#47 What is beautiful in the world? Thoughts from the Back Deck...

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

As the texts I use for each one of my "Thoughts from the Back Deck" are whatever someone or some computer spits out, this is an interesting text following my wife's 55th birthday yesterday. 

We were married in 1990. 

We have had our struggles along the way. Laugher? Absolutely.  Tears? Plenty. Anxiety? From time to time. You name the emotion, it has been part of your journey with the Lord together as husband and wife. 

So here is MY insight (thoughts) reflecting back on over 30 years of marriage. 
1. My wife has remained charming and being charming is not deceptive to me because of who she is. She is a child of God and my wife. 
2. Physical beauty is fleeting. As I have reminded people often... I used to have hair, I was better looking! (...at least in my own mind! Please don't take that away even if I am delusional! 🙃) Yet for my wife, her beauty has done nothing but increase. She has aged alongside me. We have learned to walk with each other, supporting one another more as the years pass- and yes that sometimes has meant physically supporting one another. Beauty is more than skin deep!
3. Lastly, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. That is the woman I married and I needed. God knew that. I didn't! 
Men, I am speaking clearly to you now! Listen up! The majority of us needed a woman who fears the Lord in our life.  That person is a gift of God to us as we were in our youth pretty reckless, self-centered, self-involved, and lacked focus and a path to the future. We tried to fear nothing. Honor and respect (tied to fearing the Lord) probably were not high on our list of "to-do's!" in our younger years. These things and more were learned in marriage. If you had a bad marriage, my thoughts are sadness for you as marriage is created to be a beautiful thing. I pray for the Lord to lead you to the right person in the future.
The Lord brought man and woman together. This brings a unique balance that is needed by both sexes and binds them together in love. 
The lessons we learn from the course of living life as "two but one" are incalculable and beyond understanding except to say, that we are blessed by the Lord. 

Let us praise the Lord for His many gifts to us all.

Peace out,

Andy

Share as you are so moved. 

https://www.stpaullakeland.org/engage



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#78 Thoughts from the Back Deck. Servant Leadership

Image
More of my orchids are coming into bloom. Once a week, I take time to carefully water each plant. I am careful that I don't get water in the plant's stem and where the leaf grows out of it, because it will often rot and destroy the leaf. In Florida's, "winter season" I make sure each plant gets exposed to colder temps for a week or more, but careful not to be exposed to freezing temps. That cold exposure allows the plant to reset and assures the plant to bloom in the spring. Sometimes I need to re-pot the orchids. A bigger pot. A change in the medium the orchids are potted in is not an uncommon task. I don't spend hours on the orchids but I do consistently care for them. Being faithful to little things gives me a beautiful benefit, and I enjoy the long-lasting blooms! As a pastor, I have had people come to me and express a desire to get involved. I try to listen and get a sense of a person's interests, spirit...
Read more

#77 Thoughts from the back deck of my friend's house in Michigan... Two Roads.

Image
Robert Frost The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. I have been at a pastor's conference this week in Michigan. The colors have been amazing. I have walked daily, as much for a chance to take in the beauty as for my health. I spent time with fellow church workers learning and ...
Read more

#15 Shorter Days, Thoughts from the back deck...

Image
#15, Shorter days?! I sit on my back deck at about the same time every morning but the morning light marks the changes of seasons once again. This photo is from a Keys sunrise fishing trip a few years back, I still hold to the premise that a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work. Time appears to be short.  More darkness than light.  That is another premise I hear a lot these days. People who feel that way are not talking about the change of seasons. There is a certain amount of anxiousness we can feel as we look at the world. I feel it too as many of you do. I have to fight buying into that premise.  Why do I fight it and why should you fight it?  The premise is based in fear. And fear is a tool of the devil. He uses it to bring doubt in Jesus and that is never a good place to look at life from.  What if time is short? What does that mean? That Jesus will be coming soon. That is nothing to fear but to look forward to! What if time i...
Read more