My oldest ended his third grade school year today. Yesterday, he participated in "step up day" where the children meet their next year's teacher and see the kids in their upcoming class. Before this happened, my son's teacher asked her class to complete a writing assignment on a foot shaped piece of paper titled "My advice", for the children in her next year's class to read at their desk when they came to her for "step up day." He brought home his paper and here's what it said:
"My advice to you is for you to listen to the teacher and to make sure to finish your work on time. Believe me, it is not fun! And, did you know in your lifetime you will walk equivalent to 5 times around the equator."
That's my boy! :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Love....Actually
In honor of my husband's and my 13th wedding anniversary, I thought I'd write on the subject of love. At our wedding, one of the scripture readings the minister read was in 1 Corinthians. I think many Christian weddings these days have some sort of reference to this passage from the Bible during their ceremony. But recently, I read the whole chapter that these excerpts are taken from and I thought it shed a whole new light. Here it is: 1 Corinthians 13 (Revised Standard Version)
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This love that Paul is speaking of, I believe, is not only just a love shared by a husband and wife. This is a love that should be in all of our relationships. It's a love God gives us...unconditional. It's a love given to us not because of what we've done or the fact that we love Him. It's given to us for no specific reason at all.....for lack of a better explanation: just because. And the best part is, this kind of love...this unconditional "love never ends"....no matter what we do or say. Everything we do should be out of this kind of love for one another. This is especially hard when someone has hurt us deeply.
For some reason, it's so much easier to harbor that pain and resentment, build up a wall and never look back. The bad part about that is, most of the time that pain and resentment that built that wall comes from the filter of negativity and depression. You start to forget the good things about that person and let the looming dark cloud take over, overshadowing any and all positive memories. Years pass and either you believe your dark thoughts to be the truth or you forget why you were mad in the first place. But as this Biblical passage reminds us, "our knowledge is imperfect."
God wants us to let His light of love shine through us. We can't, however, do this when we've built up walls. Walls cast shadows, blocking the light. We've got to let those walls down. God will let you know when it's time for you to break it down and will help you do it ("when the perfect comes"). When you accept this journey, God will help you see the situation for what it truly was ("the imperfect will pass away"). It will give you a peace you never thought you were missing and that is when God's light will shine through you like never before. Is there a wall from the past or today that's blocking God's light in you?
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This love that Paul is speaking of, I believe, is not only just a love shared by a husband and wife. This is a love that should be in all of our relationships. It's a love God gives us...unconditional. It's a love given to us not because of what we've done or the fact that we love Him. It's given to us for no specific reason at all.....for lack of a better explanation: just because. And the best part is, this kind of love...this unconditional "love never ends"....no matter what we do or say. Everything we do should be out of this kind of love for one another. This is especially hard when someone has hurt us deeply.
For some reason, it's so much easier to harbor that pain and resentment, build up a wall and never look back. The bad part about that is, most of the time that pain and resentment that built that wall comes from the filter of negativity and depression. You start to forget the good things about that person and let the looming dark cloud take over, overshadowing any and all positive memories. Years pass and either you believe your dark thoughts to be the truth or you forget why you were mad in the first place. But as this Biblical passage reminds us, "our knowledge is imperfect."
God wants us to let His light of love shine through us. We can't, however, do this when we've built up walls. Walls cast shadows, blocking the light. We've got to let those walls down. God will let you know when it's time for you to break it down and will help you do it ("when the perfect comes"). When you accept this journey, God will help you see the situation for what it truly was ("the imperfect will pass away"). It will give you a peace you never thought you were missing and that is when God's light will shine through you like never before. Is there a wall from the past or today that's blocking God's light in you?
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