and shoes. Then my mind wanders further. Was he ever a father? Did he ever get married? Wonder where his family is?...things like that. I look in his eyes and they look so sad and tired...and lonely. I can tell the trash bag that he carries over his shoulder is heavy and weighing him down but probably contains his world. Surely he has some food in there. I mean, I know I'm not the only person who passes him every morning. That's how I justify not stopping. Somebody else had to have given him something to eat. Right? I don't think twice about it most mornings...until yesterday morning. I just completed the book "In His Steps" (great book by the way, if you haven't already read it). It's about a pastor who challenges his entire congregation to stop before they make a decision and ask themselves "What would Jesus do?" The whole town becomes affected by the new decision making process and lives are forever changed. So I asked myself..."What would Jesus do?" Would he drive off, assuming that this poor, homeless, elderly man has been given a hot meal by someone else? Would he just wave back at the man, say "awww, bless his heart", then continue on to work? Doubtful. He would have compassion on the man, stop and talk to him, offer him food, shelter, clothing, whatever he needed. So why was I being so selfish? (Yeah, it's selfish. I know it's a harsh word to use against oneself but it is what it is.) I don't have an excuse...My thoughts start racing..."I'll be late for work...what if he gets angry? What if he smells bad? What if he becomes clingy and expects this every time I see him? What if he needs more help than I'm able to give? Those thoughts and more keep going through my head until I finally realize that I'm almost to work. Another day wasted of me not helping him. I pulled into my parking space and broke down:

"God, I'm so blessed with things I don't deserve. Please forgive me for being selfish. I'm sorry for not listening to your Spirit and helping out someone in need. Please give me another chance to stop and give this man some food and offer him my help. I'm so thankful that you are a loving God and that one day, just as You promised, there will be no more suffering. Thank you for blessing me with home, health, food, and clothes. Help me never to take these things for granted." 

All day, that's all that was on my mind. I couldn't wait until the next morning. I was determined that I was going to leave early and go get breakfast and hot coffee for him. Except for this morning he was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere I thought he might be and didn't see him anywhere. I gave up the search and headed to work. I then had a wave of sadness come over me. What if something happened to him? What if I don't see him again? That means I missed my chance. I missed my chance to help him. Then the worst thought yet...I felt I had basically ignored God asking me to help someone. I immediately felt like I did when I was a little girl and had heard my daddy say I disappointed him. 

There are some song lyrics in this book that I read: 'All for Jesus, all for Jesus, All my being's ransomed powers, All my thoughts, and all my doings, All my days, and all my hours...' A man asks the congregation if they know what that song even meant. He said "It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out." Those words resounded in my mind over and over. What if people really would stop and ask themselves What would Jesus do before they did anything? What if we really gave ALL to Jesus? ALL our days and ALL our hours? Truly walked in His steps?

Don't miss your opportunity to do something that God is leading you to do. If you don't listen, you might not get another chance. 

"He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked."

Is Jesus in YOUR life?

One of my favorite boardgames to play when we were growing up, was Life. I recently purchased it one day when we were off work due to a snow day. It was fun sitting in front of the fireplace and reliving a childhood memory with my own son. This game was a little different than the one I had when I was young. There were a few added features and a few small things that had changed. 

When I went to my sisters house one night, I meant to take my game with me to teach my 7 yr old nephew, Landon, how to play but I ran out of the house without it, so we borrowed the neighbors Life game. I made a few comments to my sister about how this Life game was different from the one I had just bought but that overall it was still the same concept. Landon loved the game! He actually ended up doing a whole lot better than me that night! 

Well, just a few weeks after that, we found ourselves at home due to another snow fall so my sister braved the ice and brought Landon over to my house. We made cookies, rode the 4 wheeler, colored and watched movies. And in between all those fun activities, Landon continually reminded me that we needed to play Life. We had just put some cookies in the oven and Landon got my stool and planted himself down in front of the oven to "keep an eye on the cookies" as I had asked him to do. "Aunt Mamie, when are we gonna play Life?" he asked...again. "We'll play after we get done riding the 4 wheeler", I told him. There was a short moment of silence and then "So, what's different about your Life, Aunt Mamie?" Wow! I had no idea that he was even listening to me that night at my sisters, let alone remembered what I had told her about the games being different. "Well, I have Jesus in my life" I told him. (I thought that was a pretty good answer!) 

The cookies came out and were eaten as quickly as we had set them out to cool, the 4wheeler was ridden, snow angels made, snow balls thrown and then we came in to thaw out! Kelly and Landon got the game out of the closet and started setting everything up for all of us to play. I was in the kitchen getting a cookie when I heard him. "I can't find Jesus anywhere on this game!" When I looked in the living room, Landon was kneeling in front of the game looking very intensely at the board...looking very intensely for Jesus...in my Life. It made us laugh and we explained that Aunt Mamie was just trying to be funny...that Jesus wasn't really in the game. But of course that made me think. 

What is different about my life? Is it evident enough to others that I have Jesus in my life or are people so unaware of Him in me, that they have to look intensely at me to try and find Him? That 7 yr old taught me a few things that night. One, that people are constantly listening to us and watching us even when we are unaware of them. As Christians, we need to be sure that we are faithful and consistent in our walk and talk. And two, I need to make sure that other people don't have to guess or search as to whether or not Jesus is in my life or not. It should always be evident that He is there. I would hate for someone to tell me "I can't find Jesus anywhere in your life".