Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Love and Respect

Today I get to review my first book!  I signed up for a great program through Thomas Nelson publishers, called Book Sneeze, where I am provided a book for free, then I review it on my blog.  Yesterday I received Love and Respect for a Lifetime, which is the gift book version of the well-known book on marriage by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, Love and Respect.  I have wanted to read this original version for years, but, for various reasons, have never gotten to it.  So I was excited to see this as one of the choices for my book review.
Because this is a gift book, it was a very quick and enjoyable read.  The pictures and artistry of the words are very attractive, and the writing format primarily consists of little snippets of wisdom as exerpts from the original book.  Initially, it was a lot of reiteration of the main theme...women absolutely need love and men absolutely need respect...stated in many different ways, with the emphasis being on the differences between men and women.  But after the first 30 or 40 pages, we begin to get some practical application:
     "Using Ephesians 5:33, I explain the Crazy Cycle this way:  When a wife feels unloved, she reacts in a    way that feels disrespectful to her husband, and when a husband feels disrespected, he reacts in ways that feel unloving to his wife.  This dynamic spins, and the relationship can get crazy!"
He reminds us that "my response is my responsibility".  That each time we interact with our spouse, we make a choice in how we respond.  And if we choose to draw strength from our relationship with Christ, we will not expect our spouse to meet our every emotional need.
My only criticism is that it left me wanting more.  But it is a gift book, so that is probably the intention.  For those who are not big readers, it gets the ideas out there in a quick, easy-to-read format.  But for those who like to read, the original will probably be more satisfying.
Now I can't wait for the next book!!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Being known

It is so hard to believe we are coming up on a year here in Williamsport, PA!  It has been a VERY full year...full of all of the joys and pain that transitions bring.  Those little joys are why I actually enjoy settling into new places....I love discovering all there is to know about a new place and finding my favorites:   Eder's ice cream, Tony's Deli, Wegmans, Venice Pizza, TJMaxx, the farmers market, and, of course, Lycoming Physical Therapy (check out our new website: http://lycomingpt.com/home).  
 And with new places also comes new people, and with new people comes more joys and pain of transition;  navigating that treacherous world of developing new friendships.  We're in a whole new place where no one knows us and the fear of rejection is always there, so everything is all awkward and junior-high-like again.  You know, when you go to the grocery store in sweatpants with no make-up and your hair all a mess, and you see someone you know, then you walk away and wonder if the person thinks less of you because you look like a slob.  Or you have people over to your house, and you want everything to be just right, but it never is.  Once someone really knows you, you don't worry about those things...but as relationships are just forming, first impressions make such a difference! 
How wonderful it is to be known!  Psalm 139:1-6 says
"1 O LORD, you have searched me
       and you know me.
 2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
       you are familiar with all my ways.
 4 Before a word is on my tongue
       you know it completely, O LORD.
 5 You hem me in—behind and before;
       you have laid your hand upon me.
 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
       too lofty for me to attain."

He sees us as we really are: no makeup, hair a mess, dressed in rags, with our house dirty and disorganized, and He even know all of our thoughts!  And He still accepts us as His children, loves us beyond what we can even imagine, and even delights in us!
Zep. 3:17 says "The LORD your God is with you,
                        he is mighty to save.
                        He will take great delight in you,
                        he will quiet you with his love,
                        he will rejoice over you with singing."

Such knowledge truly is too wonderful for me.  I don't think I really can grasp that...the God of all creation rejoicing over me?  I think I will let that take over my thoughts today instead of worrying about first impressions.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My blog

For my  few friends and family who will read this, stop laughing...
I know I said I would never blog...I mean, are there really any other people who want to read my commentary on life anyway?  Well, maybe not.  So why the blog?  Here's why...
I feel compelled, more and more each day, to build up my brothers and sisters in Christ in this world that continually tears us down.  The blog title "E429" comes from Ephesians 4:29, and was something my college friends and I would say to each other anytime we would be tempted to say things that would be hurtful or damaging...kind of like your mother's "If you can't say anything good,don't say anything at all." So this may be more like a journal for me, and no one else will read it, but if you do, you have my commitment that my posts will be intended to encourage and to "benefit those who listen".  There will be book reviews, because I love to read.  There will be stories about my children, because they teach me even more than my books.  And above all, I will attempt to search for Truth and Wisdom as I unpack what the Holy Spirit reveals through God's Word and life experiences.