1 Corinithians 13 for Moms

Happy Mother's Day!

I can read “Good Night Moon” a hundred times and bring 10 drinks of water at bed time but if I don't have love, I'm as annoying as the “Star Wars” ring tone my 10 year old downloaded on his cell phone. I can shampoo a kindergartner’s head, while texting my husband and doing a ‘double take’ at the power bill but if I don't have love, I am nothing. I can figure out a thousand algebra problems (actually… no I can’t) But if I could and didn’t have love I’d be useless. Love is patient when my youngest says, “Why is it Mothers Day again? When is it ever going to be kids day?” (!) Love is kind even when my oldest isn't. It doesn't envy the leisure time of someone with no children. It doesn't boast about my super cute kids. It isn’t rude when someone innocently says, “You look tired today.” It’s not self seeking even when… I actually do feel tired today. It's not easily angered when everything in the house breaks down at the same time. It keeps no record of how many times I’ve picked up the dirty towel vs. how many times everyone else has picked up the dirty towel. Love doesn't delight in evil when I remind my husband to come to a full stop at the stop sign but rejoices in the truth when he attends driving school. It always protects my children’s self-worth. It always trusts that if I train them well they won’t depart from it. It always hopes the best for them. And in spite of laundry baskets full of un-matching socks, peanut butter on door handles, and pet rodents dying it always perseveres. Love keeps going… and going… and going… But where there are memories of sleepless nights with sick children… they will fade away. Where there is an endless supply of change bouncing in the dryer... it will be gone. Where there are basketball prints on the ceiling... they'll be painted over. (And where there's a child who can’t figure out why “Mom never finishes a complete sentence”… there will one day be an adult who says, “Oohh, now I get it.”) For I know there are times when I just don’t feel like I’m a ‘good’ mom… the thought clings to me like a wet snowflake in late winter… But it won’t be long before the warmth of spring melts the feeling away and I’ll be convinced that I absolutely loved the best I possibly could have. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (I adapted this idea from an article reproduced in Joyful Noiseletter, May 2004. 1 Corinthians 13 for Moms was apparently first printed as The Story of Encouragement, an e-newsletter.)

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Relationships/Dating IV

I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships recently. Among other things you can read about in previous blogs here’s a thought on ‘standards’ and how they might play into healthy relationships... Have Some Standards You Will Not Compromise On My dad used to preach a sermon about the 5 things he was looking for in a wife to be when he was a young, single man in college. The fifth was the only one that was superficial. Apparently he didn’t want to marry a red head. (By the way - He married one!) When I heard him preach about some of his standards he had in looking for a wife, it impressed upon me the importance of knowing who it was I was looking for and who I wasn’t looking for. Look at Psalm 101. What are some of the behaviors that David said he would have nothing to do with? What kinds of things would you add to that list? What about Proverbs 6:16-19? What are some things there that God says he hates? Do you hate those same kinds of things? Another thought along this line… Certainly a non negotiable standard should be to pursue sexual purity. I know that sounds a bit dated in our culture. But here are just a few things to consider… · Sex can get in the way of the true reason why the person you are dating is with you. Maybe the only reason the person is dating you is just for sex! And if that’s the case if you stick in the relationship you are setting yourself up for heartache. · Sex can get in the way of finding out who this person would be if they had to delay gratification. A healthy relationship is not built on immediate gratification. (By the way - this is one of the major issues of pornography. It’s simply immediate gratification. It’s being gratified physically without getting to know someone, without working through relationship issues, without ‘strings’ attached. But unfortunately there are ‘strings’ attached. Serious ones. An individual who has conditioned themselves to be fulfilled through pornography is someone with an in creased tendency to control or put others first and a decreased ability to be self-controlled and mature. [Check out Galatians 5:23, self-control]) · Sex can get in the way of physical health. Those who choose to have sex outside of marriage dramatically increase their chances of getting an STD. Take some time to determine what is nonnegotiable in your relationships. If your standards are low then like water running to the lowest point, mistreatment and/or problems will find you. Be healthy! Jonathan